Upon Turbulent Seas
by CuddleFae
Summary: Bo and her sister Kenzi are pro surfers. Bo is striving to win a world championship. Lauren is headed to the 2016 Olympic games in Beach Volleyball with Tamsin as her teammate. After a chance encounter one night, Bo and Lauren are absent from each others lives until their lives collide once again in a life and death situation.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_ _As promised, here is the next story. I hope you enjoy. I hope you will find this entertaining. Please let me know what you think!_

 _Best wishes and thanks to those who continue to read and review Finding Our Way. I read every review and PM even though my replies are slow right now due to writing this new story and work. As for the sequel, I'm taking a break from the Martini Clan for now. The sequel would appear at the earliest in July._

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **UPON TURBULENT SEAS**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Entering Rough Seas**_

"Damn! Dude that girl is rippin' the curls!" The raven-haired girl banged her hand on the bar, eyes glued to the TV.

Bo groaned, not really wanting to watch, "I know, Kenzi… could you please stop singing her praises? While I'm sitting here, her lead over me is growing to 3,000 points in the World Surf League standings!"

Kenzi scoffed, "Hey! Her lead is growing to 10,000 points over me, so stop preaching to the choir!"

"Ugh! I can't believe I'm sitting here in the states with my little sister, watching the damn Roxy Pro on TV in a bar!" Bo whined.

Kenzi spun around, her eyes coming to bear on her sister, "It's not my fault the damn Australian border patrol confiscated our passports before we could get on the plane!"

"Not your fault? You guaranteed me your girl Lyudmila would handle it! This is NOT handled, Kenzi! This sucks!"

"I know it does, Bo-Bo, but we'll get 'em at the Rip Curl at Bell's Beach."

"But not before Courtney's lead grows by a margin I may not be able to get back, Kenzi! This is our life here!"

"Come on, Bo. First, Tyler's right on her ass… she may not win this event. Second, we always agreed we would never get to the point where our surfing careers became more about the money than the waves."

"Yea, well first, this may put Tyler ahead of me too and second, I was young and naïve when I agreed to that point of view. Now we have bills to pay and I promised Mom and Dad that you would have a college education if anything ever happened to them."

Kenzi sighed, "You never promised them anything, Bo."

"Well, it was in the letter, Kenzi… I made a promise to them when I read the letter and that's the same as making the promise in person."

"Fine! If you want to run around making promises to a piece of paper, you go ahead, but I'd rather honor the fact that they gave us the religion of surfing." Kenzi slammed her glass down on the bar top, waving at the bartender to give her a refill.

The two raven-haired sisters turned to the woman next to them at the bar who had let out a laugh in response to Kenzi's comment. The younger surfer couldn't help herself as she turned to the blonde,

"You got something to say, blondie?"

"Not at all." The blonde replied holding her hand up.

"Oh really?" Kenzi challenged, but Bo gripped her forearm.

"Kenzi…" She warned.

"No, Bo. I want to know what blondie here thinks is so funny."

The blonde turned to face Kenzi and got her first look at the woman behind the younger girl. Her face blushed as her mind ran wild with ideas about what she could do to the ample cleavage that had immediately captured her attention. As her eyes slowly traveled upward, she fell into eyes so dark she swore she could get lost in them.

"Hey! I'm over here… and my eyes are up here! Eyes off the girls!" Kenzi snapped her finger in the blonde's face causing her to snap her eyes to the Goth's attention,

"Uh… sorry." She mumbled, ripping her eyes away.

Kenzi laughed, crossing her arms across her chest, "Yea. I doubt that. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. Now, back to my question… you found something funny?"

"You called surfing a religion. The only thing religious about surfing is praying to Poseidon that he'll save your life if you're stupid enough to do what those women are doing on TV."

"Excuse me?" Kenzi asked, standing from her bar stool.

"Leave it alone, Kenzi. She's entitled to her opinion." Bo said, looking up at the TV and shaking her head, "This sucks." Bo mumbled, turning away from the argument she knew her sister was about to enter into with the blonde… Bo turned her head and stole another glimpse at the blonde… she really was beautiful. She turned back to the TV when she heard her sister dive into the already lukewarm waters of a heated debate.

"Not if it speaks badly about our religion!" Kenzi raised her voice.

"Religion? Surfing is at best, a sport. There is nothing religious about it." The blonde replied, equally the younger surfer's volume.

Kenzi huffed, "No one makes a comment like that unless she's never been on a surfboard. How 'bout you stick to things you understand, like… hair bleach and sitting on ice!"

"Hey!" Bo intervened. She loved her sister, but she could be ridiculously judgmental and completely inappropriate some times.

The goth looked at her sister, "I can't sit next to this. I'm going to go pee, then catch up with the guys on the large screen in the back."

Bo nodded as she listened to her sister rant as she walked away. The brunette sat there in silence for a minute, her eyes glued to the screen as she watched the clock on the screen tick down to the end of the competition. She sat up as she watched Tyler take another wave, making it just before the horn… the points would count if she could stay up… Courtney would lose and Bo could keep her position… maybe. The bartender walked over to Bo and picked up her glass,

"You okay, Bo?"

"What do you think, Mark?" She asked, not taking her eyes from the screen.

"My dad has been sending me updates… apparently Tyler's spill on that first wave banged her up pretty bad, but it looks like she may recover… we'll know in a few seconds, right?"

The pair watched as Tyler finished her ride, fist pumping the air, "Well, that's it… now we just wait for her score." She looked up at Mark, "Did your Dad say anything about being able to help us with the passport situation?"

Mark shook his head, "He's trying, Bo. He knew you would ask that question and he told me to tell you _'that's why he wanted you to pick a team'_ , yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Yea, yea… I've heard that before. He knows how I feel about teams." Bo replied, picking up the new drink Mark laid down.

"I know he does, Bo. But you could be surfing for Team USA in 2020 if you'll just play ball with these guys." Mark urged his Father's point of view.

"Look, Mark… I know you and your Dad think joining a team will set me up for more money, but I'm not in this for sponsorships."

Mark shook his head, "Bo, you don't have to use any boards other than Kenzi's. I told you that they just want you to wear their gear."

Bo chuckled, "And as your dear Father said, show a little cleavage while I do, right?"

Mark laughed, wiping down the bar top, "What can I say? Sex sells."

Bo turned to where she heard the blonde slam her glass on the bar. She looked closely at the woman, seeing that she was shaking her head,

"Something wrong?" Bo asked.

The blonde looked up at the woman, "You're really going to let them use your female assets to make money?"

Bo smiled, noticing the blonde's eyes had again dropped to admire said assets, "Actually, I'm going to let them use my… assets… so I can make money off of them… the sponsors, that is."

Lauren nodded before Bo added, "Besides… you don't seem to mind my assets. Is there really any harm to putting them on display? I'll bet you would enjoy seeing them on a billboard out on Kamehameha Highway."

Mark looked confused, "What highway?"

Bo laughed with the blonde, "Kamehameha Highway." Bo repeated.

"Kame-what?"

The blonde turned to Bo and smiled, "Not from here originally, I take it?"

"Nah. He moved here with his Dad after he graduated from college. He's trying to find a job as a Marine Biologist and until then, he tends to his Dad's bar when his Dad is off with my sister and I at surfing competitions."

The blonde nodded, "I see."

Bo turned back to Mark, "All of our highways have names but people new to the island know that particular highway as Route 99."

"Ooohhh…" Mark sighed, nodding, "I don't think I'll be using the names anytime soon. I am much better with numbers."

Bo laughed before turning to the smiling blonde, "So… what is it you have against surfing?"

Lauren paused, pushing back the urge to step up onto her soapbox, "I guess you could just say I've seen a side of it that surfers would rather not talk about."

Bo's brow furrowed, "Oh? And what side is that?"

"Look… I meant no offense. I just…" The blonde sighed, "I guess I just don't understand why anyone would do… that." She nodded towards the flat screen where the men's heats had begun."

"Well, I'd be happy to show you sometime..." Bo smiled, realized she'd missed the final scores. She'd see them tomorrow in the paper. Right now, she had her sights on another win, "You might like it."

The blonde gave a shy smiled, "No, I don't think that's for me… well… I don't think that's for anyone."

Bo smiled, "Come on, little waves are for everyone. All fun and no danger."

"Yea, until that little wave upends your board and you land head first in the shallow of a wave and break your neck." Lauren cringed inwardly at her own statement, staring down at her glass.

"Wow… live in fear much?" Bo asked.

"No, I live in reality most of the time."

"Whose reality is that?" Bo asked.

The blonde sighed, "My reality, but who cares about that? Let's talk about yours."

"My reality is that I was born and raised in waves. I could never feel threatened by them." Bo answered.

"Born and raised?" the blonde asked.

Bo nodded, "I was born here, moved to California and raised in California big surf. I moved back here years ago to… well… it really doesn't matter."

The blonde sensed some distress in the brunette, so she didn't press, but rather changed the subject, "So are you going to join a team?"

Bo smiled, "Teams are stupid."

"Not if you find the right one." She replied, smiling.

Bo smiled and extended her hand, "Hi… I'm Bo."

The blonde smiled and took the brunette's hand, pausing for a moment when she felt a wave of excitement run through her body at the warmth of the woman's touch, "Lauren."

"Well, Lauren… would you like to join Team Bo?"

The blonde smiled, lowering her eyes to their joined hands, "Hmmm… we'll see. I don't usually join surfing teams."

"Well, maybe if you come with me some time, I could give you a new point of view… a new religion?"

"Come on, do you really see surfing as a religion?"

"Well, if you join my surfing team you'll find out why. Besides, I can't say I'd mind having you ride my… board."

Lauren blushed, "Hmmm… that sounds like… something."

Bo smiled, "You wanna get out of here?"

Lauren smiled, nodding towards the TV, "Don't you want to watch the men?"

Bo looked up for a moment, and then looked back to the blonde, "While the surfing is great and I can learn a lot of tips and tricks from watching them, they don't have much else to offer in the form of… entertainment."

Bo stood and offered her hand to the blonde. Lauren stared at it for a moment before taking the offered hand, dropping a twenty on the bar and following the brunette through the exit.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Dude! You so left me at the bar last night! What the hell?" Kenzi came into the kitchen of their beach shack to see her sister drinking a cup of coffee and eating some eggs.

Bo smiled, "I had an opportunity to seize the day and I did."

"Don't try getting out of ditching your little sis by using one of Dad's favorite sayings." Kenzi replied, pouring some cereal into a bowl.

"But it's such a great saying… and it's true." Bo replied with a smirk, flipping the newspaper over and opening it to the sports section.

"Well, I'd hardly call what you were doing was seizing the day… I'm guessing it was more like seizing that blonde's sweet ass."

"And what an incredible ass it was." Bo replied with a smile, "Shit."

"What?" Kenzi asked coming to sit next to her sister.

"Tyler didn't score enough on her final ride to beat Courtney." Bo replied.

"Shit."

"Yea." Bo replied standing up.

"Where ya goin'?"

Bo replied, "Down to Laniakea. Vex is gonna tow me in since Dyson's still in Australia trying to deal with getting our passports fixed."

Kenzi watched as her sister grabbed her gear, "Give me a minute. I'm coming with you."

Bo smiled, "I knew you couldn't quit me."

Kenzi smiled, shoveling the last of her cereal into her mouth and standing up to toss the bowl into the sink, "But damn how I wish I could."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **FIVE HOURS LATER… LANIAKEA BEACH**

Kenzi sat on the back of Vex's wave runner watching her sister paddle into her next set. They sat bobbing up and down like a cork in the safe waters, watching for any trouble, Vex constantly adjusting their distance to the surfer.

"Shit, Kenz… your sis is in a groove today. It's too bad this was all lost for the Roxy yesterday."

"Yea, well do me a favor and don't remind her. I screwed up, Vex."

"Don't worry much, love. Dyson will get your passport woes fixed and the two of you will be in the land down under for the Rip Curl."

"I sure hope you're right, Vex. They shut off our electric again last night and it's all my fault." Kenzi replied.

"Time to take a little something out of that savings account of yours?" Vex asked.

"You know I can't do that without Bo's consent and she won't let me touch a dime of that fund. Guess we're back to camp cooking, cold showers and sitting by the fire to stay warm." Kenzi replied.

"Right… the almighty college fund." Vex replied, shaking his head.

"Unless I can prove to her that I can make it on the pro circuit, she's not going to stop pushing the college thing… hell, even if I was number one in the world rankings, she would probably still make me go to college."

"Gas prices are low right now, so there's extra money in the training fund. I'll head down to the electric company later today and pay your bill." Kenzi started to protest, but Vex put up a hand to silence her, "Don't worry about it Kenz. You and Bo gave me a job after my injury forced me off the circuit. I can breathe again because of you two, so I'm not taking no for an answer when you need me."

"Looks like Bo's taking a rest. Let's scoot over into the shallows until she hits the pipe again."

Kenzi nodded, holding on to Vex while he steered away from Bo.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bo sat watching the curls in front of her, watching the current and thinking about her next approach. In truth, her mind was focused on the cliff before her and the blonde woman she'd met in the bar. She was pretty sure this was the very cliff where her home had been… of course, it was dark out and she couldn't really be certain.

Bo desperately wished she had time for a partner in life… if she was honest, it was the one thing that really made her the way she was these days. She wanted someone who would love and understand her… someone who would pull her from this merry-go-round she'd been on for so long. Regardless if it was Lauren's house or not, she looked up at the home set back away from the edge almost out of view, she thought of her,

"Lauren…" She whispered, "You haven't called me yet… I wanted to call you this morning… I feel… connected to you somehow… even though you hate surfers… or surfing, maybe. Will we ever see each other again? Would you ever be willing to come out here with me? Well… not here, but maybe some nice spot to learn like Waikiki where the waves are calm and the waves are reeling, giving you long spots of whitewater to play in all the way to the beach. You'd love it, Lauren… I know there's an adventurer in there just dying to come out. You just need someone to show you how to relax and smile… sort of like you finally did the other night with me."

She moved her eyes to focus on her hands in the water, a surge of want finding its way between her legs when she thought of her fingers touching Lauren… her lips, warm and wet… her skin, soft and fragrant… her breasts, round and firm… her nipples, hard and erect… her folds, soaked with need… entering her, bringing her to climax again and again while she did the same.

She shook out her thoughts, looking up at the cliff, "No, Lauren… we're far from over… I miss you too much to let this go. I just wish… I wish I had time for your kind of distraction… but you're much too good to be treated like a sex toy." She sighed, "One day soon when my life is free of a surfing calendar… we'll meet again… when you least expect it."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Vex looked over his shoulder to see that Bo was preparing for another set, "Hang on, Kenz… we're up again."

They blasted through the waves towards the surfer only to see Bo hanging on the peak of a wave that broke too soon. The brunette went down hard,

"BO!" Kenzi yelled, hitting Vex on the shoulder.

"I see her, Kenz… watch for the board... that's all we need is to lose another one of her best rides, too." Vex said as he steamed towards the waving hand.

They pushed into the whitewater, Kenzi grabbing the board while Bo gripped the sled and pulled herself up for the ride to shore.

"Wanna go again?" Kenzi yelled above the combined sound of the watercraft's engine and the crash of the waves.

Bo gave her a cutting action across her throat in response, telling them she was done for the day. Vex nodded heading up shore on a diagonal out of the worst of the waves until they were finally back on the beach. Bo stood up, walking onto shore,

"Damn! If I had surfed that well at the Roxy, we would have been up big points, not to mention have the money to pay our electric bill!" Bo grumbled, walking away from the pair.

Kenzi cringed, looking up at Vex with a pout. He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and led her towards the beach, pulling the towrope along behind him and pitching the stake deep into the sand with his foot to anchor the wave runner to shore. Kenzi went ahead, picking up Bo's extra board and carrying both boards overhead to the car while Bo stripped out of her wetsuit on the beach.

Vex came to sit beside her, "You might want to cut your little sis some slack there, lovey. She knows she screwed up. Couple that with your electric being turned off last night, she's feeling like a total shit."

"Not now, Vex." Bo replied, pulling her T-shirt over her bikini top before standing and pulling on her shorts.

"Then when, Bo. Someone has to tell you. Kenzi isn't your personal punching bag. The life you dropped into isn't her fault… it's no one's fault, Bo. You're both doing the best you can and she's trying to do what she can for the both of you surviving on the shoestring budget you've put the two of you on because you insist on not touching the college fund!"

Bo rounded on Vex, her face just inches from his own, "You have no right to question the way I choose to prioritize my family finances. You have no idea the job my parents left for me when they… forget it. You'll never understand."

"Then make me understand." Vex said, placing a gentle hand on Bo's shoulder.

"She has to go to college, Vex. I promised them. I promised her. This is no life for her. Hell, if I didn't have to surf for money, I wouldn't! I would go out in the morning on the nice long waves of Ke'ei Beach and tack on a little snorkeling for kicks when I was done, not risking my ass at a dicey shallow reef spot like this!" Bo gripped her side, pulling up the hem of her shirt, "Shit!"

Vex leaned forward looking over to see the angry brush burns on his friend's side, "Dammit, Bo… why didn't you tell us?"

He pulled the first aid kit from his backpack, "Lay down."

"I'm fine." Bo argued, but Vex was having none of it.

"Coral cuts are nothing to mess with and you know it. Let me clean that out." Vex tended to the wound while he spoke, "Bo, you're going to have to get your head right, love. You're short with Kenzi, you're short with me, with Dyson… everyone who's in your corner. I don't know what's going on with you lately, but you are so tense and anxious all the time…"

"I have to win, Vex… it's that simple. When everything is working against me except the way I'm surfing, I get frustrated. I'm at the top of my game when I'm on my board… I can compete with the big girls… but funding problems and now this passport issue are the things holding me back."

Vex nodded, "Noted. What if I took on the passport and PR stuff?"

Bo shook her head, "Vex, we can't afford to pay you any more than we already do."

"I'm not asking you for any more money, Bo. I'm fine now… you and Kenzi helped me right my mortgage and my debt. My club is a gold mine... it's because of the two of you helping me get back on my feet. It's my turn to help the two of you. Just… please, Bo… say yes."

"I don't know, Vex… I…"

"Put your pride aside and do what's best for Kenzi." Vex reminded, placing a bandage over her wound and pulling her shirt down.

"Fine." Bo replied, sitting up, "PR and travel are all yours."

Vex smiled, "Great… I'll start making calls today. You'll have sponsors on your doorstep in the morning."

"No boards, Vex." Bo reminded.

"I know, I know… you ride your own boards. I've got it. Are you sure you don't want to sell your concept, Bo? You know they could…"

"No… my board… my brand… I'm not selling, Vex."

He smiled, "Your board… your call. Got it. Come on, Kenzi's waiting."

The pair walked up the beach to where Kenzi was leaning against the outside of the car, hands in her shorts pockets, head hanging low. Bo walked up to her,

"Come on… Vex is buying us lunch at his club."

"And you're letting him?" Kenzi asked.

Bo nodded, walking around the car and getting into the driver's seat. She watched as Vex gave her little sister a hug before opening the back door for her. Kenzi climbed in, getting a smile from her big sister before the three pulled out of their space.

"Hold up, Bo." Vex said, rolling down his window and leaning his head out,

"Hey big guns!"

Bo and Kenzi watched as a blonde haired woman approached Vex, "Hey Big Kahuna!"

Vex smiled, "Yea, they don't really call me that anymore."

The blonde smiled, "Well, I grew up watching you in the middle of some of the most severe waves known to man, Vex. You have a place in surf history. You'll always be my Big Kahuna! You taught me everything I know!"

"On a board, I'll have to agree. Now this thing you're doing now… totally foreign to me." Vex replied, nodding towards the volleyball courts.

Tamsin's eyes went wide, "Hey! You're Bo Dennis! Damn girl! You can really rip!" She held our her hand, "Name's Tamsin… one of Vex's many protégés."

Bo smiled, "I didn't know he had protégés… and thanks for the compliment, this is my sister Kenzi."

Tamsin smiled, "Bummer you didn't make it to the Roxy."

Bo nodded, "Yea."

"Well, I've gotta get to practice. We should catch up soon, Vex!"

"I'll tell you what… my place is a restaurant and bar by day, a hot club at night. Why don't you come down for dinner and dancing… maybe you'll find… I don't know… something you could take home to warm up that cold lonely bed of yours?"

Tamsin glanced over at Bo, "That sounds like a plan. Maybe I'll bring my teammate… she needs a little loosening up."

"Sound perfect. Still got my number?" Vex asked.

"Sure do! See you soon!" Tamsin replied, "Later, Bo… Kenzi." She waved and was on her way.

Kenzi smirked, "She seems… nice… right, Bo-Bo?"

Bo replied, "She's attractive enough, but my focus is elsewhere right now." She didn't mention Lauren's name, but if she was going to take anyone to bed, it would be her. She shook off her thoughts, what was wrong with her? She barely knew this woman and here she was obsessing over her. Maybe bedding Tamsin would be a good thing.

"All surf and no land play makes for a very dull and uptight Bo-Bo." Kenzi replied.

"Right… well… my love life is mine to deal with. Let's get lunch… I'm hungry." Bo changed the subject in reply, pulling out of the parking space, glancing back once to see Tamsin heading towards the volleyball courts.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **LATER THAT EVENING…**

Sitting in the tall grass of the overlook, the blonde woman lifted the warm cup of liquid to her lips and took a long sip. She sighed, savoring the taste and warmth of her favorite tea before pulling her sweater around her torso and crossing her arms around her legs. She stared out across the vast expanse of light blue seas, the rhythmic crash of the waves and subtle winds relaxing her at the end of a long day. This was the only show in town as far as she was concerned. She had been juggling so much lately and this was exactly what she'd needed.

She had hoped to be home much sooner than today, but at least she still had two days to spend in her haven away from the chaos of the big island and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. She sighed, finishing off the remaining liquid in her mug and then twisted it into the sand.

Lying back, she placed her hands behind her head and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds drift by in the subtle wind. She thought back to her childhood when she would lay with her Dad and pick out animals and other objects amidst the billows of clouds scattered across the sky. She laughed and began to seek out the first thing she could find… rabbit… eagle… horse.

She lay there awaiting the start of the second show in her evening triple feature… the moment when one of the beautiful sunsets she'd grown accustomed to on this perch would begin to reveal itself. She watched as the brilliant red, orange, purple and yellow hues streaked across the atmosphere like ripples on a pond. Gradually, the sky dimmed and the clouds vanished into darkness until one by one, tiny lights began to appear.

This view was one of the many reasons she had purchased this home several years ago. The daily stress of surgeries, the frustrations of making her way through the city during rush hour, making sure to visit her Dad at least once a day and now the added time crunch of morning workouts and evening practices had her at the breaking point. But in the end, she knew that this was what she asked for… what she wanted… wasn't it?

Her mind drifted to the one-night stand she'd had with a raven-haired girl named Bo a few nights before. It wasn't the first time she'd had one, but this had been different… felt different. It started off in a frenzy of limbs with pure lust leading the way, but gradually became soft touching and sincere glances… shared orgasms and small talk. They'd had sex and moved to making love until the early hours of the morning parting with promises that they'd have to get together again… an exchange of phone numbers with neither being the first to make the call since.

She lay there allowing her mind to take her back to the intimate moment's they'd shared, laughing at the fact that she'd actually allowed herself to sleep with a surfer girl. But there was just something about her… she couldn't put her finger on it.

It was a short time later that she realized she was watching the grand finale. Looking at an explosion of lights against the pitch-black backdrop of night she waited…

Finally, it came… the cool wind from the north that would chase her back into her home where she would light a fire, curl up with a good book and fall asleep on the couch in the silence of her home… peace at last. Dr. Lauren Lewis was a creature of weekend habits and she wouldn't change a thing about it… except maybe… one day… she would make a call to a certain brunette…

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A MONTH LATER… BONZAI PIPELINE, BONZAI BEACH**

Dyson and Bo left Kenzi and Vex lying on the blanket in the sand. Kenzi had a great workout with Vex and now it was her big sister's turn,

"Remember, Bo… have fun… no competition… just fun… remember why we do this." Vex advised.

In the past month, Vex had been working on helping Bo remember why she surfed… not money, not fame, not fortune… but because it was in her blood… it was her religion. The change in her performance had been amazing. She looked so comfortable and relaxed on her board in contrast to the past months where it seemed she was fighting an angry battle every time she went out. Vex had insisted she begin meditating on how it felt to surf before every practice and competition and today had been no different. Once her little mental preparation was finished, she stood up from the shade and walked to the group signaling Dyson she was ready to go out.

Giving Kenzi their traditional handshake and Vex and fist bump, she walked with Dyson down to the water.

"Five events down, five events to go, Bo." Dyson said as he and Bo prepped to head out for her morning workout.

"Still sucks that I missed the Roxy." Bo replied, pulling on her wet gear.

"I thought we were done with that, Bo. You can't get the points back, so let's move on. In the first five of ten events, you took first in the Rip Curl and Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, then second in both the Oi Rio and Fiji Pro. You've got five events left with a month off… you're in it, Bo… let's just stay focused on what's in front of us. You're still number two in the standings and the best part… you've kept the lights on at your beach shack… although I think I speak for all of us when I say getting a beach shack with better walls would be nice now that you have money in the bank."

"Hey! That money is for Kenzi's education. After she's finished school, we'll deal with housing... whether separate at that point or together. Besides, we like our shack! It's got… character."

"You say it has character, I say it should have a condemned sign…" Dyson laughed.

Bo replied, "Tomatoes, tom-ah-toes," before sticking out her tongue.

"Real mature." Dyson said, pushing the wave runner into the shallows and straddling the seat.

Bo checked the knots on the sled, and then checked to be sure her strap was secure before hopping on behind Dyson and heading for the surf beyond the shore.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was early morning when Lauren was pulling on her sneakers not far from the water along the shore. She sat, pulling up the zipper on her team jacket before getting to her feet to begin her stretching routine.

"Yup… I'll never get tired of the morning view from behind your ass, Lewis. If I wasn't so damn professional, I would go for those hot pants in a second."

Lauren looked over her shoulder, shaking her head, "You're late, Tamsin."

"Oh chill, Lewis. It's a beautiful morning and you have no where to be, no medical crisis to be paged to and no love life to speak of, so let's talk about your ass some more."

Lauren turned to her partner and standing, placed her hands on her hips, "Keep your horny thoughts to yourself. The only thing I want to talk about is how far we're going and what our goal time is this morning."

"Well, how far do you want to go, Lewis?" Tamsin asked suggestively.

"Tamsin!"

"Fine, but you know, all work and no play is not going to get us any closer to that gold medal."

"Can we just run already?" Lauren asked.

"Damn girl, what the hell crawled up that fine ass of yours and died?" Tamsin asked, drawing a glare from Lauren, "Fine! Two miles to the training courts."

"Fine!" Lauren replied.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Tamsin asked, reaching out towards her teammate.

"Arrgghhh! I'm going." Lauren swatted the other blonde's hand away, turned up the beach and headed up the coastline at a quick pace.

"Okay then… I guess we're going." Tamsin shrugged and followed her partner's footprints along the shore.

Lauren Lewis and Tamsin Torrent were the most recent team to come on to the professional beach volleyball scene. They'd been digging up the tour for the last two years, finally qualifying for Team USA and the Rio 2016 games. It was only two months until the games were to begin in Brazil and the pressure was beginning to mount. Tamsin had taken it in stride, but Lauren was starting to show signs of breaking.

"You know, you really need to find a way to relax before you burst, Hotpants." Tamsin said, casually once she had caught up with her friend.

"Stop calling me that and this is what relaxes me." Lauren said, the edge in her voice having dissipated into frustration.

"No, what relaxes you are overhead smash drills… endless overhead smash drills." Tamsin chuckled.

"What can I say? I love hitting the shit out of the ball."

"You mean you love picturing the face of one Dr. Evony Fleurette Marquis on the ball. You be smacking that bitch down!" Tamsin laughed, clapping her hands together as she spoke, "And then there are those asshole surfers down near where we train, especially that Dyson creep… although some of the women are… nice… to look at." She mumbled the last part, thinking of one Bo Dennis sitting in the car a few weeks ago. She really needed to call Vex.

"Well they're all idiots. Every time one of them goes into the water, they end up in one of my ER rooms."

"Well you should thank them." Tamsin replied with a laugh.

"What? Why?" Lauren asked, shocked.

"For giving you a reason to keep your job!" Tamsin smiled.

"Believe me, there are plenty of people all over Hawaii giving me plenty of business. I don't need any help from our local surfing community going one-on-one with Mother Nature."

Tamsin replied, "Well, I don't know. It is exciting to watch."

"It makes me nervous when I watch. I just know it's only a matter of time until someone's yelling 'help' because someone out there has lost a battle with a massive wave they had no business trying to ride to begin with. If they don't bring them up on the beach with lungs full of water, then they're cut, concussed, unconscious or some combination of all three. It's ridiculous that anyone would think they could battle the power of the sea on piece of wood."

"Actually, they're made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam that's covered in layers of fiberglass cloth and polyester or epoxy resin." Tamsin corrected, immediately regretting it.

"Who cares! They're still committing suicide by stupidity!" Lauren argued.

"Geez, Lewis! What's with all the tension? It's coming off of you in waves! You need to get laid, woman!"

Lauren's mind flashed to Bo's face mid-orgasm before she suddenly pulled to a screeching halt and grabbed her teammate by the hand, "Wait… how do you know so much about how surfboards are made?"

Tamsin looked out at the ocean, shaking her head before leaning down on her thighs, trying to catch her breath after the blistering pace Lauren had set, "I talk about getting laid and all you can hear is that I know how surfboards are made."

The taller blonde sighed, deciding to come clean, "Look Lauren, you know I was born and raised in California. I lived on the beach and… well… my Mom and Dad were pro surfers when they were younger. They actually own a surf shop in Half Moon Bay near Mavericks… which they surfed daily… still do, on occasion."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Those massive waves off the coast of Northern California?! Those people are crazy!"

Tamsin sighed, "Yes and they are not crazy, Lauren. You don't understand. Surfing is like a religion to them. It's like… being one with nature in the most intimate way. You have no idea what it feels like… your fingertips on the wall of a curl…" The blonde allowed her mind to drift, but pulled herself back, remembering who she was talking to, "Hey, are we going to have a problem here?"

"No. Sorry. I mean no disrespect, it's just that my perspective…" Lauren said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I know… you've seen the train wrecks in the ER. Look, Lo… I was a child of surfing parents who grew up in a surfing town. I'm a product of my environment."

"You're an engineer… one with a great reputation. That's hardly being a product of a surfing environment, Tamsin."

"My parents make surfboards, Lauren. That has everything to do with engineering… and they're not what you think. They both have Master's Degrees in Engineering. Damn, Lewis… stereotype much?"

Lauren sighed. She knew Tamsin was right, "I'm sorry. You're right. I just… well… the long hair, dreadlocks, eternal clothing style of jams, T-shirts and flip-flops… I'm sorry."

Tamsin sighed, "Right. You do know not all of them dress that way?"

She turned away from her partner and stared out to where the surfers were starting to gather. Tamsin heard Lauren's sigh before her teammate spoke,

"Here they come." Lauren said, throwing a handful of sand at her feet.

"They're not bad people, Lauren."

"No, but I've had enough of them in the ER to know they're not great people."

"Did you ever think that the way you talk to them might have something to do with it?" Tamsin asked, calling Lauren out on her judgment of the surfing community.

Lauren pondered Tamsin's comment for a moment as she watched the first of the guys run head first into the water, launching themselves onto their boards, "I'm very professional in my handling of my patients. As for the 'sport', I just don't get it."

Tamsin watched the group for a while, knowing it would double in size by the time they were finished practicing, "Well, I've seen your professionalism when you don't approve of how someone's gotten injured… you can be a bit abrasive. And as for 'getting' the surfer's mind, I do get it… it's truly an amazing experience, Lauren. You shouldn't knock it 'til you've tried it."

"Like that'll ever happen." Although she knew that she had been thinking about it ever since Bo suggested it. She just couldn't imagine she would ever do it. But Lauren was curious about her partner's life now, "So you used to surf?"

Tamsin nodded, "I was practically born on a board... meaning my mom surfed all through her pregnancy. Once I was born, they would take me out in the whitewater to ride on the front of my Mom's board from about two years of age. Eventually I struck out on my own. They made me my first board when I was three. I named her Lola."

Lauren laughed, "Okay, now that's adorable. So what made you stop?"

Tamsin didn't want to tell Lauren that she never had stopped, but she saved that information for later,

"I had a bad wipeout when I was about ten years old. I got cut on the forehead by my own board, but managed to make it to the surface after getting tossed around pretty badly by the surf. My Mom hauled me up onto her board, got me to shore, cleaned up my cut and then put me right back on the board for two more rides. She didn't want me to be afraid of the waves. Later when we were back on shore, she bundled me up in her arms on the beach. While we were sitting there watching my Dad and the other guys surfing, I saw a group of people playing volleyball on the beach. Well, long story short, I was hooked and here I am."

Lauren looked up ahead at the courts that were the site of their morning session with their coach. She had stopped them just short of the training grounds where she noticed their coach was now getting out of the car.

"I'm surprised your parents weren't disappointed." She said stripping off her jacket and sweatpants to reveal her Team USA tank top and shorts.

Tamsin smiled, sitting down to stretch, "I didn't say they weren't. I mean… I kept surfing recreationally, but volleyball and work take up a lot of time. Playing volleyball didn't end my love of surfing, but I just didn't have as much time for it."

"Tell me about it." Lauren said with a sigh. Their schedule was hectic to say the least. Neither of them had the kind of jobs that they could quit. Most of the other players were playing volleyball full time relying on spouses and parents to support them while they focused on the team. She and Tamsin had no one… and that thought alone, led Lauren to think yet again of the brunette from the other night… Bo.

Tamsin looked out to sea, smiling as she thought about the thrill of catching a tube and being surrounded by water, "I miss it sometimes… and when I do, I get on my board and go catch a few waves."

"You still surf?" Lauren asked, looking at her partner.

"Chill, Lo. I would not risk our shot at gold come August sixth, but if you really do retire after the 2016 Games, I may go for Team USA Surfing for the Tokyo team in 2020. Surfing is supposed to be an exhibition sport that year." Tamsin said, placing a reassuring hand on Lauren's forearm.

The blonde looked down at the hand, then looked up and gave her partner a soft smile, "I know, Tamsin. You've worked just as hard and just as long for this opportunity as I have… I know you're in it to win it."

"And don't you forget it." Tamsin replied, offering her fist to the other blonde.

Lauren gave her the bump and smiled, "Well, coach is setting up the net with the guys. You ready?"

Tamsin shook her head, "Not until you tell me what's up with you this morning."

"I just… it's nothing." Lauren lied. She lowered her head thinking back to her beach workouts over the weekend and the real reason she was so anti-surfing in their conversation today… Bo…

 _ **Flashback…**_

Following her usual weekend routine, Lauren had gotten up for her early morning run, plyometrics and sprints. Since she had to work twelve-hour ER shifts both Saturday and Sunday to have practice time off during the week, she had driven to the hospital and jogged to the beach to do her workout. She would go back, shower and go straight to work rather than workout at home. The sand was packed a little tighter on Waimea Bay, so her legs were less likely to feel like jelly during the long shift.

As she turned down the shoreline, she remembered that the trade-off was that she was also headed towards the famed Banzai Pipeline, one of the most dangerous spots for surfing on the entire island. Everyone there was a professional, so she wasn't likely to encounter any emergencies, but there was always that one idiot who could be out there as a novice that would lead to her having to render emergency care. They were too close to their goal for her workout to be interrupted, so she prayed to the surfing Gods that the idiots would sleep in today.

She pressed her ear buds into place, adjusted the music volume on her phone, settled it into the holder on her upper arm and settled into her pace. As she ran, she allowed her mind to relax, focusing on the music and the beauty of the ocean. There was something about running on the beach that really motivated her. She felt like maybe the power of the ocean fed her energy and strength somehow. It sounded corny, but she knew that when she ran here, she had her best runs.

She was about thirty minutes and about four miles into her run when she saw the group in the water ahead. The closer she got, the louder the roar of the engines of the wave runners became. Here, the only way to catch a wave was to be towed out and dumped beyond the breakers. As she closed in on the North Shore courts, she slowed her pace and pulled out her ear buds. She couldn't hear the music anyway now that she was right where the machines were motoring in and out from the coast as needed.

She stripped off her jacket and sweats, folding them and placing them neatly next to the right side post of the net. She pulled the necklace over her head that held the lockbox of Team USA gear and walked over to pull out the bag of balls, plyometric boxes and sprint hurdles.

She lined up the three plyometrics boxes and began her jump sets over the staggered heights. Up, down, up, down, up, down,

"One."

Up, down, up, down, up, down, "Two."

She continued her rhythm, focusing on double-footed jumps up and off each box, turning and repeating the action in the opposite direction. Fifteen minutes later, she had completed her reps and moved on to the sprint hurdles after putting the plyometric boxes away. She carefully lined up the hurdles to be precisely one foot apart, marked her start and end line in the sand and began with a sigh, pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ears,

"Go hard, Lauren… No missed hurdles… quick feet… high knees… work harder than your opponent."

Again, she focused on the task at hand, pushing hard to keep her speed up while moving with great agility through the raised bars. Twenty minutes later, she was finished and picking up the hurdles. After storing them away, she moved back to the endline of the court where she had put the balls. She pulled out the five targets and moved beneath the net to the opposite side of the court.

She spoke to her absent partner just like she normally would if she were present,

"Okay, so where are our opponents weak spots today, Tam? How about we go back corners, mid-court sidelines and center endline?" She moved to each spot and dropped a marker before returning to her side of the court and the bag of balls.

She took a moment to stretch, wondering if Tamsin was doing this drill right now. They planned out their workouts for the weekends every Friday so they knew they were doing the same thing each day. She would do straight sprints at lunch and hill sprints tonight before dinner. That was their plan for this weekend.

Her shoulders and upper back adequately stretched, she picked up the first ball and stepped back from the service line. Getting herself set, she eyed the first target on the back left corner of the opponent court. Running towards the line, she made a perfect toss, concentrated on her form… elbow back, firm hand, contact at peak height, 'SMASH'!

"YES!" She pulled her fist into her waist, excited to hit the mark on the very first serve, "Take that Brazil!"

She and Tamsin had gone through the schedule several times. Each practice, they played a game against a specific team. Today they were 'playing' Brazil who would likely be their toughest opponent… if they made it that far…

"No, Lauren… when we make it that far, not if… there are no if's… we're doing this. Positive thinking… will it to be so."

Tamsin had convinced Lauren that she needed to talk to herself more and had helped her to engage in positive self-talk. Truth was, it was working, so Lauren was doing it more and more. She did it through her entire workout, every run, every sprint, every jump, every drill and she was getting better with every word.

"SHIT! BO! BO!" Kenzi jumped to her feet with Vex by her side.

"DYSON! DO YOU SEE HER? DYSON, DO YOU SEE HER?" Kenzi was calling out to Dyson through their headset.

"NOT YET! DO YOU SEE HER KENZ? I NEED HELP SPOTTING!" Dyson's panicked voice came through the coms.

"NO! VEX? DO YOU SEE HER?" Kenzi asked her friend, gripping his hand for dear life.

Lauren looked up at the sound of a hysterical voice. She looked up to see a man on a wave runner riding in and out of the dangerous surf while a petite woman stood holding her board at the water's edge with another man. Other surfers, all of them scanning the water, soon joined them.

"Shit!" Lauren said to herself, walking to the right post of the net and picking up her towel. She wiped her face, shoulder and forearms before looking up to see if they'd found the missing surfer.

"THERE! I SEE HER BOARD! YOU SEE IT?" The woman called from shore. The driver waved to her and moved to retrieve the board, his eyes keying on the surrounding water for any signs of the woman who belonged to the board.

What happened next, sent Lauren into overdrive. She saw something wash up on the shore, taking about five seconds to realize it was a body. She ran, calling to the woman on the shore,

"HERE! DO YOU HAVE A FIRST AID KIT? I'M A DOCTOR!"

The young woman called back, "GOT IT!"

Lauren moved quickly to the woman, gripping her under the arms and pulling her onto the shore safe from the waves. She rolled her over onto her back, pushed the dark hair from her face and gasped,

"Bo… oh God… Bo…"

She shook off the panic and checked for responsiveness and breathing, with the recommended five to ten second count,

"One-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one-thousand…"

"Thank God you're here! What do you need?" The raven-haired girl asked.

Lauren lifted her eyes to meet the face of a panic-stricken young woman with the bluest eyes she had ever seen, then realized it was Bo's sister she had argued with. Kenzi pulled back,

"You!"

"Later, Kenzi." She took the key from around her neck, "Up there near the volleyball net. This key will open the box that says Team USA Volleyball. Inside is an AED. Get it, please."

"Shit! Really?"

"GO!" Lauren insisted as she began chest compressions. She was hoping that the woman just had too much water in her lungs and she would respond quickly without the AED, but she'd sent the young woman regardless. She didn't want to delay use of the machine for more than two minutes if compressions didn't work.

Thirty compressions later, she administered two rescue breaths, and then returned to chest compressions. She'd completed three cycles of compressions and breaths when the woman suddenly began to cough. Lauren quickly rolled her onto her side to assist her in evacuating the water from her lungs and encouraged her to keep coughing,

"You're okay, just keep coughing… that's it, get it all out. You're okay, I've got you… that's it… you're okay." She reassured until the woman began to vomit. She felt the spasms through her surf shirt.

"Oh God, is that normal?" The young girl returned, placing the AED next to the doctor.

"She's… yes, that's normal. She has to get the seawater out of her lungs and stomach. Can you call 9-1-1 for me, please?"

"But, she's conscious… isn't she okay?" Kenzi asked.

"Kenzi, she wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped. She needs to go to the ER."

"No hospital!" Bo coughed.

"Bo, it's the woman from the club the other night… she's a doctor and she says you have to go!"

"No! I'm fine! I just need… (cough)… to catch… (cough)… my breath." Bo replied, her face near the sand as she dry-heaved.

Lauren looked at the younger girl, "Call. She is in no position to make this decision for herself."

The raven-haired woman pulled out her cellphone and made the call while Lauren monitored the woman's condition. She watched as she began to lose consciousness again,

"Bo!"

The woman only moaned, barely conscious.

"Bo, I need you to stay awake. Can you do that for me?"

"So… tired…"

"I know, Bo. You just had the oxygen to your brain cut off, but I need you to fight it. If you think you're strong enough to go out in those massive waves then you must be strong enough to stay awake, so come on… stay with me!"

Lauren clapped her hands loudly over the woman's face, causing her to snap her eyes open quickly.

"What!" She barked.

"Awake! I need you awake. If you go to sleep again, I'll do that again."

The woman began to close her eyes again, "Bo! Awake!"

"I'm awake." The woman said, her eyes and voice drowsy as Lauren slid behind her and sat her up, holding her between her legs, her head back so her airway was open.

"Tell me what you remember about what happened, Bo. What happened?" Lauren asked, now noticing the gashes on the back and side of the woman's head, "Looks like a concussion might be the cause of your drowsiness and possibly the nausea as well."

"I think some asshole rookie cut me off."

Kenzi nodded, now finished the 9-1-1 call, "They're on their way." She said to Lauren, "It wasn't a rookie, it was that idiot, Evony! You had the wave moving right to left and she came in moving left to right. I don't know what the hell she thought she was doing. Everyone was yelling at her. I'm sorry we couldn't stop her, Bo. She has no business surfing pipe."

Bo nodded, "It's okay, Kenz… hey, you had a nice ride."

Kenzi smiled, "Yea, you remember?" She looked up at Lauren, "That was hours ago."

Lauren nodded, expecting her memory to be a bit foggy.

Bo mumbled more about Kenzi's ride, "Nice pipe… rode it in and out to the shore. Where's Dyson?"

"He's waiting on Ciara. She was the last one in the lineup."

Bo heard voices down the beach, "Who's yelling?"

"Makani is yelling at Evony for the stunt she pulled on you. They're on their way over." Kenzi replied.

"Keep her the hell away from me. She's such an idiot!" Bo said, her anger causing her heart rate to go up.

"Bo, I need you to stay calm." Lauren spoke quietly, as she thought to herself, could there possibly be more than one Evony?"

"Sorry." Bo replied, lowering her head, "My head kills."

"Do you feel like you can sit up on your own or lay down without feeling dizzy?" Lauren asked.

"I think I can lay down." Bo said, leaning back as Lauren slid out from behind her, "Whoa… maybe on my side."

"However you're comfortable." Lauren said, opening the first aid kit, pulling on some gloves and opening several packs of gauze. She moved in to look at the damage, taking only a moment to know that she didn't like what she saw. The cuts were deep and would require stitches. She pulled her phone out of her armband and called the ER.

"Who ya callin', Doc?" Kenzi asked.

"I'm calling ahead to the ER so I have a bed for her when we get there." Lauren held up a finger to Kenzi who stuck out her tongue when she saw all of the blood on the gloved hand, "Yes, Helen? This is Doctor Lewis. I'm going to be bringing in a patient in about ten minutes. The ambulance is in route. Female, approximately twenty-five years of age?"

She looked at Kenzi for confirmation. Getting a nod, she continued, "Her name…"

Kenzi whispered her full name,

"Bo Dennis… surfing accident… submerged for at least three minutes… no breathing, no pulse for at least five minutes… yes, resuscitated on site without an AED. She coughed and vomited water for several minutes. She is complaining of fatigue, dizziness and headache. I'd like an X-Ray, MRI and CT Scan when we arrive and I'll need to suture the wounds."

Kenzi watched as the doctor nodded several times, "Thank you Helen, see you soon." Lauren shifted her attention to the coming emergency crew, "Okay, they're all ready and here comes the ambulance. Can you meet us at the hospital?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi nodded, "Do you have any stuff you need?"

"If you could put the AED, my gear and ball back in the team box and grab my jacket and sweats from the sand next to the post, I'd greatly appreciate it. I have my keys and phone right here on my arm."

"Will do, Doc… and… I know I wasn't very nice to you the other night… so… uh… thanks. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."

Lauren just nodded wondering where the hell Evony was and why she hadn't come to the scene of an emergency. Maybe she had seen her tending to Bo? Anyway, thinking of Kenzi's words, she shuddered knowing all too well what would have happened if she hadn't been here. Looking down at the brunette whose blank stare told the doctor she was clearly concussed, she said a prayer to the medical Gods that she was here or it is likely she would have been another statistic at the Banzai Pipeline.

Bo's eyes seemed to gain some sense of reality as she looked at the blonde, "Lauren?"

"I'm here, Bo… you're going to be okay. Just stay awake."

"Stay awake." Bo replied, her eyes never leaving Lauren's as she was pushed into the ambulance.

 _ **PRESENT DAY…**_

"LAUREN!"

"What? Sorry… I was… a… well…"

"You totally zoned out, Lewis. Come on, you can tell me later. We've got an angry coach over there. The nets were cut again." Tamsin said, walking towards the court.

"Yea, surfers are really nice people… they never steal our gear or cut our nets… nice people." Lauren mumbled as she followed her partner.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **TWO DAYS LATER… HOSPITAL**_

Lauren sat on the bench in the women's locker room, pulling her scrub top over her head. She was sore. The workout had been hard and coach had been tough on her today. She really didn't mind since she deserved it. Her concentration had been off thanks to her thoughts of Bo coming to the front of her mind right before they'd started practice. She sighed, pulling her lab coat on, wrapping her stethoscope around her neck and closing her locker, she headed for the ER floor.

She arrived at the Nurses' Station, "Good morning, Helen… all quiet?"

"Actually, you have a visitor." She nodded towards the waiting area where Lauren spied the young Goth girl sitting in the waiting room, her fingers roaming over the screen of her phone.

"Do you know what she wants?" Lauren asked.

"She would only talk to you." Helen replied.

Lauren sighed, "Okay. Do you know if Miss Dennis was discharged?"

Helen's fingers worked quickly across the computer keyboard, "Not yet. She's in Room 314."

"I'll be…" Lauren began but the nurse waved her off,

"I know where to find you if all hell breaks loose."

Lauren smiled and headed towards the young girl. She had a Goth style, that much was apparent. The other day her hair had a streak of pink and today it was purple. She was an interesting one that was for sure.

"You wanted to see me, Kenzi?"

The younger girl looked up, "Oh, hey Doc! How's science?"

Lauren laughed, "It's fine, thank you. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could talk to Bo for me."

"Oh?"

"She wants to discharge herself against doctor's orders. You see, there's this big competition coming up and it's a lot of money and…"

"A surfing competition?" Lauren asked.

"Is there any other kind?" Kenzi replied.

"There are many, many other kinds of competitions, but I'm guessing that was just a sarcastic question and she really does have every intention of surfing in a competition."

"Look, Doctor Fancy Pants. Not everyone has a big degree, a big title and a big job that pays a big salary. Bo relies on placing in competitions to make a living. Winning means endorsements and endorsements mean big money which means she'll be able to retire with enough money to survive a few years after her body can't take the beatings anymore."

"If she goes out there now, she may just end up retired before she can make any more money at all. Haven't you heard that money isn't everything?"

"Easy to say when you have it." Kenzi mumbled.

"You know, you seem to think you know an awful lot about my bank account. You might also have heard you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"I know you banged my sister and never called her again. Besides, what are you? A quote-a-day calendar?"

"No, I just don't appreciate being called away from work to be judged by someone who wants me to… well, I'm not sure exactly what you want me to do. It seems we've gotten off the subject here and, for the record, Bo has my number too."

"Fine. Anyway, what I want… well… as much as I want Bo to be able to go do what she does best, she looks like hell. She's gonna sign herself out and there won't be any way for me to stop her. I was hoping you would go talk to her?"

"Of course." Lauren nodded, and then turned to walk away.

Kenzi called out to her, "Doc?"

Lauren paused, heaving a big sigh. This judgmental little shit was going to get on her last nerve. She turned around,

"Yes, Kenzi?"

"I'm sorry for being such an ass. It's just… Bo's my sister and I wouldn't know where to begin if I lost her."

"Can I ask you something?" Lauren spoke quietly, feeling a little friendlier now that the young girl had apologized.

"I guess."

"Why do you guys surf? I mean… I'm not judging… I'm trying to understand. Why would anyone take on the Banzai Pipeline? It has some of the most dangerous currents in the world and… well… you are only human. I just… I get so many patients from that damn pipeline and… I can't save them all. I just wish…"

"I understand, Doc. Your job is to protect life and you can't understand why anyone would want to risk their life. Well, I can't speak for everyone, but for me… I was raised in these waters… it's in my blood. I was surfing before I could walk or speak in complete sentences. I can't imagine waking up and spending an entire day on land."

Lauren stood still with her hands in her lab coat, "And your sister?"

Kenzi laughed, "Bo was raised like me only she has twice the talent and half the desire. Personally, I think if she could stop fighting waves tomorrow, she would. I mean… don't get me wrong… she loves surfing… but putting her life on the line? Not so much."

"So why doesn't she quit?" Lauren asked, now feeling a little bit hopeful about the possibility of starting something beyond the one nighter she'd spent with the brunette.

Kenzi smiled, "Promise this stays between us? Bo doesn't like when I tell people about our life."

"Promise." Lauren said, crossing her heart with her finger.

"My parents sent us both to college. Bo did her undergraduate degree in business and had gone back to school to get a second degree in engineering. In the same year, our Dad was killed here surfing the pipe and our Mom died in a car accident six months later. That was it."

Lauren's brow furrowed, "That was it? So… how did you end up surfers?"

"Uh… news flash… no parents, no money. Bo dropped out of her Master's Program with one year to go so I could finish my undergraduate degree, but we ran out of money so I had to drop out after my freshman year. We had school loans to pay, so we sold our house to pay off our debt and bought the little beach shack we live in now. We've spent the last four years surfing full time trying to pull enough money together between us to finish our degrees… well… my degree anyway as Bo puts it." Kenzi said.

"Why wouldn't Bo finish her degree?" Lauren asked.

"Because she wants to live her dream. Our parents dying changed her perspective on life."

"Oh?" Lauren was interested to know what drove Bo Dennis. She didn't understand why an attractive young woman who was clearly very intelligent wouldn't find a way to finish her degree… especially in engineering. Maybe Tamsin would introduce her to her boss and help her get an internship at her company?

"Bo believes that life is to short to spend cooped up in a classroom… especially since she already knows enough to do what she wants. She just needs a little capital, ya know?"

"And what is this dream of hers?" Lauren asked, curious about what would get her away from the danger of surfing.

"Well, she makes her own surfboards. I mean… how cool is that? How many surfers make their own boards? They're sweet rides! Well… I mean, she doesn't actually ride her board. She has to ride her sponsor's board… you know… Vex just set her up with these endorsement deals and she finally caved in and started using their boards, but when she's not in a competition, her own boards are still her favorites. I ride her boards. We're trying to get the name out there, but I have to place to get a chance to get the name on camera."

"So, that's her dream? Make surfboards?" Lauren asked, surprised that someone who had the motivation to go for a Master's Degree in Engineering just wanted to make surfboards for a living, although her teammates parents had done the same.

"Oh, more than that. She wants a whole line and the chain of surf shops to go with it."

"You mean like Ocean Pacific?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi laughed, "Yea, but with the boards as the main focus." Kenzi replied, "She wants it to be full service. Provide lessons, tours of the island, clothing, boards, everything."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Well, that's ambitious."

"Bo's other new life philosophy… go big or go home." Kenzi smiled.

"And that's exactly where I'm going!" Bo called to her sister, "Let's go Kenz. We're outta here."

Lauren turned to see her former patient sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by a volunteer. The two locked eyes, pausing for a moment before Bo finally broke the silence,

"Hey, Doc. I just want to say thanks again for saving my life. Uh… well… yea." Bo wanted to ask Lauren to call her, but she'd already asked her to do that once and the blonde had never called. She'd stopped in to check on her a few times, but wasn't that because it was her job? Technically she was no longer her patient, but… well… she just didn't know.

Lauren replied, "Bo, I'm just glad I was there. So, uh… where are you going? Doctor Alakai said he wasn't discharging you for another forty-eight hours."

"Well, he's wrong. I'm fine, so I signed myself out. It's a free country no matter how far away from the White House you get." Bo said with what Lauren could only describe as an unsteady confidence in her own words. It seemed Bo was trying to convince herself she was fine. Maybe she really could talk her into staying.

"That's true, but you do realize that not only do you not have a medical degree to be able to make the decision yourself, but you are clearly lacking the perspective to make the right choice here."

"And how is that, Doc?" Bo asked, seemingly offended.

"Well, if you realized the truth of why Doctor Alakai would not discharge you, then you would still be in your bed."

Bo crossed her arms over her chest, "And what truth is that, Doctor?"

"You died, Bo." Lauren said, quietly but with all of the sincerity she could muster.

"Well, I didn't really die." Bo said, "I'm here, aren't I?"

"No breathing, no pulse for at least five minutes is death, Bo. You were dead and you want to get out of here, get out of that chair and get back on that damn pipeline. Just remember, I don't workout in that location every day. My being there was pure damn luck. Sooner or later, every surfer's luck runs out. I know… I've seen it first hand. There have been plenty just like you that haven't come off of my table alive. If you leave now, you're a fool."

The blonde's anger took Bo by surprise, "Lauren…" Bo called out to the blonde who instead turned to her sister and spoke,

"The rest is up to her, Kenzi. If she is stubborn enough to go home, at least make sure she follows the discharge order. I'm sure she's not cleared to surf for at least two weeks."

"That's not happening." Bo grumbled.

Lauren's head snapped towards Bo, "You do what you want and remember… I did my job. If you want to waste all of my hard work and go out there when you are not well enough to surf, fine. Go ahead and get yourself killed. Just remember that I warned you."

"I'm not getting myself killed." Bo insisted.

Lauren sighed in frustration, "Well then, may the surf Gods be with you while you practice your religion. Just remember… this isn't just about you. How do you think your sister would feel if anything happened to you because earning some cash prize meant more to you than being here on this earth for her."

Lauren looked back to Kenzi, "I'm sorry. I really hope she at least stays out of the water for your sake, but it would be best if she went back up to her room and got back in the damn bed where we can monitor her head injury and her lungs. She really isn't out of the woods yet. Take care, Kenzi."

Kenzi's eyes welled up as she watched Lauren walk away. She looked down at her sister, allowing the tears to flow freely before she turned and walked towards the exit. Bo reached up to try to grab her hand,

"Kenzi!"

The younger girl kept walking as her arms waved and she yelled, "The Doc is right! You care more about your damn bank account than your life or mine!"

She stopped, wiping her tears before she turned around, "Have you thought one minute what I felt watching her do CPR on you, Bo? Do you have any idea what it was like for me to sit in this ER… the very same hospital where we both sat waiting for the bad news about Dad and then Mom, too? I thought I was going to be left here all alone and now… now you're going to go right back out there and try to compete when not one, but TWO doctors are telling you it's not safe for you right now!"

Bo hung her head, knowing her sister was right. She looked over across the hallway where the doctor was doing patient charts. Moving her hand to her lips, she remembered the feel of the doctor's mouth on hers as she awoke from the darkness... she remembered the sound of Kenzi screaming… the sound of the engine from the wave runner on the surface… Dyson's voice screaming for her… the memory of panic as she was rolled over and over again, unable to find the surface… a rock… pain… more pain… no air… Kenzi… I'm dying… I'm sorry…

"Miss Dennis?" The volunteer called to Bo, but got no response, "Dr. Lewis?"

Lauren looked up, noticing Bo was not moving. She walked quickly to her side, kneeling down in front of her, "Bo?"

She lifted a light to her eyes, "Pupils reactive."

She clapped her hands loudly in front of Bo's face, "BO!"

The brunette's eyes moved to Lauren's face, tears welling in her eyes, "I died, Lauren."

Lauren sighed, "You did. But you're alive now."

Bo moved her eyes towards the exit, "Kenzi."

Lauren looked up at the redheaded volunteer and nodded towards the exit. The woman smiled and moved to go get Kenzi, while the doctor looked back at Bo,

"Bo? The volunteer will go get Kenzi. Do you want to go back to your room?" Lauren asked, holding her breath.

The brunette looked up at Lauren, a tear trailing down her cheek,

"You brought me back from the dead. I… I remember everything. I… I was in the pipe… it was the ride of my life… I was surrounded by water… it was so quiet… I mean, I've been inside the pipe before, but this was different… it was… calm, quiet, blue-green, my board felt like it was on glass… and then… Evony..."

Kenzi's voice pulled her from her thoughts, "Yea, that ass wipe didn't give up the wave."

Bo looked at her sister, "I almost hit her… I steered out of the pipe so I wouldn't cut her in half… broke through the wall, into the whitewater… I tried to ditch back into the wave, but lost my board. It got caught… I was in the washing machine…"

Lauren looked at Kenzi, "Hallucinations?"

"No, Doc. The washing machine is something my Dad called it when you landed in the white water of a big wave. You just go around and around without being able to tell which way is up and which way is down. The current pulls you wherever it wants. We were taught to avoid the washer at all costs… people die in the washer."

Bo's eyes were glazed over as she spoke, looking at the floor, "It was just like Dad described. Next thing I knew, I saw a rock or reef… I'm not really sure. There was no way to avoid it. I was just like a rag doll. The current threw me into the rock once, then twice. I finally saw the light and tried to swim up, but the rip was too strong and I was too tired. I had no air left… I knew… I knew then and there… that was it… it was over…"

She looked up at her sister, "I thought of you, Kenz… I was so sorry… I… I didn't want to leave you alone… I…"

Kenzi knelt down in front of her sister, "You didn't. The Doc here saved the day. You're here and we're still together. Livin' the dream, right?"

Bo gave her a half smile, "The dream… right." Her voice was quiet as she looked up at Lauren, "Can you take me back to my room, please?"

Lauren smiled, "Of course, Bo. Just stay here with Kenzi and let me make sure it's still up for grabs."

"Right. Thanks." Bo replied.

Lauren turned to walk away as she heard Kenzi talking to her sister, "This is the right decision, Bo. You can recover fully before you get back out there. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Bo looked at Kenzi, "Get back out there. Right."

Lauren looked over at her patient, then to the desk nurse, "Violet, Miss Dennis will be staying after all. Is her previous room still available?"

"No, Doctor Lewis. We're almost up to capacity right now. That's how she ended up on the cardiac floor to being with."

Lauren noticed that Bo was quiet… withdrawn even, "It's okay. Do we have anything on the 2nd floor?"

"You want to put her on the psych floor?" Violet asked.

"I think so. I think I'm going to have her see Doctor Santiago." Lauren replied.

"That new guy that's working with your team?" she smiled, "I saw him in the gym the other day… I may be older, but I'm not dead yet." She fanned herself with a patient file grinning ear to ear.

"I know, he's hot but he's also a great psychiatrist and the work he's doing with athletes shows great promise. I have a feeling Miss Dennis is going to need a little help getting back on the proverbial horse."

Violet's eyes went wide, "Why, Doctor Lewis, you're actually going to help a surfer get back out on the waves?"

Lauren sighed, "Against my better judgment…" She looked over at the surfer sisters, "… yes. Far be it from me to stand between a girl and her dream."

In the few short discussions she had managed to have with Bo the last two days, Lauren had learned that surfing was a part of who Bo was and to take that away from her would change the very essence of the woman. Despite her own fears, Lauren knew she needed to support Bo's journey back to the waves. She took a deep breath and turned to the station nurse who was handling a new bracelet for the re-admitted patient. As she went to go towards Bo, Lauren stopped her,

"I've got this Violet. I think I'm going to stick with her for a bit. When she woke up at the accident site, she remembered things with some degree of clarity. Now it seems as though she's waking up to the events all over again. I want to make sure there's nothing going on with her brain that we missed."

Violet nodded, "Of course, Dr. Lewis. Would you like me to page Doctor Santiago?"

"Yes, please. I'll meet him in the room. If you could please have him review her chart before he comes in?"

"Yes, Doctor Lewis."

"Thank you, Violet."

"No problem, Doctor."

Lauren smiled and moved to the two sisters. She leaned down and placed the new bracelet around Bo's wrist, "Welcome back, Miss Dennis."

Bo looked up, "Thank you… and… Doctor Lewis?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you… really… for being there when I needed you."

"I'll always be grateful that I was, Miss Dennis." Lauren replied.

Bo smiled, "Please. I like it when you call me Bo."

Lauren blushed, "Whatever makes you comfortable. Now, let's get you settled. I hope you weren't too terribly fond of your room. I'm afraid its been taken."

Bo gave her a sad smile. She wasn't really feeling much like herself, but she didn't want to be rude, "Well, I was pretty attached to the scenic view."

The doctor smiled, "Well, speaking of scenic view, the room you're going to actually has an oceanfront view. You'll be able to see those waves you love so much right from your bed if you crank the blinds open."

Bo froze, thinking about the wave that had given her such peace one moment, then absolute darkness the next. She nodded politely as Lauren wheeled her towards the elevator with Kenzi following behind.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi unpacked Bo's suitcase while her sister changed back into a hospital gown and settled into bed. Lauren had gone out to the nurses' station to get everything set up for her re-admitted patient.

"You okay, BoBo? You've been awfully quiet."

Bo stared out the window at the huge waves of the North Beach surging onto shore. It was high tide… she'd know that surf anywhere, "You know, the term killer waves has taken on a whole new meaning for me."

Kenzi looked up at her sister, and then to where she was looking, "High tide brings killer waves. You're remembering a lot of Dad's lessons today."

"It seems fitting, right? I survive what killed him in the same month of the year?"

"Whoa. Are you talking about Karma? Bo, the ocean didn't reach up and grab you. Evony fucked up and you paid the price."

"Yea, almost with my life." Bo replied before turning to look out the window. She looked out at the large waves of the Banzai Pipeline about two miles out. Maybe the Doc was right. Lying here now, it did look kind of crazy that anyone would go floating around out there on a piece of wood. She turned back to Kenzi. Looking up at her little sister, she spoke without making eye contact,

"Can you close the curtain?"

"You have this gorgeous view and you want to sit in the dark?" Kenzi asked.

"Uh… I… uh have a bit of a headache. Concussions and light sensitivity, right?" Bo smiled softly, laying back in bed and turning on her side away from the window.

"Okay." Kenzi replied, doing as she was asked.

Bo exhaled a deep breath, "Thanks. I think I'm going to sleep for a bit if that's all right. I feel a little tired."

"Sure thing, BoBo. I'm gonna go hit the cafeteria. I'm a little hungry." Kenzi said, leaning down to kiss her sister on the side of her head, "Sleep tight. I'll be back soon to check in on you."

Bo chuckled internally at her sister's appetite, but she didn't have enough energy to speak. She listened as the door shut, and then closed her eyes wanting to block out the world for as long as she could.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren had stepped out to give the sisters some privacy while she waited for her friend and colleague, Doctor Hale Santiago. As he approached, she smiled,

"Hi Hale! How are you?" Lauren asked.

"Well, I'm fine, my fine sideline swinger." Hale smiled, giving Lauren a hug.

Lauren laughed, "Actually, I wasn't hitting the sideline at all this morning at practice."

"We'll work on that at this week's session. Was that stubborn ass partner of yours bitchin' at you or was she using her words when you missed?"

The blonde laughed, "What do you think?"

"Change takes time but with Tamsin, I'm afraid it's going to take more time than have years in my life."

Lauren laughed again, "You may be right about that. So, I was hoping you could help me with a patient. I brought her in via ambo a few days ago. She tried to discharge herself against Doctor's orders but about thirty minutes ago, she checked back in voluntarily."

"That's a pretty bad case of whiplash there." Hale said, scratching his head, "So, what was she in for originally?"

Lauren sighed, "Well… uh… she's a surfer and she went under down at the pipe. I pulled her out, did CPR, she came back, transported her, stitched her up and transferred her to neuro under Doctor Alakai. Lab results demonstrated the cause of cardiac and respiratory arrest was hypoxemia resulting in wet drowning with approximately 3.5 cc's of water in the lungs."

"Well, since about 80% of drownings are wet drownings, I'm not surprised about those test results." Hale replied, nodding, "How are her lungs? Any signs of pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome?"

"So far, her lungs are recovering nicely considering she drowned in salt water." Lauren replied.

Kenzi chose that time to walk out of Bo's room, "What does it matter that Bo drowned in salt water or a glass of water? Isn't drowning just drowning?"

Lauren sighed, kicking herself for not taking Hale to a private area to talk, "Actually, there are many differences between drowning victims. Didn't Doctor Alakai explain that to you?"

"To tell you the truth, Doc he was speaking a foreign language and I didn't have the heart to tell him to speak normal English like the rest of us. Now, who is this fine looking specimen of a man?" Kenzi eyed Dr. Santiago up and down shamelessly.

Lauren almost coughed, caught off guard by Kenzi's blatant actions, "This is Doctor Hale Santiago."

"All Hale the great Doctor Santiago!" Kenzi raised her hands over her head and bowed, "See what I did there? All Hale? Get it?"

"I've got it." Hale smiled, "And you're not too bad a specimen either little one."

"Hey! I'm not a little one. I'm at least as old as you!" Kenzi replied before turning to Lauren, "Now will you please tell me if my BoBo is okay? In English please?"

"Kenzi, your sister was a victim of what is called wet drowning. In short, it means that when she went under, she held her breath voluntarily. Eventually, her larynx or windpipe would have gone into spasm and she would develop hypoxemia, which means there wasn't enough oxygen in her blood. Without oxygen, she became acidotic causing her brain, heart and lungs to shut down. Once that happens, the larynx will either relax allowing water into the lungs or remain in spasm preventing water from entering. Do you remember that Bo coughed up water and then vomited?"

"Yea, I was so relieved to see her take a breath." Kenzi said quietly.

"Well, when water gets in, it's called wet drowning and when it doesn't, it's dry drowning. It doesn't take much water to cause problems in the lungs. Now, Bo drowned in salt water. The smallest parts of our lungs are called alveoli and they're covered in a chemical called surfactant. This chemical helps alveoli to open and close easily when we breathe. In fresh water, surfactant is damaged and then alveoli break down and can't open and close to breathe."

"And in salt water?" Kenzi asked.

"The surfactant is washed away all together, so…"

"There's no way for oxygen to get in." Kenzi finished for Lauren, "So is the damage permanent? I mean, can BoBo get her chemical back?"

"The risks for Bo are numerous, Kenzi. First, the hypoxemia may have caused damage to brain tissue that we have not recognized yet. Extreme fatigue, repeated headaches, seizures, memory loss, concentration difficulties and other symptoms may develop later and may become persistent. Right now, we just can't tell what is from the grade three concussion and what is from the loss of oxygen to the brain."

"She's been sleeping a lot." Kenzi replied.

"Well, that is to be expected. Another concern is the lung damage. As I was telling Doctor Santiago, we haven't ruled out pneumonia or ARDS."

"What's that?" Kenzi asked.

"Acute respiratory distress syndrome. There are some things that can result from this condition such as fluid in the lungs and blood clots, but hopefully she will recover without either of these conditions."

Lauren looked up at Hale who sighed, turning to Kenzi, "The truth is, if your sister had left the hospital today, she probably would have ended up right back here in a few hours… possibly for the last time, little one. Her condition is serious. The brain doesn't like not having oxygen and our lungs don't like having water in them. She may have a few hours where she feels okay and think she's fine, but then she'll do a one-eighty and feel like she can't get a breath."

Kenzi nodded, "Like she did before you put her back in here."

The blonde nodded, adding, "She needs to be here, Kenzi. We can treat her with breathing therapies, medicines and rest. Most of all, if she should have a seizure, a breathing emergency or a cardiac event, she is in the right place to have the best chance for survival."

Kenzi looked between the two doctors, "So, she really isn't out of the woods yet? You weren't just saying that to scare her into staying?"

Lauren shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kenzi. I wish we could say that she'll be fine, but the truth is, we need time to know that for sure. The very worst place she could be right now is in the water. She could have an event that would lead to her having problems breathing or losing consciousness and… well, I don't have to tell you what could happen if any of that occurred while she was surfing the pipe."

"I think we've done that already… no reruns needed, Doc." Kenzi looked up at Hale, "So, are you some kind of lung doctor who's going to help my sister?"

Hale smiled, "Actually, I'm a psychiatrist. I'm here to help your sister's mind. She's got a rough road behind and ahead. I'm here to help her handle both directions."

Kenzi looked up at Lauren, "She's not gonna like having a shrink walk into her room."

Lauren nodded, "Maybe so, but when you came back into the hospital, did you notice that she had sort of… well… zoned out?"

Kenzi paused for a moment, "I thought she was just pissed about staying."

"She was remembering what happened, Kenzi…. details about her accident… about the moments before she experienced darkness. It's quite traumatic for anyone. I don't care who you are or how brave you may be… the realization that you've died and come back is never easy."

Hale smiled, "That's where I come in, little mamma. I'll get your sister's head back in the game."

Kenzi's eyes went wide, "You think my BoBo's lost her mojo?"

Lauren looked confused, but Hale just smiled, "You just leave her mojo to me. I helped the doc find hers and I'll do the same for your sister."

"The doc's got mojo?" Kenzi said, looking curiously at Lauren.

"The woman's got a sideline smack down like you've never seen. She's gonna bring home a gold medal to the good 'ol U.S. of A!"

Kenzi looked at the doctor, "You've been holding out on me, Doc! You're an Olympian?"

Lauren shuffled her feet, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her lab coat, "Why yes, yes I am."

"What sport? Figure skating?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren's brow furled, "What? No! I play beach volleyball. Don't you remember me giving you the key to the gear box to get the first aid kit and AED?"

"Wow. So… you can get me and BoBo front row seats to the gold medal match?" Kenzi asked excitedly.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We haven't even gotten to Rio yet." Lauren replied.

"Rio? We're going to Rio?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to the young woman. Yes, she was going to Rio, but she wasn't sure how Kenzi was getting there. On the other hand, it would be nice to have someone there to cheer her on. Her brother was on the run thanks to some questionable acts with an environmental group and her parents had been gone since she was young.

She thought back to what Kenzi had assumed about her wealth. The young woman had no idea that she had been left to live with her Aunt when she was ten years old or that her Aunt worked three jobs to pay rent, put food on the table and keep the lights on. She had no idea that it was endless hours of studying that had earned her the scholarships that had gotten her into college at age sixteen, or that those scholarships were from the ROTC with the promise to be a physician in the military for five years after medical school. She had come home, gotten a job, tried out for Team USA and bought her house all in about a month.

"Doc? You okay?" Kenzi tapped Lauren on the arm.

"Uh… yes, sorry. I was just thinking."

"Doctor Lewis? You're needed in the ER." Violet called out.

"On my way, Vi." Lauren replied turning back to Kenzi and Hale, "I take it you can introduce Doctor Santiago to your sister? I've got to tend to an emergency."

"Go save lives, Doc. It's what you do best." Kenzi smiled, "And thanks."

"You're welcome, Kenzi. I'll check in on Bo later."

"Thank you. I'm due at the beach in an hour or so." Kenzi replied.

Lauren froze, "You're going to go surf?"

Kenzi raised her hands over her head, "Have you not been listening, Doc? I don't have a choice! I'm in the same competition Bo was going to. If I don't place, we have no money to pay her hospital bill. Look, I don't expect you to understand, but Bo will and that's all that matters."

Kenzi went to turn away, but Lauren grabbed her forearm,

"Bo needs you here, Kenzi. The last thing she needs right now is you getting injured too. She stayed for you… don't you think you should stay for her?"

Kenzi shook her head, "No, I think we should both do what we can do for Bo. I'm leaving so she can afford to stay here so YOU can make her well. So, take your fancy lab coat and your fancy degrees and save my sister. I'm going to take my fine ass out to the pipe and use my fancy moves to pay your fancy salary."

Lauren didn't get a chance to reply. She could only watch as Kenzi stormed away to Bo's door so she could say goodbye to her sister. Lauren huffed and turned back to Hale,

"I have to go to the ER." She ran a hand down Hale's arm, giving him a nod, then turned towards the elevators.

"Don't worry about all that, Doc."

Lauren nodded to Hale who watched her head for the lift. When she turned around after stepping on, he smiled and said, "See ya later, Doc," before the doors closed.

Hale stood scratching his head, "Women are more complex than I'll ever understand." Doctor Santiago turned towards his new patient's room, "Well, here goes nothing."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi sat on the chair with her head on Bo's bed, watching her sister sleep. She looked up at the monitors Lauren had attached her to, wondering what all of the lines, numbers and sounds meant.

"You know, when Mom and Dad were here, you sat in the waiting room with me and held my hand… it's only me now, Bo… I'm here all alone. Doc told me some scary stuff and… well… I'm scared, Bo. I can't lose you. You're all I have left. You've got to get better, all right? I've got no one to hold my hand."

Kenzi turned her head, placing her face in her hand as she choked back the tears of worry. It was only a moment later that she felt a soft hand in her own,

"You're not alone, Kenzi. Dr. Lewis and I are going to be right here with you fighting to help your sister recover, okay?"

The young raven-haired woman raised her eyes to meet the young doctor's, "Thanks."

She looked back at Bo, "Do you really think that you guys can fix her?"

Hale laughed, "She's not a car, so she doesn't need fixing. She's a person and she needs healing. Having and feeling love around her will do nothing but help the healing process."

Kenzi looked at the time on her phone, "I really can't stay. I know Lauren doesn't understand, but I hope you will. I really have to go and do this. We really have no money, Doctor Santiago. I mean… Bo's made some big bank the last four events, but we have expenses and we feed these two funds – a business fund and college fund – with not option for using the money even when things are tight. Everything we have is invested in hopes of growing our money to start Bo's dream business and put me through school."

Hale nodded, "I really wish you wouldn't worry so much about the bill, Kenzi. Some things are more important than money."

"Easy to say when you're a doctor and you have it." Kenzi replied.

Hale shook his head, "You know, it's not my story to tell so I won't say much but you really should give Lauren a break. She's not who you think she is."

Kenzi propped her head up on her hand, "And who do you think I think she is?"

"Well, you called her fancy more than once and mentioned paying her fancy salary. So you obviously think she is wealthy… so… like I said, she's not who you think she is."

"Fine." Kenzi replied, looking back to her sister who had started to move, "Is she in pain?"

"I don't know. When she wakes up, I'll ask her. If she is, I'll give her what I can but with her particular injuries, we need to be careful about using pain meds because of the condition of her brain."

Kenzi nodded, "Okay, well… I've gotta go to work." She stood and smiled, "Thanks for looking out for her."

"You're welcome. I'll do everything I can to help your sister heal."

Kenzi placed a light kiss on her sister's forehead and walked to the door. Looking back, she opened the door and then left. Hale turned to his patient, opened the chart and recorded the numbers on the monitor. Sitting back in the chair, he looked down and noticed five surfing magazines. He knew Bo's medical file, but he didn't really know much about Bo's world. He picked up the top magazine and settled in to begin his education in one Bo Dennis, Professional Surfer.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **Two Weeks Later…**_

"LEWIS! That's the fourth time you've missed that line! That is your kill shot! Drop and give me twenty!"

Lauren picked up at handful of sand and threw it down, "Fudge!"

She dropped to the sand and did twenty push ups, feeling her coach's eyes on her the entire time.

"Count 'em out!" He yelled.

Lauren began to count while Tamsin watched from the net, hands on her hips wiping the sweat from her brow. Her partner was really off her game today and she wasn't sure why. The last two weeks Lauren had been unwilling to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her. Tamsin had called the team psychiatrist, Dr. Hale Santiago and asked him to speak with her. She had grown frustrated when he told her that he had been talking to Lauren and that Tamsin just needed to be patient with her because she was dealing with a rough case at the hospital.

Tamsin watched as the coach walked over to Lauren who was on her knees, brushing the sand off of her body.

"Get your head in the game, Lewis! I don't know what's going on with you, but whatever it is has no place on this court. You are too close to your goals to let anything interfere with this now. Let's go… up on your feet and lay those hits down that line like I know you can!"

The assistant coach on the other side of the net moved the ball carrier to the net and tossed the ball over to Tamsin. The blonde set the ball to Lauren who focused on her approach, jumped and powered through the ball.

"OUT! Come on Lewis!"

Lauren walked back her sideline and watched for the next ball, set… spike… miss… set… spike… miss.

"AAAGGGHHHHHH!" Lauren screamed, her fists in her own face as her frustration grew.

"Coach? Can you take five so I can talk to Lewis?" Hale's voice sounded across the sand. Lauren hung her head, knowing that her team doctor had probably seen every miss.

"Well, she's not doing us any good like she is. Sure… take her… and fix her damn head!"

Tamsin approached her partner, "Lauren…"

"Save it, Tamsin." Lauren turned and walked to Hale who handed her a towel and led towards the bench.

As Lauren moved to sit down, Hale spoke up,

"Let's walk… you don't sit well."

Lauren only nodded and moved to walk next to Hale. It was quite a while before Hale finally spoke,

"So are you going to tell me what's going on? It seems like you're frustrating the hell out of coach."

Lauren shook her head, "I can't seem to hit the line shots today. Everything goes out of bounds. I did my mental check of my take off, ball height, strike point, follow through… I don't know."

"Now you know I'm not talking about your skills, Doc. I'm talking about your head. Where are you?"

The blonde was at a loss, "I don't know, Hale. I'm just… I don't know. I'm just so… so… angry!"

"About what… or who?" Hale asked.

"I don't know." Lauren said quietly.

"Really? You have no idea?"

"None."

"Interesting, Doc, cause I coulda sworn you've been angry and off your game ever since a certain brunette washed up on your beach… about… right… here."

Hale came to a stop in the exact spot where Lauren had pulled Bo from the water… or at least he thought it was the spot based on what Kenzi had told him. Over the last two weeks, Kenzi and Hale had grown closer, as the younger Dennis sister shared Bo's life story so that her psychiatrist could get a better handle on what was holding the older sister back in their sessions.

Hale watched Lauren carefully as she stood watching the largest waves of the pipe curling, rolling and crashing a good distance from where they stood on the shore. She looked down at the spot where Bo had washed up and crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on in your head, Doc?" Hale asked, remaining by her side.

"They're going to get themselves killed, Hale."

He shook his head, "Kenzi just took third place in the last two competitions and fifth in the one before that. She's making good money and the two of them are happy. Their bills are paid including the hospital bill for us 'fancy doctors' and Bo's condition is improving steadily. The blood clot scare from two weeks ago is handled, her physical therapy is progressing nicely and she is feeling like she may be ready to get back on a board."

Lauren shrugged, "And you think that's okay?"

"What? Bo getting back on a board?"

"Of course!" Lauren snapped.

"It's who she is, Doc. It's what she does. Who am I to tell her she shouldn't do what she loves?" Hale asked.

"Because it's not safe!" Lauren said, turning to face her team's sports psychologist for the first time.

Hale had to admit that he was surprised to see tears in the Doc's eyes, but it also confirmed his suspicions.

"Doc, talk to me. Please. I want to help you, but I can't do that if you continue to walk around in this state of silent doom."

Lauren stared down at her feet, then raised her eyes to the water, "She died here, Hale. I mean… I've had a lot of surfers in my ER, but it was the first time I actually saw one wash up on the beach. If you could have heard the panic in Kenzi's voice… the roar of the ocean that day… the feeling of utter emptiness in her chest as I did compressions… I just… I can't get the look of her blue face and lips out of my head. I know she's alive, but I just can't shake it."

Hale nodded, "Lauren, what you are failing to realize is that while we're treating Bo for her Post-Traumatic Stress, you went through the same ordeal. It was a shared experience."

Lauren shook her head, "It wasn't shared! She wasn't with me that day! She was somewhere else! We were two people separated by darkness!"

Hale's face held nothing but confusion as his friend turned away. His gut feeling was telling him that there was something more to what was going on here. Lauren's reaction had hints of some event from her past, but what? They had shared their life stories and he knew everything… didn't he?

"You said you were set on helping Bo get back on the board… that surfing was a large part of what made her who she was. Are you saying you don't believe that anymore?"

Lauren's eyes filled with tears as she stood in silence.

"You love her, don't you." Hale asked, though it was more a statement of fact.

Lauren turned to him, "I… I've only known her for two months, Hale."

"But you've spent a lot of time with her when Kenzi was away. I'd love to say the two of you have become very close friends, but I sense there's more than that. Care to share?"

Lauren hesitated, "We had a one night stand… it was before her accident. It really surprised me that I'd slept with a surfer let alone spent an entire night into the morning with one… Hale… it was amazing. We promised we would call each other, but… well…"

"Two stubborn women with two very hectic training schedules equals no further contact." Hale summarized.

Lauren nodded, "I care about her, Hale… I don't know how to label it… I just know I don't want anything to happen to her."

Lauren turned to face him, her eyes full of tears and fear, "I'm terrified of losing her and she's not even mine."

She watched as Hale waved his hand and then pulled out his phone. Lauren looked at him confused as his cell phone rang,

"Hi Bo… hold on a second…"

Hale held out his phone, "Did I mention that I bought Bo a pair of binoculars last week so she could watch the pipe surfers… well, Kenzi… and it just so happens that she can see Team USA training as well."

Lauren's eyes went wide as Hale wiggled the phone in the air, urging her to take it, "She's waiting, Lauren."

The blonde sighed before holding the phone up to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey, Doc! Taking a little break from training?"

"Uh… well… I a…"

The sounds of Bo's laugh brought a smile to Lauren's face, "You're missing your line shots and your coach is grinding your ass. When are you going to lay that shot down and put it in his face? There is no better player out there, Lauren. Show him, okay?"

Lauren's eyes welled with tears. She'd never had anyone in her corner who wasn't attached to the team.

"Lauren?"

"Yea?"

"Did you hear me?" Bo asked.

"I did… I just… I don't know what I'm doing wrong, Bo. I just…"

"Lauren, why do you play volleyball? I mean… look over at the court and think about it. Why do you play?"

"I've been playing since I was a kid… I love it. The suspense of the play until a final hit settles the point. To do that point after point… getting down and dirty in the sand, going for saves you don't think you can get and then you do… I don't know… I just love the game."

"Okay then… look over to your left down the beach… do you see the group that is barbecuing?"

Lauren nodded, "Yes."

"I want you to pretend they are all your friends and you're out there for a beach picnic. You're just gonna play a little volleyball against some friends."

"There's no one on the other side of the net, Bo." Lauren replied.

"There will be. Come see me after practice?" Bo asked, shyly.

Lauren smiled, "I'd love to, Bo."

"Good. Se you then." Bo said, hanging up the phone.

Lauren suddenly realized what Bo had said before asking her to come and see her, "Wait! Bo? What do you mean there will be?"

The phone was dead. She looked up at Hale, "She's invited people to play against us?"

Hale smiled, "Bo Dennis is a big name in the surf world, Lauren. And you may not believe it, but not all big name volleyball players are anti-surfer. Some actually follow the sport… especially some of the big name retirees."

Hale nodded towards the two people now walking towards them. Lauren's mouth dropped open as they extended their hands, to shake hers. She stood still, causing them to laugh and withdrawal their hands.

"Well, well… we finally get to meet the owner of the Lewis smackdown! Let's see how much power you've really got, little girl."

"Ignore my former USA teammate. We're just looking for a little game and we hear you and Tamsin can use a scrimmage."

Lauren's mouth was hanging open, her ability to speak seemingly gone. Hale laughed, "I think she's totally fan-girling right now. Maybe introduce yourselves first?"

The taller man held out his hand, "Hi Lauren. I'm Casey Jennings."

"I-I… know…" Lauren took his hand, shaking it, "I've watched about every match you ever played in. You helped me develop my hit."

"I'm Misty May Treanor, Lauren."

"I know… I just… this is like a dream. I mean… you're the reason I'm even on Team USA. If you hadn't retired, I wouldn't have had this opportunity. Thank you so much!"

Misty laughed, "Well, I guess you're welcome then. You just make sure we hold onto that medal podium, okay?"

Lauren smiled, "We'll do our best."

Casey smiled, "So, we're friends with Bo Dennis. We just stopped by to see her in the hospital and she was watching you play with binoculars. We saw you were having problems with that massive hit of yours, so she asked us to pop over here and give you a little scrimmage. She thinks too many drills and not enough playing is getting into your head. Wanna give it a try?"

"You mean… play against you guys? Oh. My. God. That would be a dream come true!" Lauren said, excited, but then frowned, "I'm not so sure my coach would…"

Misty placed a soft hand on Lauren's arm, "Let us worry about coach. Go tell Tamsin to get herself ready to play. One game to twenty-one, winner buys dinner."

Lauren smiled, "We're having dinner? But I told Bo I would stop by…"

"She knows and you're going to bring her a plate. She said she's sick to death of hospital food."

Lauren smiled, "I know. I snuck some ice cream into her the other day, against my better judgement."

Casey smiled, "She told us. She's really sweet on you, Doc."

Lauren's eyes went wide causing Misty to smile, "Oh come on, you had to know."

The blonde smiled, "I guess I suspected, but we really haven't talked about it. I'm really just trying to focus on her recovery."

"So… we know you can't talk much about her case with HIPPA laws and all, but can you give us a hint about when we'll get to see her back out there?" Casey asked, nodding towards the ocean.

Lauren looked at Hale who replied, "We think that's pretty much up to Bo now. As for her discharge, it should be the end of the week as long as her physical therapist and respiratory therapist agree to discharge her."

The pair smiled as Casey responded, "Good to hear. Hopefully her team will be able to get her back on her board soon."

Lauren gave a less than enthusiastic, "Yea, right."

"Come on then, let's play!" Casey said, jogging towards the court with the two women and Hale right behind.

The pair headed straight for the coach shaking his hand and giving him hugs while Lauren moved to Tamsin,

"We have a scrimmage, partner!" Lauren smiled.

"Oh. My. God. Casey Jennings and Misty-May Treanor? Are you shittin' me?"

"I'm not! As long as coach doesn't rain on our parade… and… we have dinner afterwards! Winner buys!"

Tamsin smiled, "That either means they know how financially strapped Olympians are so they know we'll let them win or they know how much better than us they are so they're going to win and then buy for us because they feel sorry for us."

Lauren smiled, "Or… they could be nervous about playing Team Slamsin and they're set on us buying and earning our Team USA stripes by buying the old folks dinner?"

Tamsin smiled, "Good idea, Lewis. Let's beat these old folks and send 'em back to the home. We can buy them some Ensure for dinner."

Lauren laughed looking forward to the scrimmage. The coach walked over to them, "Okay you two… let's see what you've got. Lewis, let's see if you can finally hit a line shot today."

Tamsin had enough, "Hey coach, why don't you just go over there and sit down and relax. Let Lauren and I play our game and focus on each other."

The coach frowned and began to speak, but Tamsin gripped his arm and waved Hale over, "I'm not asking, Coach. I'm telling you. If you don't stop riding Lewis' ass at practice, I'm going to report you to the staff office for harassment. She's going through a rough spot… she is actually excited about playing this match and you walking up to her and talking down to her about one of many shots she has to make in a match is not going to help her head at all. Stick to coaching mechanics and leave the mind coaching to her partner and the guy the USA Head Office hired to do the job."

"I…" He went to speak, but Hale placed a hand on the man's forearm,

"I agree with Tamsin, coach and I will support such action. You are a detriment to the team in your coaching tactics right now. Considering you are coaching all three USA teams, I'm beginning to get a bit concerned that you may intentionally be trying to sabotage your number two team here."

"I would never…" He began, but Tamsin interrupted.

"Oh yes you would. You've been coaching those girls for almost a decade now. We're the new kids and you clearly favor your veterans. Well, guess what… all veteran players eventually get replaced… just ask the two on the other side of the net. At least they bowed out gracefully and didn't try to have a coach try to stack the odds in their favor… of course, I don't think our number one pair is doing that, are they? As a matter of fact, I think if you invited them to one of our practices, they'd be pretty appalled by the way you treat Lauren, wouldn't they?"

The man remained silent as Tamsin added one final point, "Look. It's quite obvious that you don't like having to run practices around Lauren's hospital schedule, but for crying out loud, she's saving lives. It's not her fault that her bitch of a boss won't work with Team USA. Have you even tried asking her?"

The man cringed, lowering his head, "Okay, let's play."

Tamsin and Hale looked at the man, shouting to him, "Lachlan! Get back here."

He walked back, eyes downcast as Tamsin asked, "What does Evony have on you?"

"She's my ex-wife. She scheduling Lauren to make my life miserable!" He replied.

Tamsin laughed, "Now I see why you're divorced. And just to see how tangled the web really is… what has Lauren so tied up in knots is a patient that your ex-wife almost killed while she was surfing. Lauren's got a little PTSD from bringing a world famous pro surfer back to life."

The man almost choked, "Wait… Lauren is the one who saved Bo Dennis? Evony hates her guts because she and her sister pushed her out of the world qualifying events."

"And the puzzle pieces begin to come together." Tamsin sighed, running her hands over her hat before pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes, "What a tangled web we weave indeed. Let's play."

Everyone turned and walked towards the court where Lauren, Casey and Misty were laughing about something at the net. Tamsin smiled knowing her partner was already visibly loosening up. She joined them at the net, shook hands, played rock, paper, scissors for serve and started the game.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren carefully opened Bo's door, carrying a plate of food and a bottle of iced tea. She noticed Bo's bed was propped up a bit in a position she had only been using if she'd had a headache. She was immediately concerned and rounded the bed to find the woman's eyes filled with tears as she stared out at the ocean.

She sat down and took the brunette's hand, "Bo? What's wrong?"

Bo looked at Lauren, "I… I thought you weren't coming. I… I'm sorry. It's silly of me."

Lauren smiled, "It's not silly at all. Of course I wouldn't forget you. It was just… it was an eventful day and evening after we hung up the phone." She looked at the position of the bed, "Do you have a headache?"

"I did, but it's better now. The nurse gave me some regular strength Tylenol which luckily worked."

"You may just be a bit dehydrated, but I'd like to check you out, just in case."

Bo smiled, "Check me out?"

Lauren blushed, "Well, what you're suggesting will have to wait for another time. The type of check I was referring to involves a stethoscope, bright light and a blood pressure monitor."

"So… you're suggesting you will check me out in other ways at another time?"

Lauren smiled a shy smiled and looked down at Bo's fingers now entwined with her own, "You know… I never stopped thinking about our one night stand… not one day has passed since that I didn't think about it."

Bo smiled, "I'm glad. It's been the same way for me."

"Bo… about today… I can't thank you enough for…"

"Hey, they stopped by to visit and I happened to be watching your court. It broke my heart to see you struggling with your shots and your coach… wow, what an asshole… and, well, they offered to go down and put a stop to it once they saw what was happening. They were going to talk to him, but I think Misty actually called her old partner and asked her to look out for you guys since she's on the number one team. Kerry wouldn't go for a coach doing that crap to a player."

"Well, apparently, Tamsin called him on his shit and it turns out that my coach, Lachlan Marquee, is the ex-husband of…"

"Oh, shit! Your coach is Evony's ex-husband?"

Lauren and Bo laughed as the blonde nodded, "Now that's a pair made in paradise." Bo said, "I can't imagine what could have possibly ended that marriage."

Their laughter died down, "Anyway, Tamsin and I lost by three with extra serves, 24-21. We thought we were going out to dinner, but it turns out we were all just going to the barbeque you had pointed to on the beach. I brought you a plate."

"Oh, please tell me you brought me a beer!"

Lauren shook her head, "Sorry, but that's a negative. I did bring you homemade iced tea made by Misty's Mom. She said you love it."

"I do… that's better than a beer. What else did you bring? I'm starving. I rejected the food tray… well, I ate the applesauce because Sharmaine said they won't discharge me if I'm not eating. She ate my meal while we watched HDTV together. Don't tell… I don't want her to get in trouble."

"I won't tell a soul. Scouts honor." Lauren replied with a smile, handing Bo the plate.

"Misty's Mom made up your plate. She said it's all of your favorites. A couple of her ribs, a couple pieces of chicken, a piece of corn on the cob, her pasta salad and…"

Lauren unveiled another small plate, "Her dutch oven chocolate cake."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Yes! They buried the dutch ovens in the sand? This is gonna be so good."

Lauren nodded, "Everything was so moist, it was amazing."

"We cook like this all the time at the beach. Throw it into the sand, night surf for a few hours, come out and eat, then sleep until the sun comes up… do it all over again." Bo explained while pulling pieces of chicken easily from the bone, "Ohmagod, this is SO good."

Lauren smiled, "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"It's really relaxing, actually. No dishes to clean, no kitchen to clean… I mean… not that Kenzi and I use ours much beyond cereal, soup and beer."

Lauren frowned, "That's hardly the diet of a professional athlete."

Bo smirked, "Then I guess you'll have to bring me more plates like this."

"I see… now you just want me in your life for food." Lauren laughed.

Bo held her fingers out, looking for a napkin, "Actually, I have many reasons for wanting you in my life, Dr. Lauren Lewis. Food is merely one of many."

She looked up when she felt Lauren take dirty hand in her own. Slowly, the blonde pulled it towards her mouth and took each finger, one at a time, into her mouth, sucking them clean before repeating the gesture on the other hand,

"Sorry, I forgot to bring you napkins." Lauren blushed.

Bo sat there staring at while Lauren licked her lips clean, "You can forget napkins every time you bring me a plate if you will serve as the replacement. Don't go anywhere. I'm not finished yet… I still have ribs and corn-on-the-cob to be eaten with my fingers."

They talked as Bo ate, the conversation filled with laughter, flirting and shared history before the laughter died down a bit. Lauren leaned back to turn on the TV. It had become part of their nightly ritual when she was here to visit,

"So, what do you want to watch tonight? Another classic movie from TCM?"

Bo hesitated before she replied, "Actually… the Vans Pro is on… would you want to watch it with me?"

Bo's question was asked quietly since she was unsure if Lauren would be willing. She knew it might make her anxious to watch, but hoped that seeing close ups would help her to explain how it felt to be on the peak of a wave or in a curl.

Lauren smiled, "Uh… sure."

Bo clarified, "If it becomes to much, we can change the channel, okay? I know it makes you nervous."

Lauren nodded, watching Bo change the channel. The brunette moved her plate to the table, then turned back to the blonde,

"Would you lay with me?"

Lauren stared at the open space on the bed, almost speaking before she stood and crawled into bed next to Bo. The brunette adjusted the pillows and lowered the bed a bit so they were in a position closer to horizontal before putting her arm up and inviting Lauren to lay on her chest. Lauren blushed as she moved into Bo's arms, her head settling between her breasts where she could hear her heartbeat.

It didn't take long for the sound of Bo's heartbeat to bring about the memories of her body washing up on shore. Lauren struggled with her warring emotions as she watched the very sport on TV that almost took this moment from her.

"Lauren? Are you okay?" Bo asked.

"Sure. I'm fine." Lauren lied.

"Well, for someone who is fine, you sure are tense, not to mention, you've got a death grip on my hospital gown and part of your grip has my nipple included in it."

Lauren sat up, letting go quickly, "I'm so sorry."

Bo looked up to see the tears that had been flowing down Lauren's cheeks, "You're not okay. Do you want me to change the channel?"

Lauren shook her head, "No… I really don't. I…"

Bo sat up a little, "Lauren… please… full disclosure?"

Lauren sighed, "I was… I was listening to your heartbeat and watching the surfers and… well… it reminded me of…"

Lauren laid her head down on Bo's chest again, allowing the brunette to wrap her in her embrace, "And it made you think of the day you had to save me."

"It reminded me of the silence… the vacant eyes… I can't unsee it, Bo and… I'm scared… I'm scared of you going back out there." Lauren said, her eyes filling with tears for betraying Bo's love of surfing.

Bo looked down and saw the tears falling, "Why are you crying? It's okay to be scared."

"I know how much you love surfing. I don't want to say anything bad about it… I don't want you to think I want you to quit or that I would ever try to take it away from you."

Bo smiled, "Well, that's good to know because I wouldn't allow it. Lauren, if you want to be in my life, you're going to have to find a way to reconcile yourself to my sport. I know it's easy for me to say because you're hardly placing your life on the line playing volleyball, but I still have to deal with your schedule, your workout routine and your work schedule. We both have stuff to deal with if we want to be together."

Lauren turned her eyes up towards Bo's, "You want us to be together?"

Bo nodded, "I do, Lauren. I mean… I think that every relationship I've ever been in has been all about the sex first, the important stuff later. But with us… well… of course we had that one incredible night and morning together, but since then, it's all about the important stuff… we've laughed together, cried together, supported each other through our respective careers and training or recovery, in my case… I just… I feel like you're my partner in everything that matters. You're the one I can't wait to see every day. You're the one I couldn't wait to tell when I finally walked twenty-five yards in a straight line because my brain finally figured it out."

Lauren smiled, "That was a very special day. Of course, I was just elated the day you were able to stand for one straight minute."

Bo nodded, "It was scary for a while there after that blood clot. In my head, I knew what I wanted to do, but it was like someone turned off the messages to the rest of my body. It's funny, because I thought I was fine and then all of a sudden, I wasn't. Thank goodness you talked me out of going home."

Lauren nodded, "So… where does this leave us? Something beyond friendship?"

Bo smiled, "Way beyond. Lauren, I want us to do this… be together as a couple. I want everything with you… well… when I'm cleared for the physical exertion stuff."

Lauren laughed, "I have to be honest, Bo. I've never been very good at relationships. In college, my studies were my priority. After college, I owed the military five years and after that, I got this job, bought my house and moved into my professional volleyball career. I've never really been able to find anyone who would put up with my schedule or my focus on… well… other things."

Bo nodded, "But I think that's the beauty of us. We both have professional sports careers and training. You have a job and I have a Kenzi… see?"

Lauren laughed, "Kenzi is quite the job, isn't she?"

Bo smiled, "She is. So… what do you think? Can you find a way to reconcile yourself with my high-risk sport? I swear I won't compete any longer than I need to for my financial goals to be met, Lauren."

"You'll be smart out there?" Lauren asked.

"I promise." Bo replied.

"And you won't surf anywhere near Evony?"

"I double promise." Bo smiled.

Lauren sighed, "I can't lose you, Bo. I'm falling for you… please tell me you'll be here to catch me."

"I will do everything in my power using all of my experience and knowledge to be here for you, Lauren. I'm not going to re-enter this season if I can't get comfortable on my board. So… together?" Bo asked, extending her hand,

"Together." Lauren replied, taking the hand and laying her head on Bo's chest, "Take care of this heart… keep it beating… and you'll take care of my heart."

Bo smiled, kissing the top of Lauren's head, "I will take care of our hearts, Lauren."

Lauren looked up at Bo who lowered her head and captured her lips in a soft kiss. The blonde raised a hand to Bo's face, pulling her closer as her tongue begged for entrance. The brunette opened her mouth and welcomed the deepened kiss before the blonde slid up and onto her body, her thigh sliding between Bo's legs.

The heart monitor alarm started to sound, causing Lauren to pull back, "We'll have all of the nurses in this room if we don't stop."

Bo frowned, "I can't wait to be cleared to make love with you again. Lauren that night was… I mean… I just… I knew then… I've never had a one-night stand like that. It's always been one orgasm and then get the hell out of dodge. I didn't want to… I couldn't leave you. I just wanted to keep on loving you… not fucking you, although that was fantastic. I wanted it to be soft, intimate, caring… I felt love for a stranger that night. It was amazing."

Lauren smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind Bo's ear and placing a soft kiss on her lips, "I felt it too, Bo. I've thought of that night every day since. I knew in my heart that you were special to me… and since then, I've looked forward to coming to see you ever day. I think I would usually be frustrated by not having sex, but with you, it doesn't matter… it almost like it's enough just to lay here with you… almost."

Bo smiled, "I know exactly what you mean. So, doctor… when are you going to clear me for sexual activity?"

Lauren laughed, "As soon as we have had you off the blood thinners for more than a day and you don't have a clotting issue."

"I heard I have a scan every day for the next three days?" Bo asked, wanting confirmation from her doctor.

Lauren nodded, "Bo, you should know that at the beginning of the week, I brought Dr. Alakai back in on your case. I can no longer be objective and our relationship now makes it even more appropriate that I did so. Doctors cannot treat family and… well… you're my family now. So from now on, the final decisions lay with him. Okay?"

Bo sighed, "Everything you just said makes total sense ethically, but will you still be my second opinion?"

Lauren smiled, "There is no way I will let him take a chance with my girlfriend's life."

Bo smiled, leaning down to kiss Lauren softly on the lips, "Okay then. I accept your resignation as my doctor."

"Good, because you didn't have a choice." Lauren smiled as Bo slapped her playfully on the arm.

The blonde rested her head on Bo's chest again, this time focusing on the event being televised, "So… give me the play-by-play here, okay? I know nothing about this sport."

Bo gasped, mocking offense, "Well, you cannot very well parade around as the girlfriend of Bo Dennis if you don't know anything about her sport."

Lauren looked up at her, "And do you know Volleyball?"

"Actually, I do. I grew up with Casey. We used to play when we were kids." Bo replied, turning her attention to the event on TV,

"Now… that girl paddling is Courtney and she is currently ranked number one in the world. See how she paddles ahead of the wave? You don't want to come in on the shoulder, it's a sign of fear or weakness… everyone will tell you to grow a set and quit taking off on the shoulder. See? She's up on the peak of the wave now. It's a perfect A-frame because the beach where they're surfing has a good sandbar that helps the swells build."

She could feel Lauren tense, "Relax, sweetie. She's a very experienced surfer so she would never go over the falls intentionally."

"Over the falls?" Lauren asked.

"Sorry. It means you pop up to a stand too late or too soon and fall over the peak of the wave to the ground below – which, by the way, would be really shallow water. But see, her pop up is timed perfectly and look where she's working the tip of her board… you see… across the top of the wave… it sort of feels like being on a lift that's slowly bringing you closer to the ground. See how she's picking up speed going across the top?"

"That's what you fell from?" Lauren asked.

"It is… but mine wasn't an over the falls situation. Mine was an error in judgment by another surfer."

"Evony."

Bo nodded, "Right. She came out of nowhere from the other direction and to avoid her, I tried to cut back and nose into the wall of the wave, but I caught the front edge and it rolled me over right into reef before it broke and landed right on top of me. That won't happen to Courtney because everyone out there is a pro and there are judges that are watching your every move. Evony pulled something just like what she did to me at a competition back in December and the judges didn't approve. She never gained enough points from then on to stay in the running for Worlds."

"Why would she try to share a wave? That seems really dangerous." Lauren replied.

"Well, we do split the peak on occasion, but it's planned and you both go in different directions. Evony doesn't plan with anyone and that becomes obvious when one person turns one way and she turns into their line. The massive sound of the surfers screaming at her doesn't help her case either."

"Sounds like she's as much of a pain in the ocean as she is here." Lauren said, flatly.

"She also tends to have a lot of pullbacks." Bo said, then noticed the confusion on her girlfriend's face, "That means she starts to paddle for a wave and then decides she's not going to take it, leaving everyone mad that she wasted a good wave. Think of it as there being eight slices of pizza and eight surfers, but you throw a slice away. Someone isn't going to get pizza that day."

Lauren shook her head, her eyes remaining fixed on the next surfer, "Who's that?"

"That's Tyler. She's right behind me in the standings… well… she's actually ahead of me now since Kenzi didn't beat her last event. Every time my little sis manages a top three finish, she keeps me in the running. She had a fifth place finish last event, so Tyler slid in ahead of me, but she's only up by about a thousand points. A top three finish would still get me to my goal for the season financially. I just… I had always dreamed of being a champion one season."

Lauren squeezed Bo's hand, acknowledging her dream, "Well, hopefully we'll get you cleared and back on the board soon."

"It's another month until the next event, so we'll see."

They watched as Tyler dropped in on a beautiful wave, "Ah, that's a nice one. See the nice flat wall? She can surf right down that and into the curl… let's see if she makes it…"

Lauren could feel Bo leaning into the wave as if she was riding it herself, the smile on her face a tell-tale sign that Bo could literally feel the wave that Tyler was riding, "I wish you could feel what that's like, Lauren. To be inside that curl where she is right now you're surrounded by nature, the blue of the water all around you in a perfect cone of silence. Right now, she's squatting lower to gain as much speed as she can to clear the curl before it collapses on her. There you go… they changed the camera angle… see her coming out? How cool is that!"

The heart rate monitor went off again, causing Bo to sit back in the bed, "She made it!" She threw her arms up over her head in celebration, "Amazing!"

Lauren looked up with a huge smile on her face, "And this is your competition? Do you always cheer for your rivals?"

Bo smiled, leaning back again, and giving Lauren a kiss on the forehead, "We cheer for each other. Our biggest competition is nature, not each other. Any time we can beat the wave, it's cause for celebration. That ride was a thing of beauty. She'll get really high marks for that."

They waited and Lauren listened as Bo explained the scoring then turned up the volume on the TV, "Okay, Kenzi's up next. Let's see what she does."

Bo sat up, pulling Lauren's arm over her shoulder. The two watched as Kenzi paddled into a nice peak with yet another flat wall. Kenzi pumped her board across the top before giving it a little wiggle and dropping down the face of the wave,

"Shit, Kenzi! I thought she was going to screw around on the peak for too long and miss the face… yes! Look! She caught the curl! Ride it, baby sis!"

Lauren's hands gripped her girlfriend's bicep as she held her breath, waiting for Kenzi to appear at the end of the curl, but it was closing up, "Oh no."

Bo shook her head, "Wait for it… wait for it… just… wait…"

"Bo!" Lauren was starting to panic as she watched the wave crash down, but Bo's arms pushed her back as they flew up in victory,

"YES! She's out! That was incredible! Did you see that?" Bo asked, looking at Lauren's pale face.

Bo lay back with the blonde, "She's okay, baby. Remember, she's a tiny one. She likes to hold back… she has a flair for the dramatic. I guarantee you that she was right near the edge of the back door the entire time and then pushed through when there was just enough room for her to squeak through."

"Okay. Well, warn me about it next time. I thought she was crushed."

"Even if she was, at that point in a wave, you get rolled over into soft water most of the time. Not too tough to come up from there. Now here at the pipe, it's a bit different until you get closer to shore."

Lauren could only nod. She was getting tired. It had been a long day and Bo could see the fatigue on her girlfriend's face,

"Do you need to leave?" Bo asked, her voice holding a sadness in it, "I mean… I'm going to stay up and watch this. I've been asleep since after your game."

"You watched?" Lauren asked.

"Of course I did. I had to see if my plan worked… and it did. You were nailing those line shots just like Casey bragged you could."

Lauren smiled, "I'm shocked that they even knew who I was."

"Well, apparently, you are very well known in volleyball circles. Some people think that you and Tamsin are the ones to beat."

Lauren smiled, "You know I leave for the training center in three weeks."

Bo nodded, "I know."

"I won't be here when you start surfing again. I wish…"

"Shhh… it's okay. I'll be fine. You can watch me on TV and I'll definitely be watching you. Kenzi and I already have plans to rob the business fund if you make it to the medal rounds."

"Wow. Bo Dennis, taking money from one of the funds?"

Bo smiled, "Well, Kenzi's winnings have solidified her college fund, my winnings paid off our debt and have me about fifty grand from my business fund goal, so… we're good."

"Fifty grand?"

"One more event, Lauren… if I can place in the top three, it's all there. Everything I need to start the business."

"Wow… I can't imagine what it's like to have fifty grand in any account." Lauren replied.

"The deal I have with the manufacturer is one million up front and they'll begin manufacturing my gear and my boards."

"That's great, Bo. I had no idea it took that much money."

"It actually takes more than that because I have to buy the store, signage, marketing, materials, staffing, flights, accounting… it's a lot to get it started, but I've been planning this for… well… what seems like a lifetime."

"And I'd say you've earned it, Bo. I'm happy for you." Lauren replied.

"Well, how about you? You've got that nice house up on the cliff, your job as a doctor… you're pretty much set too, right?"

Lauren lowered her eyes, "I pay my bills, but… well… your sister seems to think I'm the stereotypical rich doctor. You see, my parents died when I was young. I was raised by my Aunt who worked three jobs to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. I went to college at sixteen and… well… you know the rest. The ROTC paid my undergrad and part of my med school. My residency was in the MASH tents of Afghanistan and then the hospitals in Germany. I sunk every penny I had into the purchase of my home and now I live paycheck to paycheck like most Americans, paying what's left of my loans and anything Team USA doesn't pay for my training."

Bo nodded, feeling badly that she had assumed the same as her sister about Lauren's financial situation, "I'm sorry about your parents. I didn't know you'd lost them both so young."

"It's okay, Bo. I'm sure you can relate having lost yours as well. At least I had my Aunt."

"I guess that doctor stereotype is always out there, huh?" Bo asked.

"Seems to be a common theme, but I tend to ignore people who make assumptions about my socioeconomic status. It really isn't any of their business, right?"

Bo nodded, "You're right. It isn't, but… to be honest, I'm really nervous about you seeing where Kenzi and I live."

Lauren chuckled, "I already have, Bo. I went with Kenzi before she left for Australia. She had to pick up some gear for her trip and we were sharing a ride."

"Oh." Bo replied, feeling Lauren settle in on her chest again, "What did you think?"

"I think it reminded me of living free and in touch with the world around you… the real world… not the world of cell phones and iPads and all sorts of electronic devices. To tell you the truth, it was refreshing. Your home is full of things that matter. Your surf boards, photos of your parents, you and your sister doing what you love most, little knick-knacks from your family and the life you've built here. It's not a shack or a house… it's a home, Bo. I loved it."

Bo smiled, "Thank you, Lauren."

"Nothing to thank. It's just how I feel." Lauren replied, "Now, if you're going to stay awake, could you wake me in about five hours so I can go home and get ready for work?

"Can't you just shower in here and then grab scrubs from some closet somewhere?" Bo asked.

"I need clean underwear, Bo."

"Why don't you go without for a day? Your girlfriend would find it super sexy to know that you didn't have any on all day."

Lauren laughed, "Fine. Wake me in eight hours."

Bo smiled, "It's our first sleepover."

"Technically, it's our second. We were just occupied through the entire night into the morning on our first one."

"I stand corrected." Bo replied.

"You're not standing."

"Go to sleep, Lauren."

"Good night, Bo." Lauren lifted her head and kissed Bo's lips.

"Good night, Lauren." Bo replied, pulling Lauren's hair from her face so she could watch her sleep before she whispered to herself, "I love you."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**


	2. Chapter 2: Back on the Board

_**A/N: Okay… a few things… guest who said my chapters are too long… as most of my readers know, it's sort of my thing since I write mostly in dialog. Don't feel obligated to read it all in one sitting. Enjoy at your own pace. Guest who discussed the use of the term 'flip flops' by locals… no, they're not natives, but they have lived on the island for a good chunk of time… more about Bo, Kenzi and Lauren's upbringing in this chapter. We already know Tamsin is from California. Thanks for all of the support and reviews… on with it now…**_

 _ **Lost Girl characters belong to Prodigy Pictures, both the AU characters and plot are my fault.**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Back on the Board**_

Lauren woke to the sound of an alarm and immediately shot up straight, thinking it was Bo's heart monitor. Seeing all of the numbers in normal range, she looked to see Bo's phone lit up, an alarm sounding. She smiled realizing Bo must have set the alarm for her to wake up on time for work.

Bo rolled towards her, "Turn it off… too loud… too early. Go back to sleep."

Lauren smiled, reaching over Bo to turn off the phone alarm, "Sorry. You sleep… heal… I'll see you after my shift."

She kissed the sleeping woman's cheek, then laughed when she saw her lift her head, and pucker her lips. When Lauren didn't kiss her, Bo opened one eye and looked at the blonde,

"What, no kiss and I won't see you until after your shift?"

The pout of the brunette's face made Lauren smile, "Awww… look at that adorable pouty face." Lauren kissed the tip of Bo's nose, "I'll try to stop later, I promise, but it is a Friday, you know."

"What difference does that make?" Bo asked, closing her eye and scowling.

Lauren laughed, "From pout to scowl… wow, you're just a bouquet of emotions this morning. Well, since you're not an ER doctor, you may not know, but Friday is when people do silly things that increase attendance in the ER. Believe it or not, our easy day is usually Tuesday."

"Tuesday?" Bo asked, her eyes still closed as she yawned.

"Long story and you clearly want to sleep."

"Nah… sleep is overrated. I can do it all day long. I've got nothing but time." Bo replied with a sigh.

Lauren laughed, "We both know that is not true. Your respiratory therapist will be here in two hours and you know your favorite Nurse Kratchet will be here to make sure you do your required high-steam shower before then."

Bo frowned as she spoke, her voice releasing all of the frustrations she had over still being in the hospital,

"I don't understand why I always have to get up early to shower so I can breathe better before I go to do a treatment to help me breathe better right after my shower."

Lauren knew Bo was fully aware of the reason. It had been explained to her many times. The blonde also knew that the brunette was tired of being poked, prodded, scanned, forced to walk on a treadmill, breathe into tubes, stay in a dark room and sleep for what she considered a ridiculous number of hours each day.

"Because the steam clears out your lungs, Bo. It makes sure you can get to full capacity, making your treatments more effective. But you know all of that."

"I know... I just…" Bo sighed, pulling her pillow further beneath her head, "I'm so tired of being here. All I do is sit here in the dark every day and follow the rules. No reading for more than two hours. No TV for more than two hours. No loud noises. No use of electronic devices. No intense intellectual activities unless I'm with my occupational therapist. But wait! I am allowed to walk twenty minutes on the treadmill… but, of course, there's rules with that… no more or no less than twenty minutes. Oh, and heaven forbid I should touch the incline control! No, no… we wouldn't want Miss Dennis to overtax herself, now would we? My body is turning to mush from laying in this damn bed! I'll be lucky if I can balance on a stationary chair let alone a surfboard!"

Lauren sighed. Bo had been having more and more of these outbursts lately. She understood, but wished she could be patient just a little while longer, "I understand your fears about the conditioning you're losing, Bo but you just need to be patient just a little while longer."

"I've been a patient for far too long! That's the problem!"

Lauren's face flooded with worry as her girlfriend turned away from her, slamming her head back into the pillow,

"Bo? You aren't thinking of checking yourself out against doctor's orders, are you?"

The brunette sighed, "No, Lauren. I wouldn't disrespect you like that. I'm just… frustrated."

"I know, sweetie and believe me, I wish I could do something to get you out of her today. If it were in my power to wave a magic wand and heal you, I would."

"Magic wand broken, eh?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "Unfortunately, I took it to Hogsmeade to get it repaired and Mr. Ollivander lost it."

"I bet he never lost Harry Potter's wand." Bo deadpanned.

"Thank goodness or none of us would be here. Voldemort would have killed us all in the last movie."

Bo smiled, turning her head back towards the blonde, her eyes still closed, "I want to tell you something, but I need you not to freak out, okay?"

Lauren hesitated as worry instantly filled her, making her shudder before she took a deep breath and replied, "Okay."

"I have a headache… a really bad headache."

Lauren reached over Bo and hit the nurses' button, "Okay. Is this an ibuprofen sort of headache?"

Bo opened one eye, "It's bad… like… I'm a little nervous bad. The light is bothering my eyes."

Lauren watched as Bo closed her eye and then looked around the room. There was no light other than the thin line of light left by the small gap at the base of the blinds by the windowsill. She looked up as she heard the nurse enter the room,

"Hi Doctor Lewis. Did Miss Dennis his her button?"

"No, Jackie. I did. It seems she has a severe headache." Lauren nodded towards the monitor so the nurse would notice that her BP was high, then added, "Can you please page the on call doctor in neurology and then set up a CT scan… possibly CT angiography."

"Yes, ma'am. Right away."

Lauren looked back to Bo and noticed blood coming from her nose, "Bo, I need you to roll all the way over onto your side. Can you do that for me?"

Bo did as she was asked, "I'm scared."

"I'm right here, baby. Just try to relax and breathe. Your blood pressure is a little high and I'd like you to focus on your breathing exercises to help bring that down, okay? We're going to go take some pictures and see what's going on in there." Lauren said, stroking her girlfriend's hair as she pinched her nostrils shut with a tissue.

"Is my nose bleeding?"

"Yes." Lauren replied.

"That's bad, right?"

"It could just be because your blood pressure is high. It could be because the room is dry. You could be a little dehydrated." Lauren gave her all of the possibilities except the one she was most concerned about.

"You didn't say anything about my brain. I know the warning signs, Lauren… I've had them before, remember? My brain could be bleeding… aneurysm, swelling… why now? I was getting better."

Lauren shook her head, "Bo, please. Just relax, baby. You're jumping to conclusions."

Bo opened one eye, "I'm really scared, Lauren. I'm dizzy."

Lauren laid down next to Bo and wrapped her in her arms, careful not to move her head, "I'm right here, Bo. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

The pair grew silent, relaxing into each other before Bo sighed, "I'm okay now… I mean… not my head, but… you know."

Lauren smiled and sat up, "I do." She looked down at her phone, then back to Bo, "Okay… the doctor is on his way up."

"My doctor?"

"No, actually it's Dr. McCorrigan. He's the Chief of Staff of the Hospital and the President of the Board… you don't get any higher up that him and he just so happens to be a Neurologist… one of the world's finest… and a huge fan of the surfing world. He never misses an event on this beach."

"Wow… maybe he'll be fan doctoring all over me… that is, if anyone even knows who I am anymore." Bo said, her hands gripping her head.

Just as she spoke, Dr. McCorrigan walked into the room, "Well I certainly know who you are, young lady. You're the Queen of the Pipe around here and I fully intend to get you back on your board in time to stop the Aussie invasion from taking the trophy from our beach!"

Bo smiled, her eyes squeezed shut tightly, "I think I like this guy."

Lauren smiled, "I've never met anyone who disliked him."

"So, talking about every headache you've ever had, on a scale of one to ten where is this one?" the doctor asked as he checked her pupils. Lauren leaned in, nodding to confirm she saw the same thing he saw… unequal pupils.

Lauren's face creased with worry as she watched Bo cringed at the light, turning her head slightly, but the doctor wouldn't allow the movement as he checked again that her pupils were at least somewhat reactive. He then hit the button on the monitor to get a new blood pressure reading as he listened to Bo answer his question,

"Well, the morning I woke up from drowning, it was a fifteen. This one is about a twelve. I don't understand. I've been getting better."

Lauren looked at the Chief, concerned over the still high blood pressure reading he had turned his attention to, but received a sympathetic smile in return,

"Well, I'm going to take Dr. Lewis' lead here and get the CT Scan. They're going to inject some dye…"

"I know, I know… to see the blood flow better. Please… just do it and then do what you have to do to stop this."

He nodded, "Absolutely."

He waved the orderly in the door, then turned back to Lauren, "Are you coming with us?"

"I'm going to be late for my shift if…"

"I'll get you covered. I know you'll want to be with her."

Lauren looked surprised, "Uh… that's…"

Dr. McCorrigan smiled, placing a gentle hand on Lauren's wrist, "The nurses see and know everything… and they can rarely help their need to gossip about it. Long quiet nights with sleeping patients and routine rounds can get boring, I'm sure… they need to do something to entertain themselves."

Lauren shrugged, "Can't they play chess instead?"

The older man laughed as they followed the gurney down the hallway, onto the elevator.

"Lauren?" Bo asked.

"Yes, Bo?" She took the brunette's hand, blushing when her Chief smiled at their joined hands.

"Can you call Kenzi?"

Lauren gave the hand a squeeze, "I will call Kenzi if we have a reason to call her, Bo. Right now, let's just see what the scan tells us, okay?"

"I trust you." Bo replied.

Lauren looked up at the other doctor, "And I trust Dr. McCorrigan, Bo. Hang in there, sweetie."

The elevator doors opened and Bo was wheeled immediately into the room where she was scanned as Lauren and the Chief watched the images appear. Lauren swallowed hard as her throat tightened, fear overwhelming her. Trick turned to the technician,

"Prep an O.R."

"Right away, Dr. McCorrigan. Do you want your usual team called in?"

The Chief shook his head, "There isn't enough time. I want to get at this right away so it doesn't get any worse. I'll use the on call team." He turned to Lauren, "I take it you want to break the news?"

Lauren shook her head, "No sir. I'd like you to do it. I'll handle damage control."

"Do you want to call her Kenzi?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, "Kenzi is her sister and only living relative, but she's in Australia right now."

"I see. You'll need to ask her who she wants to have medical power of attorney."

Lauren nodded before he continued, "Do you want to scrub in, Dr. Lewis?"

"No sir. I think I'll watch from your surgical room's balcony if that's okay with you."

He nodded, "Very well." He held his arm out towards the door, "Shall we?"

Lauren sighed, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she turned towards the scan room. She allowed her boss to step in front of her as they moved to Bo's side. They had covered her eyes with a mask to help her relax. Pressing her eyes closed would just make her blood pressure higher.

"Can you hear me, Miss Dennis?"

"Yes, Dr. McCorrigan. Are you going to get rid of my headache?"

"I am, Miss Dennis."

"Please, call me Bo. I hate it when people call me Miss anything."

He smiled, "Okay, then I insist you call me Trick."

"Trick?"

"My name is Fitzpatrick McCorrigan. My old beach buddies used to call me Trick because I could do a…"

"Ohmagosh! You're Trick!" Bo replied.

Lauren's head spun towards her boss, who replied, "That's my name."

"No… I mean… you're _the_ Trick! You did _the_ trick!" Bo replied.

Lauren shook her head, "Bo, you're getting a little giddy."

"No, Lauren. You don't understand. Your boss has a surfing trick named after him! It's called a barrel break! I wish someone had filmed that!"

"No need. Every time someone says my name, I'm reminded that enough people saw it to change my name from Fitz to Trick." He smiled before returning to form,

"Well, I promise we can talk all about it after we take care of this headache of yours. I was hoping it was just part of your post-concussion syndrome, but unfortunately, that's not the case. I'm afraid you're having a bit of a setback here."

Both of Bo's hands moved to cover her face. Lauren moved to her side and knelt down beside her, placing one hand over her abdomen,

"I'm here, Bo." She whispered into her ear. She felt Bo take a deep breath,

"Tell me."

Trick nodded, "Well, you have something called a subdural hematoma. You didn't delay telling Lauren, so it's an easy fix compared to what it could have become if you had waited."

"What is it?"

Trick looked at Lauren's worried face and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's a collection of blood between the covering of the brain – something called the dura – and the surface of the brain. The good news is that it's not inside your brain."

"And the bad news?"

"We need to drain the blood."

"And how will you do that?"

"I'm going to drill a small hole in your skull to allow the blood to drain. That will relieve the pressure on the brain and should give you immediate relief of your symptoms. I don't predict any negative or lasting effects as long as we operate immediately. It is a very slow bleed and a very small collection of blood. If we wait, your condition will worsen. The clot will grow and I could end up having to do a craniotomy which would leave you with seizures, chronic headaches… and the inability to surf again."

Bo shuddered, "Now… do it now. Get it out of me."

Trick looked over his shoulder and nodded to the nurse. She moved quickly to his side and handed him a clipboard, which he took and handed to Lauren,

"Now, before we begin, we'll need to go through the procedures and get your consent forms signed. Then…"

"No… get this clot out of my head."

Lauren sighed, "Bo, you must sign the forms. Kenzi is in Australia. As your only next of kin, she's not here to sign for you."

Bo's voice grew more adamant, "No. There's that thing… she and Dyson talked about it before they left. Medical power of attorney… I told her I would just give it to you if anything happened while I was gone."

"Bo, I don't think…"

"Lauren… give me the damn form and get me into surgery before this thing gets any bigger. I'm not turning into a drooling, half-paralyzed girlfriend who has seizures every day. Sign the damn forms!"

"Okay, Bo. Now please, stay calm. Your blood pressure going up is not helping things." Lauren flipped through the clipboard and found the forms she needed Bo to sign, "I need you to sign this, Bo. Then I can take care of everything else. Are you sure you don't want Trick to review the procedure?"

"Do I need this done, Lauren?"

The blonde sighed, "Yes."

"Sign and get me into surgery."

Lauren nodded, her eyes clouding with tears as she struggled to read what she was signing.

"Lauren, why isn't my gurney moving?" Bo asked, her voice filled with fear.

"Bo… calm down, please. They're prepping the O.R."

"I want this thing out of me."

Trick sighed, "Bo, I need you to relax. It is imperative that your blood pressure remain as low as possible right now. Think of the leak outside of your brain as a balloon about to burst… too much pressure and it will break, okay?"

Bo sighed, "Okay. I just… this thing is giving me the creeps. I feel like someone dumped a hundred spiders on me and I just want them off."

Trick smiled, "Understood." He looked up to see the nurse enter the room, "We're ready for her, Dr. McCorrigan."

"See you soon, Bo." Trick said, placing a light hand on her shoulder and exiting the room.

"That goes for me, too, sweetie. They're going to take you back now." Lauren leaned over and kissed Bo gently on the lips, "I'll see you soon and your headache will be gone."

"Will I remember you?" Bo asked, the fear evident in her voice.

"I'd be offended if you didn't." Lauren replied.

"But… what if I'm… different?"

"Bo, the bleeding is outside of your brain and your new friend Trick is the very best. Please… try to relax. I will see you soon and you will remember me. If you don't, I will spend every day for the rest of my life reminding you who I am until you get it."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Lauren smiled, "I wish I could see your eyes."

Bo went to remove the mask, but Lauren stopped her, "No. The light will likely be even more painful now. You just make sure you open those eyes for me after your surgery. I want to drown in those pools of chocolate for a very long time."

"And I'd like nothing more than allow you to do so." Bo replied, her lips rising into a smile that showed her dimple for the first time since Lauren had seen her last night.

"I'll see you soon, Bo."

"See you soon, Lauren."

The blonde handed the nurse the clipboard and watched as she wheeled her girlfriend from the room. She sighed and pulled out her cell phone to call Kenzi, hating the thought of the reaction she was going to get.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **FIVE DAYS LATER… PHYSICAL THERAPY**

"Dammit!" Bo yelled from her knees, as Lauren dropped her head to her hands.

"Patience, Bo. You are way ahead of where you should be right now considering your brain was bleeding less than a week ago."

Kristy, the physical therapist who had been working with Bo since the drowning incident had learned to adjust to Bo's frustrations with slow progress, but this latest set back had put her patient in a fowl mood.

"That may be, but I'm three weeks behind where I was before Tony!"

"It was a hematoma, Bo." Lauren corrected, instantly regretting it when angry eyes turned towards her.

"Don't you have a practice to get to?" Bo retorted.

Lauren raised both hands in defense, "I'll leave you to it then. Let me know when you're ready to talk to me like someone who has been here every day standing by your side through your PT, OT and RT appointments!"

The blonde turned and stormed from the room, "Lauren! I'm sorry!"

Bo sat back, planting her elbows on her knees. Crossing her arms, she laid her forehead down, "I'm sorry."

Kristy moved beneath the parallel bar and sat down next to Bo, "Look, Bo. I know this is hard. Set backs always are, but you can't keep snapping at people like that. This is no one's fault, Bo."

"I know!" She snapped her head up, punching the air, but then realized she was doing exactly what Kristy told her she shouldn't do, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to snap… really… I don't. Lauren didn't deserve that… she never does. I'm just… I'm so angry!"

"Bo, swings in emotions are natural after a subdural hematoma. Your anti-seizure meds are preventing further attacks, your memory and thought capacity is almost back to normal. You are making real progress, Bo and your prognosis is for a full recovery in another month. Not many people can say that after a brain bleed, Bo."

She sighed, "I know. Trick told me. If Lauren hadn't had to wake up that morning… if I'd slept in, I may not have woken up… comatose… that's not a cool word."

Kristy smiled, "No, it's not. So what do you say you get back up on those legs of yours and start showing the world how lucky you feel to be alive? Better yet, why don't you show the surfing world that they can't count you out yet?"

Bo nodded before holding out her hand, "A little help?"

Kristy nodded, moving to stand between the bars facing Bo, "Let's do this."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Tamsin watched as her partner laid hit after hit down the line onto the target their coach had placed in the sand.

"Nice set, Tamsin! Perfect! You're setting her up perfectly!" Lachlan shouted to the taller blonde.

"My part is easy, coach. Lauren puts down anything I put up." Tamsin praised her partner.

Lachlan had been better about giving Lauren some praise since Misty and Casey had spoken to him, but Tamsin was still frustrated by how little Lachlan seemed to support Lauren's play – even when she had been playing like they were already in the gold medal match for the past few days.

 _Smash!_

Lauren laid another one down.

"Awesome, Lo! You are really putting that shit down today!"

Lauren only nodded and went back to her take off spot on the line. Tamsin looked back at her,

"Nothing to say?"

"Ball."

Tamsin shook her head and continued the drill. Hit after hit, she could see Lauren's face begin to contort with pain. She knew her partner too well to know this wasn't from physical pain or pain of not playing well… this was emotional, broken heart kind of pain.

"Time! Water, coach?"

Lachland nodded, "Take ten, ladies. Your scrimmage starts in fifteen, so make sure you stretch out after you water down."

The pair nodded, moving off the court to the benches in the shade. They each grabbed their towels and dried their skin before applying more sunscreen. As Tamsin moved behind Lauren to coat her back in the white liquid, she spoke,

"What's going on, Lauren? You're clearly not okay."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, it's been almost five days since you've said anything. You may not want to talk about it, but we're hardly playing like a team if we're not talking. Communication is key in this game, Lo."

"We're playing great, Tamsin. We've crushed our last four scrimmage opponents. We're at the top of our game."

"Fine, Lauren. You don't want to talk, fine. You want to shut out your best friend? Fine. Whatever. I'm going to stretch."

Lauren watched as her partner stood and moved back onto the court, her bottle of water in her hands. She lowered her head, brushing the sand from her legs. Tamsin was right. She was shutting her out, but she just wasn't ready to talk to her about everything that had been happening with Bo. She hadn't even told her about the surgery. As far as Tamsin knew, Bo was just having some setbacks in her therapy.

She looked across the sand at her partner who was now trying to stretch her hamstrings. They always did tandem stretches… Lauren couldn't remember the last time they'd done them. In that moment, she felt guilt flood her body as she realized her partner really was right… they were out of sync… they'd been out of sync ever since Bo had entered her life.

She reached down and picked up one of the team balls. Spinning it in her hands, she caught it with the Team USA logo face up. She frowned thinking about how long she had chased this dream and sighed. Before college, before medical school, before she'd moved to Hawaii for her job and definitely before she'd saved Bo Dennis on the beach, Lauren's sole focus had been winning gold. When had she allowed other things get in the way of her lifelong dream?

She looked up at Tamsin and sighed. Getting to her feet, she walked with purpose towards her partner until she was in front of her. She sat down, put her legs out straight until her feet were against Tamsin's, held her hands out and waited for her partner to take them. When the other blonde didn't immediately respond, she spoke,

"You're right and I'm sorry. We've come to far to let my personal life come between us and that gold medal. So come on… take my hands… let's get back into sync."

Tamsin took her partner's hands and lowered her head as Lauren leaned back, pulling her into a long stretch and holding it for a ten count before they slowly moved up and reversed positions. They didn't notice the audience that formed on the sideline until they finished their routine. Looking up, Lauren found herself looking upon the face of none other than Bo Dennis, her face clad with full cover sunglasses, sitting in a beach wheelchair, pushed by Hale. Her eyes went wide with fear as she moved to the sideline, Tamsin not far behind.

"What are you doing? She can't be here! This air isn't clean enough for her to breathe!"

"Relax, Lauren. Her respiratory therapist cleared her. The hematoma on her brain didn't harm her respiratory progress. If she starts to feel stuffy, I have a mask to stop any allergens she may find herself newly sensitive to. In addition, she was cleared to come here by the Chief on the recommendation of her Physical Therapist and her Psychiatrist."

Bo hung her head, disappointed at Lauren's reaction to her presence, "Take me back."

"Now just hold on a minute. No one's going anywhere. You needed to get out of that damn depressing room and get some sun." Hale pressed his palms towards her before turning to Lauren and pulling her aside,

"You know, it's not only her body that's broken, Lauren. Her mind is fragile right now. She's been cooped up in that single room in the dark for more than a month and now she may not get out for another month! Her career as a surfer may be over and she knows it. If I told you today that you were done playing volleyball, how would you react? But regardless, of how devastated she is to lose her dream, her thoughts are still only for what she's been putting you through. She feels like a first class ass for snapping at you all week. I asked her what she wanted more than anything at the start of our session and you know what she said? Not… to surf again… not to fulfill her lifelong dream… no, she said that more than anything, she wanted to see you practice. She's never seen you play, Lauren. Please. Give her this. She needs it."

Lauren lowered her eyes, shaking her head, "Hale, I've lost my focus since I've met her. This week… I was so angry with her… I came here, lost myself in that anger, and am now playing the best volleyball of my career. I don't think I can have her in my life and play right now. I've waited all my life for this… Tamsin has worked all of her life for this… I can't risk anything that would jeopardize our goal."

"Geez, Lauren. She's not asking for anything more than a chance to sit in the sun like a normal human being, watch some volleyball and maybe get a moment of your time to apologize."

Lauren shook her head, but Tamsin stepped in, "It's fine, Hale. Let her stay."

"Tamsin!" Lauren cautioned.

"No, Lauren. I'd rather lose the gold and see my friend smiling the whole time we're in Rio than play with this robot that has been showing up for practice every day. She stays… if not as your guest, then as mine. Besides… it's Bo fucking Dennis! She's a rock star on a surfboard and I'm fan-girling just a little bit right now. So, I'm just going over there to introduce myself because… well… she's really hot."

Lauren's face turned red with rage, her fingers curling into fists as she took a step to follow Tamsin who was clearly putting a little extra sway in her hips as she walked towards Bo, but Hale put a hand on the front of Lauren's shoulder, holding her back,

"What's up, Doc? You're the one that said you can't have her in your life right now. Why shouldn't Tamsin take a shot if you don't want her?"

"I didn't mean…" Lauren sighed, "I don't know what I mean."

Hale smiled, "Clearly and that's why you aren't going to say a word to Bo right now. I am not going to let you break that woman's heart when she is in such a fragile state. If you can't be her girlfriend right now, than you better damn well be a doctor and a human being."

"I'm so angry at her." Lauren said.

"So you're ready to throw her away? Do you want me to say it?" Hale asked.

"Say what?"

Hale sighed, "Look, Lauren… this all happened really fast and it happened after a very traumatic event. They say that relationships born of extreme circumstances never last beyond the drama."

"Are you saying I shouldn't be in a relationship with Bo?" Lauren asked, her face suddenly covered with worry.

"Again, I think you're the one that said that… I'm just playing the live soundtrack of what I think is going down in your head. You think you made a mistake jumping into a relationship with Bo right away. I'm just letting you hear your own words, you feel me?"

"No… I mean… I don't think…" Lauren shook her head, "Okay… I'm having second thoughts…"

"At the first sign of trouble, you want to bale," Hale said, "Think about it, Doc."

Lauren placed her hands on her hips and lifted her eyes to see Tamsin smiling and laughing with Bo. She felt a surge of jealousy rip through her, made worse only by her anger at the current riff in their relationship. What had happened? How had they gotten here? How had she gotten here?

She bent down and picked up the ball. Spinning it in her hands, she looked again at the Team USA logo. She looked up at Bo and thought about Hale's words. She hesitated before taking a step towards the bench, whispering to herself,

" _You want to see me play? Okay then… let's see if you like what I've got to show you."_

She moved towards the bench, looking up over at the opponents that had showed up to play today and saw the Team USA alternates warming up. She chuckled and walked over to Tamsin and placed a hand on her shoulder,

"Look who's here."

Tamsin looked away from Bo to see the pair on the other side of the net, "Oh look, it's tiny and whiney… great."

Bo looked up at Lauren, "Tiny and whiney?"

"Tiny is obvious, right? Well, whiney complains about every call."

Tamsin added, "Just watch what happens when they go down by more than three points… and they will, by the way. That's when it will start. She'll start complaining about something every point after that. Lauren and I have a bet that Tiny will dump her ass after this season. She's a good player... you know, the small but mighty type… she deserves better."

"I see." Bo nodded.

Tamsin walked over to the end of the bench to grab a towel leaving Bo and Lauren alone. Bo handed her a bottle of water,

"Here. You don't want to get dehydrated."

Lauren gave her a soft smile and a long drink before replacing the cap and handing it back to Bo, "Thanks."

"No… thank you, Lauren. You've been here for me from the moment I fell off my board into those waters and have remained by my side through everything, even though I was a total stranger."

"Well, we did sleep together." Lauren admitted, shyly.

"We had an amazing night and morning together… yes, we bonded that night… I've never had small talk in bed with someone I'd just met. There is something unique about us and we've spent the past month talking about everything from the time I swallowed a penny when I was three to the time you got the hiccups for a full day when you were sixteen… still amazing you're alive, I say."

Lauren laughed, opening her mouth to speak, but Bo stopped her,

"Please, let me finish. You've been wonderful… getting to know you has been amazing… you are amazing and I care so deeply about you. My actions didn't show that and I will forever regret that."

"Bo…"

"No, Lauren. Please, let me get this out. You need to know that I know I had no right to snap at you this week. I've shown no consideration for what my condition might have been doing to you and it was beyond wrong of me. I've said it what feels like a million times, but I haven't really thought about what it means for you… my surfing. The time and effort you're investing in me and my recovery… part of me feels like if I got on a board again, that it would be like you cleaning your house and someone coming in and breaking all of the furniture. I want you to find peace with my goals and if you can't, maybe it's time I get a real job. Look… what I'm trying to say is that if you don't want to see me, I understand but I hope you'll give me another chance."

Lauren nodded, "Bo, I'm not going to let you put your dream on hold. I may have to hold my breath every time you surf and honestly, I don't know if I can come and watch, but you have to follow your dream. If things don't work out between us, you would never forgive me. I would always be the most ridiculous reason you quit what you were best at doing."

"Lauren…"

"No, Bo… it's your turn to listen. Look… we both have goals and we're at different stages in those goals. I just think… well… I think we need to slow down a bit right now, Bo. I'm not breaking things off with you and I want to see you… I really do… but I think it's too much for us to be together every minute of the day."

She watched as Bo's face fell, but she continued… she had to, "Bo, please think about what I'm seeing. You need space to vent and be angry at the world and I understand that, but I can't be in the line of fire when you vent because it hurts when you direct it at me. As for me, I need space to focus on volleyball, my patients and… well… to deal with the fact that I could have lost you again. Remember, Bo… I'm a doctor… I know too much about what can go wrong and what is likely to go right. You're beating the odds… I mean, winning-the-lottery-type-beating-the-odds, Bo. It's hard to watch someone you care about so deeply go through this, knowing that their job is to get back out there and do the thing that did this to them to begin with. Don't misinterpret that as me wanting you to quit – it's not what I want, but I have to find a way to reconcile myself with what you do. I'm in a constant state of worry and…"

"It's too much… I get it." Bo said, hanging her head.

Lauren knelt down in front of Bo, "I'm not breaking up with you, Bo."

"Are you sure?" Bo asked.

Lauren's heart broke just a little bit. She really did feel bad about so many things. Life had robbed this woman of everything that made her who she was and now, she was clearly lost. Sitting in the oversized chair with the big wheels, her face pale and drawn from weeks indoors in the dark, her hair pulled up in a bun and her body covered in shorts and a T-shirt that were clearly Hale's, she wished she could give her back her world.

"I'm sure of only two things right now. One… that I really want to win a gold medal and two… that I'm not ready to give up on us." Lauren sighed.

"In that order?" Bo asked with a smile.

Lauren frowned, "Honestly, Bo… yes, in that order. I'm not in this gold medal hunt alone. Tamsin has worked all of her life for this too. I can't let her down. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but I owe her the chance I've been given, Bo. In surfing, it's you on that board out there, alone. It's your career, your win, your salary, your pride, your ranking… your performance and focus doesn't depend on someone else."

"Yours does. I get it, Lauren. I really do. So… do me a favor?"

"Maybe?" Lauren replied, knowing that she couldn't change Tamsin and Team USA Volleyball being her priority right now. She hoped Bo wouldn't ask her to do that.

"Go show me that mean sideline shot everyone said you have. I'd like to see a preview of the gold medal match that's happening in Rio."

Bo's smile was bright as she nodded at a hesitant Lauren, "I'm okay, Lauren… really. Make Tamsin and that gold medal your priority. I'll be here when it's over… I promise."

The brunette reached up and took the ball from her hands. She slowly circled it until she saw the team logo, "And please… I wouldn't mind you giving whiney a Team USA tattoo… right about here." Bo bumped the logo against her forehead, making Lauren laughed,

"Bo, intentionally hitting an opponent on the forehead hard enough to leave a ball imprint would be mean… but I like it." Lauren smirked before walking onto the court.

Bo smiled, settling into the chair, pulling the hat onto her head that Hale had given her to protect her eyes from the light. Hale sat beside her, handing her a blanket to cover her legs, which she accepted. She watched as the official climbed the ladder at the side of the net, the coach gathering the four players at the center of the net.

It took several minutes, but the coach finally walked to the sideline and nodded to the official who waved to the visiting pair, blowing his whistle for serve to begin. Bo watched as Tamsin and Lauren moved quickly, working in tandem to set up a sideline hit, but the visitors were ready for it, Tiny digging up the ball to Whiney who set Tiny up for the kill. Lauren received it easily, bumping the ball to Tamsin who set her up at the net and

 _Smash!_

Lauren landed a far corner smash sending it between the two players on the diagonal. On the sideline, Bo couldn't help but cheer, pulling her hat off and waving it in a circle over her head.

"Look, Lo… we have a sexy cheerleader." Tamsin smiled, handing Lauren the ball for service.

"Shut it, Tamsin. Focus." Lauren replied.

"Focus, right." Tamsin held up two fingers behind her back, letting Lauren know what play they were running as Lauren entered her serving motion. The doctor tossed the ball out in front of her and moved to the ball, flying through the air to meet the ball at its peak and hammer it down.

 _Ace!_

Again Bo cheered as the ball split the two players right down the middle, landing just inside the back line.

"Or, instead of two, we could just run that play every time. I like it." Tamsin smirked as they gave each other a hard low-five before moving to their respective courts.

It didn't take long for the more highly ranked pair to move past the Team USA alternates and when they did, true to form, Whiney started doing what she did best. Bo could only laugh at Lauren and Tamsin who would turn and roll their eyes at her when Whiney would start complaining. Point after point, the whining continued until finally, the match ended with a small crowd having gathered to watch the match. Everyone gave the winning pair a standing ovation before the pair moved through the crowd to sign autographs.

Finally, their PR work finished, the pair moved over to Bo, "So, did we make a fan out of you?"

Bo smiled, "I loved it! And you were totally right about whiney. It's unbelievable how much she complains… the best one being, 'why isn't the court on another beach? It's impossible to concentrate with the noise of those massive waves crashing everywhere', right?"

Tamsin laughed, "Or, how about the one where she complained about the tape lines in the sand being slightly off, so it's why she was missing her serve!"

Lauren laughed, "So… how are you?" She noticed right away that Bo looked very tired, though she did get a little sun that gave her a healthier glow.

"I'm fine, Lauren." Bo replied.

Lauren wasn't convinced but Hale just shrugged, "So, what's for dinner?"

Bo shook her head, "Maybe you and Tamsin should go have dinner together. You know, do some of that team bonding stuff that's going to win the USA another gold medal in volleyball at the Olympics."

"Bo, earlier, I didn't mean…"

"Lauren, I'm tired to tell you the truth. Three PT sessions, a lot of respiratory tests before they would clear me to come outdoors, two OT sessions and an appointment with my dear old shrink, Hale… it's been a long day. I'll get a bite at the hospital."

"Bo, really… we…" Lauren began, but Bo cut her off.

"Really, I insist. I'll see you whenever you get a chance to stop by my room since it's safe to say I won't be following you anywhere." Bo smiled and looked at the taller blonde, "It was nice to finally meet you, Tamsin. I loved watching the two of you play. I don't pretend to be an expert on beach volleyball, but you two seem to be pretty special together."

Bo turned towards Hale, "You ready?"

Hale smiled, "Where to, ma'am?"

"To bed, Hale… take me to bed."

Hale smirked, "I thought you'd never ask."

He winked at Lauren who smiled as the two maneuvered a short distance away. Suddenly, a rush of emotion overcame Lauren and she moved quickly towards the pair,

"Bo!"

Hale stopped, turning the chair enough so Bo could see Lauren coming her way. The blonde stood before Bo awkwardly before she leaned down and gave her a light kiss on the cheek,

"See you soon."

Bo smiled, "See you soon."

Lauren watched as the two headed back towards the hospital. It was a long way back to the sidewalk and she knew those wheelchairs were not easy to push. She smiled at the thought of having a friend like Hale who would go to such lengths to give a patient her wish… and to give his friend a chance to see her girlfriend. She wanted to run and help Hale, but instead she turned back to Tamsin,

"Dinner?"

"Lauren, I don't think I'm the one you want to be having dinner with."

The doctor pulled on her T-shirt and shorts over her team two-piece before loading up her bag and pulling it onto her shoulders,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tamsin shook her head, pushing her towel into her bag, "I'm talking about Bo, Lauren. You should be having dinner with her."

Lauren frowned, "Fine. I'd like to have dinner with her, but I really think we need some time apart, Tamsin. Besides, I haven't slept in my bed for a week. I really need to go home, check my mail, do my bills… you know… life stuff."

"Bo is life stuff, Lauren."

The blonde just nodded in reply, "I know… but she's not all that's in my life, Tamsin. I need to find some balance. We went from total strangers to couple in a less than a month. I've been the only person she has seen because her sister and friends are riding the surf circuit in Australia."

"You're afraid she's only with you because you're conveniently there in her hospital."

"I don't know, honestly, but I want to find out."

Tamsin nodded, "I see."

"Come on, I'm starving."

Tamsin shook her head as she watched her teammate head towards the parking lot and their cars. She couldn't figure out what how she would help her friend, but she wasn't going to give up trying.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"That's it, Bo! Yes!" Kristy encouraged her patient as she climbed the short stairway of four steps, "Now, back down. Careful turning so you don't fall."

Bo smiled at her accomplishment, knowing her legs were finally getting back to where they were before the surgery. She momentarily lost her footing as she turned, lost her balance and tumbled down the steps. Kristy dove to break her fall, saving her head from hitting the floor.

"Bo? Are you okay?"

"Shit."

"Bo! Answer me!"

"Yes, Kristy! I'm fine! Just my pride is hurt." She sat up slowly, moving her legs out from under her with some effort, "Useless legs!"

"Hey! Those legs finally got you up all four steps! Now, what landed you down here?"

"I didn't grip the railing when I turned, I got cocky, I rushed, I wasn't careful… all of the above?"

"Good answer. Now, I need you to look up at me." Kristy said. Bo complied, knowing she had to check her pupils and make sure she hadn't hit her head, "Did you hit…"

"No, my head is as fine as it can be. When are my legs gonna feel like my own again?"

"Bo, the bleeding you had is serious even though yours was the mildest version. You have to give your brain a chance to heal and start sending messages through your motor cortex again the way it used to. I know you don't want me to say it, but you have to…"

"I know, I know… be patient!" Bo sighed, "Okay. Can I try again?"

Kristy shook her head, "That's enough steps for today. Let's do a little treadmill to finish up today, okay? Let's see if you can get fifteen minutes. I want you to work your way up to a three incline today, okay?"

"Can I try twenty minutes?" Bo asked.

"I don't want you pushing yourself too hard, Bo."

"Kristy… please… I need to go a little harder. Please?"

Kristy looked at Bo's face, and then sighed, "Okay, but then you wear the heart monitor and I take your BP every three minutes. Deal?"

"Deal." Bo replied with a smile as she slowly rolled over to a crawling position. She slowly used the steps to help her get to a stand. Once up on her feet, she moved carefully over to the treadmill.

"Your legs look a little wobbly there, Bo." Kristy cautioned.

"Yea… maybe fifteen minutes is enough."

"I don't mind ambition, Bo but you have to listen to your body so you don't have another setback, okay?"

"Okay." Bo said, calming herself. She hit the start button and began to walk as Kristy moved to her side and clipped the safety to her T-shirt,

"Don't forget the red cord, Bo. If you fall, the treadmill will burn your skin off if you don't have that connected."

"Right. Sorry. Forgot." Bo replied.

Kristy smiled, "No problem. So… have you seen Lauren lately?"

Bo shook her head, "Lachlan added a workout to midday and Evony upped her shifts. The two of them are fighting over her like she's a pawn in a chess game."

"That's a shame." Kristy replied.

"Yea." Bo replied, quietly.

Kristy frowned, "You miss her."

"Yea." Bo said, sadly.

"But you've talked since you went to see her play, right?"

"Sure. We text and she usually calls me after nine to say goodnight. It's just hard, you know? I mean… I know she's just two floors down and… well… I don't know."

"You're thinking if she really wanted to, she could easily stop by for a quick hello?"

Bo nodded, "Frankly, yes. I just… I mean… I now she said we needed some distance, but I didn't know she meant the Grand Canyon."

Kristy laughed, "I see what you mean. So, why don't you ask her when you see her next?"

"I don't want to be a nag or needy or one of those lost puppy types who make her feel pressured."

Kristy nodded, "Well how long has it been since you've seen her?"

Bo frowned, taking a long pause before she finally look over at Kristy, "Week before last when Hale took me to see her play."

"That was two weeks ago!" Kristy exclaimed, her anger at Lauren flaring until she realized she was being unprofessional. She took two calming breaths, "I would ask her about it, Bo… really."

"She told me she wanted some space and that Team USA had to come first right now, so I have to respect that, Kristy."

"Bo, you're an incredible woman and I think… well… I think I should keep my opinions to myself." She pushed the button on the automatic sphygmomanometer, waited for the reading and then smiled, "BP looks good, heart rate looks good. That's progress I can read, Bo. I like it."

Bo smiled broadly, "Thanks, Kristy. That means a lot."

The PT bit her bottom lip, wondering if she should… hmmm…, "How would you like to go out for a bite to eat in the real world when you're finished here?"

"You mean escape my shackels? Ohmagosh, I'd love to!" Bo replied.

Kristy smiled, "Okay then, what do you want? I'll call for reservations."

"Steak. I could really go for a nice steak. And some fruit that's not sitting in sugary syrup… and a real, fresh salad." Bo said, excitedly.

"Okay then, one steak house reservation, coming up." Kristy replied as she pulled out her phone and made the reservation.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kristy wheeled Bo up the handicapped ramp and into the hostess area. She had warned the hostess when she'd made the reservation that she was bringing in a well-known surfer and that they would need wheelchair access.

"Reservation for two for Knight?" She said politely from behind Bo, her hands leaning on the handlebars of the chair.

The young girl's eyes went wide at the sight of Bo and then remembered her place "Of course, right this way."

Kristy leaned over Bo's shoulder and smiled, "She's a fan."

"Yea, well let's see how many people are still fans by the time I make it back up on a board and don't catch a single wave." Bo mumbled, but Kristy heard it.

"You really need to start seeing Hale again." Kristy replied.

"I have seen him. Every single day." Bo replied as her therapist wheeled her to a stop at the end of a table.

Kristy sighed, "But he told me you don't ever say a word."

"What happened to doctor-patient privilege?" Bo asked, locking the wheels on her chair and beginning to stand.

"What are you doing?" Kristy asked.

"I'm sitting in that chair, Kristy. I'm in a public place with eyes everywhere. I don't want rumors circulating that I'm paralyzed or incapacitated. That would just give the news vultures and the competition the feeding frenzy they're looking for to end my career."

"Bo, I don't think…"

"Look, I need to do this my way, okay? Just… let me do this. You don't know my world, Kristy. Trust that I cannot sit here in a wheelchair, okay?" Bo looked up at the woman with hopeful eyes, earning her a nod.

The waiter came to the table and Kristy whispered in her ear. He nodded and took the chair away, leaving Bo with a confused look on her face. Kristy smiled,

"Well, if you have to go to the bathroom, it's right there. I hope you have enough fuel left in those gorgeous million dollar legs of yours to get yourself there without wheels."

Bo smiled, "Thanks, Kristy."

"I'm here to serve, Bo." She replied, picking up the menu.

"I would hope you were taking me out to dinner as more than my therapist at this point."

Kristy's eyes moved up to meet a smiling Bo, "More than a therapist?"

"Friends?" Bo asked, holding out her hand.

Kristy's heart sunk a little as she took the offered hand and sighed, "Good friends… very good friends."

"Well, okay then. Let's eat. I'm starving. Someone kicked my ass three times today."

The therapist laughed, "Well, I don't think I was alone in that. You really are pushing yourself, Bo. It's good to have a patient with such fight in her."

"Well, no one is going to get me out of that chair but me. I don't know what happened to the fight I always had in me when I was out there battling the pipe for my life, but I have to find that part of me again or my career really is over. I just don't think I'm going to find it in talk therapy with Hale – no offense to him – but I need to get back out there. That's how I'll know I either have it or I don't."

Kristy nodded, "I understand. I mean, I may not be a world class surfer, but I was an athlete before my job as a PT."

"Really?" Bo said as the waiter came back to the table.

"Ladies? What can I get you tonight?"

Bo smiled, "Two of the biggest, best steaks you have on your menu. I want a baked potato and whatever veggie you have cooking up… oh, and a side salad with house dressing." She looked at Kristy who looked up at the waiter,

"I'll have the same. Thank you."

Bo looked across the table, "So, you were going to tell me about your athletic career?"

Kristy smiled, "Yea, well I played beach volleyball when I moved here, but before that, I was on the 1997 Women's NCAA Championship Team."

"Wow, you won and NCAA Title?"

"Yea, I went to Stanford on a full ride. It was a very cool time."

"So did you play in the Olympics?" Bo asked as the salad was delivered in front of her. She placed her napkin on her lap and picked up her fork.

"I made the team and played through all of the test matches on the 1996 team. We were 10-3 on the world circuit when it happened."

Bo stopped, mid-bite, "When what happened?"

"I blew out my knee." Kristy replied, "Tough luck, you know?"

"So, did the team…"

"The team lost nine straight games after that before they got back on the winning track again. They never medaled in the Olympics that year."

"But you came back that year to win the NCAA title, so that's something, right?"

"It definitely was something… it was amazing."

"So you didn't try out for the 2000 Olympics?" Bo asked.

"Nah. I had some family stuff to deal with and, well, I had a job and all, so… you know, life."

"Can I ask what family stuff?" Bo asked.

"Well, my dad was the dead-beat type. We never knew him. My mom busted her ass working several jobs to pay for a roof over our heads and the basics."

"We?" Bo asked.

"Me and my little brother. Anyway, she was diagnosed with breast cancer almost a full year after I graduated from college. I stayed in California to take care of her and gave up my position on the Team USA. Taking care of her and my little brother became my full time job. When the money ran out, I had to take a job. My mom was stage four, so she wanted to spend her last days in an island paradise."

Kristy paused, taking a sip of her water, "Wow. I could use something a little stronger than that to go with this story."

Bo waved down the waiter, looking at Kristy as he approached, "What would you like?"

She looked up at the waiter, "I'll have the best Pinot Noir you've got."

"We've got a fabulous CrossBarn 2013, would that suffice ma'am?"

Kristy smiled, "Of course."

"And you ma'am?" He asked Bo.

"Nothing for me, thanks."

"Are you sure?" He asked, "Word has it that you can drink the men on the circuit under the table, Miss Dennis."

Bo's eyes snapped up to meet the waiter, but Kristy's hand on hers instantly calmed her. She looked at the soft hand on her own, then up at Kristy and smiled, before looking up at the young man,

"Well, I'm not out with the boys tonight, so I've got nothing to prove, right?"

He replied, "That's true. And… uh… I heard about your accident. It's really good to see you up and around again. I hope you'll be able to get back out there soon. I mean… your sister is great and all, but I think you've got the most style. My little sister, she has sort of modeled her riding style after yours. She would absolutely die is she knew I was talking to you right now."

Bo smiled brightly, "Wow, a real fan, huh?"

"Oh, no… not one fan… we're a whole family of fans. I'm one of six kids and my apparently my Dad grew up with your dad? They've been following you since you were on the junior circuit."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Wait. Your dad grew up with my dad? What's his name?"

"Hi name is Drew Anderson. I'm his son Chip… corny, I know."

Bo smiled brightly, but addressed his comment first, "Why is Chip corny? Oh… wait… corn chip, I get it." Bo laughed.

"Oh, no… I uh… wow… a pun… not intended at all… he named me Chip because I was a chip off the old block, get it… first born son and all."

Bo laughed, "Oh, I see. So you're one of six kids born to Drew Anderson, eh? I don't remember the name, but then again, I never really knew any of their real names... they all had nicknames."

"Oh, he said they called him Moon." Chip replied.

"Oh. My. Gosh! I totally remember Moon! You know, he was there for me… I mean… out on the breaks every single day after my Dad died. He would sit out beyond the breakers with me and just tell me stories about them growing up. He really helped me get through a rough time. I lost track of him when my pro career took off."

"He really knew you and your Dad? We thought he was just pulling our leg!"

"Yup. He knew my whole family. He would take Kenzi on his board when I was on my Dad's."

"Wow. Well, the whole family is on your team, Miss Dennis."

"Please, we're practically family, Chip. Call me Bo."

"So, can you tell me about my Dad? You know… when he was younger? I need something to use when I'm in trouble."

Bo laughed, "Nope. There's an old saying that what happens at Mavericks…"

"I know, I know… stays at Mavericks. He's told me that before."

"I can tell you that my dad hung with a gang of surfers known as the Mates of Mavericks. I just remember that when I was in the juniors, they were always around me when I caught a wave making sure I didn't hit the rocks or that I came back up if I had a bad fall. They watched out for me, encouraged me, pushed me to do more with a board than I ever thought I could do. Your dad was a big part of making me the surfer I am today."

She looked down at her legs and thought to herself, 'well, the surfer I used to be'.

"Well, I really have to get back to work and get your girlfriend a that glass of wine. It was really nice to talk to you."

"Oh… she's not…" Bo began, but Chip was already gone, "Oh well, I hope you don't mind people thinking you're my girlfriend."

"I will blush appropriately whenever it's mentioned." Kristy smiled.

"No, really." Bo said, "If he tells anyone I was seen out to dinner with a hot woman with blue eyes and jet black hair, you'll never have a minute's rest. The press will be on it in a blink."

"No problem, Bo. I'll handle it. Really." Kristy place her hand on Bo's and gave it a squeeze, allowing it to linger a bit longer than she should have.

Bo looked at the hand, enjoying the warmth. Suddenly, she remembered Lauren and pulled her hand away. She looked up at Kristy who blushed,

"Sorry."

"No. It's okay. I just…" She paused for a moment, then decided a change of subject was in order, "So, your mom wanted her last days to be in an island paradise. Is that how you ended up in Hawaii?"

She nodded, "Yup. I applied for a job in a clinical setting and one in the hospital. I took the one in the hospital so that when my mom was in her final hours, I could be there with her right in the same building. I got my brother settled into a great new school and, to tell you the truth, things were better than they'd ever been. My salary was more than all of my mom's salaries combined so we lived comfortably… we were… happy."

Bo smiled, though she understood exactly how Kristy was feeling. Losing a parent was never easy and Bo had done it twice. She also understood having to care for a younger sibling. She'd been looking out for Kenzi ever since her parent's deaths,

"I think I can understand what you've gone through."

"Yea, I read your backstory in that surfing magazine a few months back."

"I had no idea I was going to be the feature story. I thought I would spill my guts and they would then summarize it all. They literally told my whole freaking story."

"Yea, I guess that's what publicists are for." Kristy laughed as the waiter returned with her wine.

"There you are, ma'am. Can I get the two of you anything else? Your meals should be up in a few minutes."

"We're good, Chip. Thanks."

"You bet. Oh… if you wouldn't mind, could I get a selfie with the two of you? My sister won't believe I met you unless I have proof."

"Of course." Bo smiled, beginning to stand, but Kristy moved from her seat to stand behind Bo quickly, not wanting her to try to stand. After sitting in a chair for this long, she knew getting back up was not going to be easy for Bo. Her legs would likely cramp after three hard sessions today.

"Come on behind Bo with me." Kristy suggested.

Chip did as asked, allowing Bo to hold out the camera, "Lean in your guys, get a little lower."

Kristy leaned in and wrapped an arm over Bo's shoulder while Chip leaned over the other shoulder, one hand on the chair,

"Okay, smiles!" She pushed the button on the camera phone and then handed it back to Chip, "There you go, buddy. Please tell your Dad I said hi and I really hope we can connect again one of these days."

"You bet, Miss Dennis."

"Bo, please. We're practically family, Chip." She insisted.

"Okay, Bo. I'm gonna send this to my sister!"

Kristy smiled as the boy waved to her, leaving she and Bo alone again, "So, you do realize it's going to be tough getting out of that chair after we eat, right?"

"Why's that?"

"You've had three hard workouts today, Bo. Your legs are tight and you will likely be stiff or cramp when you go to stand. It would help if you could stretch your legs while you're sitting there."

"Well, my therapist is here. Maybe she can help me stay stretched while we eat?" Bo said, lifting a leg onto Kristy's lap.

The raven-haired woman looked down, surprised by the foot now between her legs on her chair. She smiled, taking her napkin and placing it on the sole of Bo's foot so she wouldn't dirty her hands with the bottom of her shoe and pushed her foot into plantar flexion. Bo moaned,

"Oh, man… you were right. My hammies are like friggin' guitar strings. No further… that's enough." Bo smiled, though her face contorted with pain, "Ow."

Kristy laughed, "Still such a pussy."

"I am not a pussy." Bo pouted, "I'm sensitive."

"Oh, my bleeding heart. Suck it up, Dennis."

Bo smiled, then grew serious, "Really, Kristy. I have to thank you. I don't think I could have made it through this latest setback without you. I mean… Lauren and Kenzi were both there for me after I drowned, Lauren was there for me after the seizure thing began and the start of the brain bleed… but you… well, you've been here through it all, never giving up on me."

Kristy smiled, "Give me your other leg." She looked down and watched for Bo's weaker leg to come up. When it didn't quite make it up, she reached down and grabbed Bo's heal and pulled it up to her slowly, watching the brunette's face for any sign of pain,

"Look Bo, I don't want to confuse things. I mean… being there for you was my job. I mean… it started out that way but then… well, I looked forward to having you each day. I just… I like you, Bo… I like you a lot. I know you're all tied up about Lauren but I'm here for you because you deserve your shot and I want you to get back on your feet because I believe in you. I just… I don't know, I feel like we have a connection and I just enjoy the time we get together during the day."

Bo was stunned. She sat still for a moment, pushing a tomato around her salad plate contemplating Kristy's words. She definitely felt a closeness to this woman that was more than what she'd shared with any normal friend. Maybe it was that she was working through this recovery with her, maybe not. She just didn't know. She'd never thought of Kristy as anything more than her therapist. And then there was Lauren… her absent girlfriend.

"Kristy… I… I don't know what to say. I mean… I like you, yes. I just… I haven't thought of you in that way."

"Well, who knows. Maybe one day you will. If you want another therapist, I can arrange that, Bo. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me, but I wanted you to know. Lauren hasn't been around and I have… that's just the way I see it. I guess I feel a little slighted that you're all love sick puppy over her and you haven't even noticed the woman who has been by your side every step of the way."

Bo frowned, "I think I just thanked you for that, so please don't say I haven't noticed."

"Sorry… I just… I guess I'm just angry at hearing about Lauren all day. I just don't think she deserves you at this point." Kristy said.

"And you do?" Bo asked, "For what? Doing your job, as you said?"

"Bo, I…"

"No, Kristy. It's okay. Look… let's just leave it there, okay? I'm a little confused by all of this right now. You just dropped a lot on me and frankly, my love life is the last thing on my mind right now."

"Okay. If that's really the case, then can we not discuss Lauren in therapy anymore?" Kristy asked.

"Of course. She's off the table for conversation. I just… I just can't listen to you bad-mouthing Lauren, okay? You don't know her and you don't know us… that's for me and Lauren. So, let's just you and I stick to conversations about my therapy and things that pertain to you and me."

Kristy chanced placing a hand on Bo's. While the brunette didn't pull her hand away, she did pull her hand out from underneath and pat Kristy's hand before she spoke,

"Give me time to figure out all of these feelings that… well… I'm feeling, okay?"

"Okay." Kristy replied.

Bo pulled her hand away gently, then pulled her leg down off of Kristy's lap just in time for their dinner to arrive,

"Here you are, ladies." Chip carefully placed the dishes down on the table with a smile before turning to Bo, "I sent the selfie to my sister and told her I'd met you and your girlfriend. She's so jealous right now! All of her friends are posting to Facebook about how jealous they are, too! Thank you, Bo."

"You're welcome, Chip. But…" She nodded towards Kristy, "We're not girlfriends. We're just friends. She's my physical therapist and has been instrumental in my recovery so she's getting me out for some fresh air tonight, which I am eternally grateful to her for. Hospital food gets real old, real fast."

"Sure Bo. Thanks again." Chip said, walking away with a smile.

"No, Chip!" Bo called, but the young man was off to another of his tables.

"Sorry, Bo. I should have corrected him the first time. But, what harm can it do, right?"

"A selfie with our picture and a caption of you as my girlfriend on social media? Of course, what harm could it do."

Bo sighed, knowing that by now, one of the paparazzi probably already had one of the pictures ready to go for one of the tabloids by morning. She looked at the bright side… at least she'd get to see Lauren soon.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was after nine when Kristy and Bo returned to the hospital. While eating their meal, the conversation had lightened up considerably, falling into the easy banter that usually consumed the two at their sessions together. They talked about Bo's surfing goals as well as her fears about getting back into the pipe. Kristy had agreed to get a board into the therapy center so she could start helping Bo work back into a pop up on the board. It would have to be modified, but Bo gave her the name of a guy who could take care of that for her.

Walking back into the darkness of Bo's room, they grew quiet.

"I'm just gonna…" Bo tossed her thumb over her shoulder towards the bathroom, "Feel free to sit down if you want to hang out for a little bit."

"Okay, thanks." Kristy said, taking the chair next to Bo's bed, which was now crisp with fresh sheets. She picked up a magazine from the basket on the floor that held some of the things Bo was now allowed to do – puzzles, reading material and an iPad. She smiled remembering the OT caution Bo that she would take it from her until the day she was discharged if she found out she was using it for more than two hours each day. Putting her feet up on the footboard, she noticed a note on the pillow with the brunette's name on it. Was it from Lauren?

She leaned over to pick it up when the bathroom door opened. She quickly dropped the note back onto the pillow and leaned back. Bo smirked,

"Find something interesting?" Bo asked.

"What?" Kristy covered, "No, just an old magazine."

Bo shook her head, "Kristy, you may have been quick with a volleyball back in the day, but your reflexes aren't that quick anymore."

She strolled to her bed, picking up the note. She opened it and frowned as she read it. Kristy had her answer,

"From Lauren?" She asked.

Bo's temper flared, "I thought we agreed that talk of my girlfriend was off the table?"

"Girlfriend? You can't seriously…"

"Look…" Bo interrupted, "Declaring your feelings for me does not give you the right to tell me what to do, nor does it give you the right to insult the people in my life or the choices I make. You're overstepping quite a bit tonight and it's not helping your chances of having any relationship with me. You may have been my therapists the last months, but you don't know me outside of here, Kristy. Tonight was the first time we've discussed anything of a personal nature. So just… don't. I think it's time for you to go."

Bo kept her eyes down as she held on to the note Lauren had written. Kristy moved to her side and laced her fingers into Bo's. Placing a kiss on her cheek she said,

"I'll always be here waiting if you decide you want someone who will truly be here for you, Bo. No distractions. You would be my focus. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night." She kissed her cheek again and then walked from the room.

As she exited the room, she saw Lauren standing outside the room. She smirked, looking at the blonde,

"You don't deserve her, Doctor." Her voice was dripping with distain as she moved past Lauren, nudging her shoulder as she walked towards the elevator.

Lauren stood staring at Bo who was holding the letter she'd written. She watched as the brunette climbed into bed and faced away from her towards the open window. A tear trickled down her cheek as she watched Bo read the note again and again. She sighed, finally taking a step into the room.

She walked all the way to the other side and stood by the window, staring out at the breakers on the shore. Bo gasped at the sight of Lauren backlit by the light of the full moon.

"I got your note." Bo said aloud, though her voice was shaking, "And you're wrong."

"I was standing in the doorway before your steakhouse date left, Bo. Tell me what I saw wasn't what is floating around on social media… what will be floating around in our high-profile world tomorrow in the tabloids."

"I was out with another woman tonight and you're worried about the tabloids?" Bo asked, the anger over Lauren's absence of late weighing heavily on her mind.

"So you were out on a date?" Lauren asked, her voice cracking as tears trailed down her face. She knew she didn't have a right to cry or be angry. She'd been avoiding Bo for two weeks.

"No, Lauren. It wasn't a date. Kristy offered to take me out for dinner because I'd been couped up in here since the last day I saw you. I was depressed and feeling like a failure after I failed to make it up and down four lousy steps at therapy today."

She sighed not expecting Lauren to understand. She hadn't been here, so she wouldn't understand what a hurdle that would have been to overcome.

"Maybe not, but you have managed a mile on the treadmill on a level two incline and you have raised all of your upper body weights. Your total lean body mass is up almost ten percent in the past month and you're gaining your weight back. Your scans are all clean, no seizures, no clots, all of your memory tests are showing full recovery as well as your reflex tests and your psych evaluation. You are being discharged at the end of the week. You'll continue your therapies as an outpatient at the local clinic…"

She turned to face Bo, "Unless you'd like to continue to come here to see your new girlfriend."

Lauren turned back to the window to wipe the tears from her cheeks. She shoved her hands deep into the pocket of her lab coat and turned back to Bo, who remained silent,

"I thought you should know the good news from the doctor who originally admitted you. Congratulations, Bo. It looks like everything is working out great for you. You'll get out of here, get yourself back to full form and be surfing before you know it. Plus, you'll have someone whose schedule will apparently allow her to devote her entire life to supporting whatever you need."

When Bo saw Lauren heading for the door, she finally snapped out of her frozen state and moved to stop the blonde from walking out the door. She rolled over and tried to step out of bed, but in her rush to get out of the covers, her foot got caught in the sheet and she fell head first out of bed at Lauren's feet.

"BO!" Lauren yelled as she rushed to the woman's side. The brunette didn't respond causing Lauren to panic, "BO!"

The brunette finally rolled over slowly. Lauren's eyes met her own to find the surfer laughing hysterical,

"No matter how hard I try, I just keep falling for you, Lauren Lewis." Bo smirked as Lauren hit her on the shoulder,

"You scared the shit out of me!"

"So you do, care, Doctor?" Bo asked.

"Of course I do! I said as much in my note!"

"And yet you are so quick to walk out of my life tonight all over a misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding? I saw the intimate moment you shared before she left, Bo. I saw the picture on social media of her arm draped over your shoulder, her hand practically grabbing your breast and I saw the caption… 'met Bo Dennis and her girlfriend at the steakhouse tonight'! Misunderstanding?"

"Yup." Bo rolled her legs over and moved to her knees before gripping the bed and trying to step to her feet, but her legs were too weak, "Shit."

"Here, let me help you." Lauren put an arm under Bo's arm but the brunette moved away.

"No, Lauren. You have to let me do this myself. If I'm being discharged, I'm going to have to be able to get up if I fall."

Lauren stepped away and watched as the brunette struggled, but finally pulled herself up and on to the bed. She wiggled her way back in, sliding her legs under the covers.

"May I?" Lauren asked, gripping the ends of the blanket. Bo nodded her consent leading Lauren to raise the covers up over her legs to her waist.

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm sorry you had to see that photo with that caption on social media. I tried to get Chip to tell his sister that she was not my girlfriend so she wouldn't post it."

"Who's Chip?" Lauren asked.

"He's the kid in the picture. His sister posted the photo to her Facebook account."

Lauren shook her head, "I didn't see it there, Bo. I saw it on Kristy's Facebook page. She's the one who said she was out to dinner with her new girlfriend, Bo Dennis. She further said that you'd be back on the circuit in no time thanks to some new therapies she was using with you."

Lauren pulled out her phone and opened up her Facebook app, going straight to Kristy's page. She handed the phone to Bo so she could see the post. She watched as the brunette read the post, clearly angered by what she read. She sat up bolt straight and hit the call button for the nurse,

"Bo?"

"This is NOT happening! I can't believe she posted this… when did she post it?" Bo thought back to the time in the restaurant, remembering how she held up the phone and snapped the picture, only now she remembered two flashes.

Looking back to the picture, she noticed this one was taken at a different angle and Chip was not in the photo. She quickly searched for Chip Anderson's Facebook page and found the image she had taken,

"Here, look… see? That's Chip. She must have taken that picture and posted it while I was talking to Chip."

"So… not your girlfriend?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, "Not my girlfriend. My girlfriend wouldn't post a picture to social media without my consent. My girlfriend would not call me her girlfriend on social media at all… she wouldn't need to because it doesn't matter who knows what our status is as a couple to my real girlfriend… she just needs to know that I'm here in this bed… eventually at home… waiting for her to come and tell me where she's been, what she's been up to, how she's doing, that she still cares and that her line shots are still killer point scorers."

Lauren smiled, "Do you mind?" She pointed towards the space next to Bo.

"Please." Bo nodded to the space and slid a bit to the side to give her more room.

"I'm sorry I've been avoiding you."

"Oh, so that's what you've been doing." Bo nodded.

"I had to get my game back on track and I had this anger with you that was fueling my game… I wanted to hang on to that anger so I could finally get the monkey off my back… and help Tamsin live her dream. We've been friends for so long… she's my sister from another mister, Bo."

Bo smiled, "I get it. So what happened to the monkey?"

"He's sitting on the upright down at the court where he belongs. He has no place in my relationship with you, Bo. When I saw that post… when I came here and the nurse told me you and Kristy left, laughing, to go out to dinner together… when I came here and saw her fingers slip into your hand, whispering into your ear, kissing your cheek… my entire body just screamed out… mine."

Bo adjusted her head on the arm over her head, "Possessive much, Dr. Lewis?"

Lauren smiled a tight smile, "Every day I wanted to come and see you, but every day I was worried that I was losing my self to your battle, thereby surrendering the battle I was supposed to be fighting in my own life. I was afraid to come the day after you came to my court because I was afraid I would just fall back into your world and forget my own. Then the next day I thought I would stop by and I got scared again… then it just became a pattern and before I knew it, two weeks had passed and… well, what do you say to someone you care about when you first see them after ignoring their calls and texts for two weeks?"

"Hi?" Bo replied with a smile.

Lauren sighed and nodded, "Hi."

"So… do you have to go or do you want to talk about how you've been the past two weeks?" Bo asked.

Lauren chuckled, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear, "Well, I've been working out, practicing and doctoring. I've been a bit busy… not much time to myself which is probably good considering my mind doesn't do good things when it's got idle time."

"So did your brain get idle time tonight?" Bo asked.

"Yup and after browsing Facebook, my mind ran wild." Lauren replied.

"Is it better now?"

Lauren nodded as Bo took her hand in her own, "Much."

"And chance you'd be interested in giving me more details about the things you've been doing? I mean… without violating those nasty HIPPA laws and all." Bo smiled.

"Well, Lachlan has been a bastard, as usual. Evony is kicking the shit out of me with my schedule, as usual. But Tamsin and I are really in sync and our game is coming together at the perfect time."

"That's great, Lauren. I'm really happy for you. So, when do you hop the plane for Rio? That's soon, right?"

"Two weeks." Lauren said, reaching into her lab coat and pulling out a folded piece of paper, "We got our schedule and our hotel information. I want you to have it… you know, just in case you can find your way there. We each get a family package of tickets next week. I'll give those to you to use as you see fit. You can give them away or you can use them yourself. I now you may not be able to come… I mean… your rehab is really important, so…"

"I'll be there, Lauren."

"Bo, it's most of the month of August. You need to get back out there to score points." Lauren replied.

"No, I need to be where I most want to be, Lauren. I want to surf more than anything, but the bottom line is that I'm very weak. Two more weeks isn't going to get me surfing big waves again. I need more like six months."

"Bo…"

"No, Lauren. Look… I've had a lot of workouts and a lot of time to weigh the realities of my situation. I'm lucky to be alive and I finally get that… I get that I need to value this second chance that I've been given. My reality is that no surfer has any business going out on the pipe if they aren't both mentally and physically fit enough to handle it. The truth is… every time I look out that window, I'm terrified. Now… I think, that in time… God knows I hope that in time… I can get back out there and achieve my dream, but it's not going to happen this year. If I train and really get my head back where it needs to be, I can give it a shot again next year."

"But this was supposed to be the year." Lauren argued.

"It was, but Poseidon decided to take me out. I need to listen to the will of the sea, Lauren. I'm going back out… it's not just going to be this month… maybe next month I'll start out on some easy waves."

"Poseidon, Bo? Really?" Lauren asked.

"Figure of speech among surfers. Don't worry. We don't really think he exists."

"Oh, well in that case I feel much better." Lauren smiled, looking down at their joined hands, "I just need to know that you're not doing this to follow my dream. We should never sacrifice our dreams for each other, Bo."

"Lauren…"

"No, Bo… it's important to a healthy relationship. I've come to realize that over the past two weeks. Remember that I've had a lot of time to think too. We walk our path together… side my side… sometimes we part for a while to take different paths, but our paths meet up again. That way, we can have each other and not become overly immersed in some overly obsessed love that will burn out fast."

"Side by side then, right?"

"Side by side." Lauren replied with a smile.

"Okay, well then I'll be walking beside you over the next few months because my path is currently blocked by unforeseen circumstances, Lauren. I want to do this… be there for you… support you. The last time I surfed there was a big win for me… it was the last competition before my drowning. I was so consumed by the battle in the water, that I never took the time to check out what was happening on land. Besides, if I keep training, maybe I can get some surf time in down in Rio… they have better flats for beginner to advanced surfers. If I do okay, maybe I'll go hit up some of the pro sites. And just think… maybe I can even make some connections to sell my boards."

"I didn't realize you'd been in Rio before… you know." Lauren said, hanging her head.

"You still can't say it, huh?" Bo asked.

"I just… I can't get your face out of my head from that day."

"Look at me, Lauren. I'm here… right here… alive and healing. So can you please say it as an event from the past? Not something that almost took me from you?"

Lauren was silent for a long while before she finally looked up and said, "I didn't realize Rio was the last place you'd competed before you'd drowned."

"It was and I did really well… amazing even. I surprised myself, actually." Bo replied.

Lauren smiled, "Well, maybe Rio is where you need to be then."

"Really? You'd support me going, then?" Bo asked.

"Bo, I don't want you to think I wouldn't want you there. I would be honored and it would be amazing to have someone in my corner. Tamsin and I are the only ones on the team that have no family. We only have each other. It would be great to have you there."

Bo nodded, "I was starting to think you didn't want me there… and if you don't want me there… if you change your mind… if you think I'd be a distraction, I want you to tell me, Lauren. I don't want anything to get in the way of you realizing your dream, least of all me."

"I'll tell you, but I can't imagine not having you there if it's something you can do without giving up your own dream." Lauren replied.

"I promise you I'm not giving up on my dream. I'm just adjusting my sail on turbulent seas." Bo smiled.

"Okay then… Rio it is." Lauren smiled, squeezing Bo's hand.

"Rio it is." Bo smiled.

The pair sat in silence for quite some time, taking turns caressing each other's hands, then wrists, then arms until Lauren spoke,

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Bo's eyes went wide before she smiled and said, "Yes."

Lauren clarified, "Just sleep, Bo. I haven't slept well for two weeks… I mean… I do fall off from exhaustion but my mind has been restless. I missed having you wrapped around me at night."

"I missed holding you." Bo admitted.

Lauren chuckled, "At first, I didn't know if I would be able to spend every night with you."

"I can be a bit clingy… physically, I mean. My Mom gave me a oversized teddy bear when I was young. I slept with my arms wrapped around it until I was about sixteen. After that, she told me I needed to give the bear a rest and switch to something more mature, so she bought me a body pillow. When they died, things changed somehow and I stopped holding the pillow at night. I didn't want to hold on to anything, really."

Lauren laid down on the bed beside Bo, her arm wrapping around her abdomen as the brunette continued to speak,

"I fell into a routine of punishing my body by day and having meaningless sex by night, but no one was ever permitted to sleep in my bed. I didn't want anyone tangled up in my body… I didn't want that type of intimacy…" Bo paused, brushing a single strand of hair from the corner of Lauren's mouth, "… until you."

"That was quite a night." Lauren smiled, "Were you going to leave?"

"I tried to… but I couldn't. I mean… the first few rounds were all sort of… frenzied, I guess you could say?"

"We fucked, Bo."

"Uh… right. I didn't want to offend you, but yes… that's what it was. But then, I looked at you and… I just wanted you… it was this passion… this raw need."

"Lust."

"Right… again… I didn't want to offend you by saying you were sexy as hell and I just craved you, but it wasn't fucking anymore."

"It was sex… shared need for release, but a little more gentle." Lauren agreed.

"And then, when the sun came up and your hair had this glow… my God, Lauren you looked like an angel. Your skin is so soft, your eyes so kind and caring… I felt like I was drowning in mercy sent from the heavens. I just… I felt like I was being rescued from my lonely, loveless life. My heart ached for you… I wished for love again and… I don't know… I just fell into you… something in me opened up and we… well…"

"We made love, Bo."

"We did, Lauren. And it was the most beautiful moment of my life. When we left each other in the morning, I was afraid… so afraid. I've never felt so vulnerable in my life. Actually… that's not true… the last time I felt that vulnerable was when my parents died. I felt it twice and I didn't think I could bare to lose love like that again."

"And now?" Lauren asked.

"Now, I'm willing to fall again. I figure I survived the death of both parents. I survived death myself. I know both of us will die eventually, but until that happens, a life without you in it, just seems like an awful waste of my days."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I'm glad you gave us a shot. I'm glad I gave us a shot… I felt the same way… it's what kept me away the last two weeks. I was an idiot. I'm sorry, Bo."

"It's okay. But look… just don't tell my girlfriend that you're sleeping in my bed tonight. She'll have a fit."

Lauren slapped Bo's arm playfully in reply, "What do you think about her posting that on Facebook?"

Bo shook her head, "I don't know what to think. She heard me clarify to Chip that she's not my girlfriend. She confessed she has feelings for me, had some not-so-nice things to say about you which I stopped immediately… she made the hard play now that I think about it… but I tried to let her down gently."

Lauren grew silent as she replayed the moment she observed when she'd arrived.

"Hey? What's wrong?"

"What she said to you before she left… the kisses on the cheek… lacing her fingers into yours… you didn't stop her, Bo."

"To tell you the truth, Lauren… I barely remember her standing next to me. I was numb from reading your note until she made that crack about you. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out… I was too focused on the note from my real girlfriend saying she had decided she wasn't going to see me until after Rio because she wanted me to figure out where my relationship with another woman was going. Another woman, mind you, who I didn't even know I was in a relationship with. It was a mind-blown moment and I couldn't even think straight."

"I guess I can understand that." Lauren said, her fingers going to Bo's chest where a necklace hung, "So you told me your Mom gave you this, but does it mean anything?"

"Well, my Mom was born in Hawaii and then moved to California. She was raised in the beliefs of the Ancient Huna so she would meditate several times a day whenever she was looking for answers or solutions to a problem. I think some people thought it was sort of odd, but… I don't know… she was just my Mom… it was her way, you know?"

"I know what you mean. So is this from the Huna? I've heard of it and treated patients who follow those old ideals, but I don't really know much about it other than the meditation is great for patients you need to keep calm. It really helps them to lower their heart rate and blood pressure from a scientific point of view."

Bo smiled at Lauren's minor geek out over something so philosophical and spiritual before she explained,

"Well, the symbol is called the Pakololio and it means 'to experience control over the gusts of wind'. I've worn it since the day I set out on a board on my own. She believed that there are air currents that run both internally and externally to the body and that the Pakololio would give me control over those gusts of wind by allowing me to get in touch with both types. I used to meditate before I surfed, but… well… I don't know when I stopped."

Bo scowled, as a light went on in her mind, "I just realized… all of the chaos that I feel in my life… it started when I stopped meditating. Maybe I need to get back to that."

Lauren smiled, "I do it."

"You do?" Bo asked, shocked.

She propped her head up on her hand, "Tell me about it."

"Well, I don't know what you remember about my home… I mean… you really only saw the bedroom, but the land extends to the cliffs that overlook Banzai Beach. I go to the edge of the cliff every night and lay in the high grasses."

"Every night?" Bo asked.

"Every single night since I moved here except for the night you were at my house." Lauren smiled.

"Awww… I broke your routine? How tragic."

"It wasn't too tragic… as I remember, it was actually quite the meditation experience on its own."

"That it was." Bo replied with a smile.

"Are you tired?" Lauren asked.

"Only if you are." Bo replied.

Lauren frowned, "Seriously, Bo. Your chart showed you've been doing three workouts a day in the rehab center."

"Yea… I think there's an ulterior motive there now." Bo replied.

"Ulterior motive?" Lauren asked.

"Well, considering that Kristy is the one that's been making my PT and OT schedules… I've been seeing her four times a day and they overlap lunch so we have been having lunch together most weeks too."

Lauren was silent which made Bo nervous.

"Lauren, I swear nothing happened between us. I never kissed her, never even hugged her. The only touching that happened was when she was helping me in PT and what you saw in that picture. She tried to hold my hand at the dinner table tonight, but I pulled mine away as gracefully as I could without hurting her feelings. There was just something about her… it was like once she had confessed how she felt about me, we were a couple even though I told her I didn't know what I was feeling."

"You didn't know what you were feeling?" Lauren asked.

"Being honest, Lauren… I hadn't seen you for two weeks. I didn't know if you had given up on us or not. She was there and you weren't. I'm not going to lie and say we hadn't gotten closer, but before you showed up tonight, I had already gotten a clear message that she was not someone I could get involved with."

Lauren nodded, her eyes focused on the symbol on Bo's chest until she felt two fingers beneath her chin lift face.

"Lauren, please. There's only you in my heart… I swear it. I'm not going to use her as a therapist anymore. I'll have no reason to see her again, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now my only problem is how to rid Facebook of the post." Bo added.

"You could ask her to take it down politely?" Lauren suggested as a question.

"Yea, I bet she'll do that in a blink. I wish Kenzi was here. Her tech skills are unmatched. She'd figure this out."

Lauren leaned back and scrolled through her contacts, hitting Kenzi's number, "Your wish is my command. Kenzi's here."

Bo grinned from ear to ear as she took the phone and waited for her little sister to answer.

" _Lauren? What's wrong? What happened!"_

" _Kenzi, relax… it's me, Bo. We just dialed you on Lauren's phone, that's all. We've got a problem…"_

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was early in the morning when Lauren rolled over seeing the sun streaming in the open window. She looked down to see Bo's face lit up by the bright light and smiled. She really was beautiful, but right now, she had to get to work.

She turned to roll out of bed and found her wrist being gripped by Bo's. She looked up at the back of the brunette's head,

"Yes?" Lauren smiled.

Bo rolled over, "Where ya goin'? It's early."

"it's early enough for Doctors to go to work. Go back to sleep." Lauren replied, kissing Bo on the forehead.

"Don't go… you might not come back." Bo said quietly.

"Bo?" Lauren asked, realizing the brunette was still half asleep. Was that the fear that was now lingering in the back of her girlfriend's mind? That she wouldn't come back? She could understand why Bo would have that fear. She had ditched her for two weeks without explanation. Truthfully, she had been shocked that Bo had been so understanding about her absence. She was also surprised to learn she wasn't actually seeing Kristy… she wouldn't have blamed her. But now, they were on the mend and she was going to do all she could to ensure that Bo didn't worry about her becoming an absentee girlfriend again.

She smiled as Bo cuddled into her, wrapping her arms around the blonde and pulling her close,

"Bo?" Lauren whispered, kissing Bo's lips gently.

"Mmmm… more kisses."

Lauren laughed, "Bo, wake up. I have to go, baby."

Bo opened one eye, "No… no leaving." Bo pulled her closer, "You're warm."

"And you're hot, but I still have to go." Lauren winked as Bo closed her eyes again and smiled.

"Can't we have breakfast?" Bo pouted.

Lauren laughed again, "Sorry, baby. I can't wait for you to decide to wake up. Maybe I'll be able to come in for lunch. How does that sound?"

Bo opened her eyes wide with excitement, "Really?"

Lauren smiled, "Really."

"Cool." Bo said, closing her eyes again.

"Maybe I'll even order up something special for you to eat." Lauren replied.

"I can think of something I'd like to eat." Bo said, seductively.

Lauren froze, shocked by the reply, then quickly leaned back when Bo sat up straight, her eyes wide,

"Ohmagosh. Please tell me that was my in-my-head-voice and not my out-of-my-mouth voice… I don't think I could handle the embarrassment if that was my out-of-my-mouth voice."

Lauren shook her head, laughing, "Uh… I'm sorry but…"

Bo hung her head, "You heard me."

"Bo." Lauren placed two fingers beneath her girlfriend's chin, "I'm flattered, really… and your flirting is adorable. Even though we had a rough couple of weeks and we have been taking things slow on the intimacy front, you are my girlfriend, so I hope you feel that you can tell me… well… whatever is on your mind."

"They need to clear me for sex." Bo said, blatantly.

Lauren's eyes went wide.

Bo backtracked, "Okay… sounded a little desperate and I don't want you to think this… us… is just about…"

Lauren waved her off, "Bo, I'm looking forward to the day that you and I can share a relationship outside of this hospital… with you healthy and… active again. I feel the same way. Okay?"

"You do?" Bo asked, looking like an innocent child being told that she could have ice cream,

"Of course I do, silly. Now… I've got to go get ready for work… shower, dress, see my admitted patients and then get on the ER floor before I'm late or Evony will find some way to retaliate."

"She retaliates against my girlfriend, she can kiss her ass goodbye if she gets up on a wave anywhere near me again."

Lauren cringed as Bo lay her head back down on the pillow and closed her eyes, breathing out a long sigh. She didn't want Bo taking chances on her surfboard, least of all with Evony and what she pulled last time they were out there together. She started to speak, but then thought better of it. She knew she needed to trust Bo's experience and knowledge in her sport… but it was going to be hard not to worry. She wished Bo felt more confident. She hoped that would come with time. So instead, she leaned down and kissed her girlfriend on the temple,

"Do you need me to set your alarm?"

"No. Nurse Ratchet will wake me up as soon as I get back into a nice, deep sleep… guaranteed."

Lauren smiled, "Be a good patient."

"They love me here… maybe too much… they won't let me go home."

"I told you. You're being discharged end of the week. Soon, sweetie… soon." Lauren smiled, kissing her on the cheek one more time and then stood to leave.

Bo opened her eye, "Bring me ice cream?"

"What kind?" Lauren smiled.

"Something with nuts?" Bo asked.

Lauren laughed, "I don't do nuts."

Bo rolled her eye, "But you do vajayjays?"

"If only it was an ice cream flavor." Lauren sighed.

Bo laughed, "How about something with caramel or marshmallows or chocolate… or cookie dough!"

"Mmmm… I'll see what I can find." Lauren said, turning to leave.

"Bye girlfriend." Bo called out to the blonde.

Lauren turned and smiled, "Bye girlfriend."

Bo watched as Lauren left, then closed her eye and sighed, "I have a girlfriend. An honest to goodness girlfriend… and she's amazing."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was midday and Hale had just run into Lauren. She had been in surgery and been unable to have lunch with Bo, but she had called the local grocery store and had a pint of Rocky Road ice cream delivered. She asked Hale to deliver it to Bo with the note she'd written. He was going in to see her since she was probably upset she'd been stood up.

"Well, did you at least call her room?" Hale asked, taking the ice cream, spoon and the attached notecard, "You've mended the fences, Lauren so don't shut down again."

"I was in surgery, Hale. I had a police officer with a bullet wound that had torn his aorta. That's not something I can put on hold to make a phone call. I did send a nurse down to tell her I was stuck in surgery, but she never reported back. I'm not sure if she got distracted or if Bo got the message."

"So… peace offering?" Hale asked, wiggling the pint in front of her.

"No, fulfilling a promise to get her something she asked for if I made it to lunch. I may not have made lunch and I may not be able to stop by now because I still haven't finished my rounds, but I will fulfill at least part of what I said I would try to do for her."

He smiled, "Well, okay then. I'll play delivery boy and put a smile on my patient's face before I begin our session."

"You're having a session?" Lauren asked, surprised.

"She requested a session. It may just be some idle chit chat over ice cream or maybe it will be the best segue into a difficult conversation."

"Difficult?" Lauren asked, looking surprised.

Hale shook his head, "Come on Doc. You took yourself off the case. HIPPA Laws."

Lauren nodded, "Right. She's still making progress though, right?"

"She is progressing much faster than I anticipated for someone returning to regular every day life in a few days. Well, as regular as she can be right now." Hale hinted.

"I see." Lauren was quiet for a moment, "She sounds like she wants to surf again."

Hale looked surprised, "She told you that?"

Lauren nodded, "Well, she threatened to take Evony out if she tried to retaliate for me being late to shift… on a wave, that is… not… you know… actually kill her or anything. I mean, she knows she's afraid and she's sort of given up on this season but she wants to go back again. She still hasn't achieved her goal."

"Got it. Well… maybe you're just the motivation she needs. It makes sense, really… I mean… she motivated you out of your funk on the volleyball court."

Lauren scowled, "Hale, please don't ask me to motivate her to get back on a surf board. I mean… I'll support her if she chooses to do that, but…"

"It's not something you want to help her do?" Hale asked.

Lauren lowered her eyes and remained silent. Hale placed a gentle hand on her shoulder,

"Doc, if you want to be with Bo, you're going to have to figure out a way to reconcile your fears with her profession. Are you sure there isn't something you want to talk about?"

Lauren smiled, "I'm good." She sighed, shoving her hands tightly into the pocket of her lab coat, "I've got to go do rounds. You'll deliver that?"

Hale nodded, "You've got it, Doc. Can I tell her you'll stop by later?"

"Of course, but it will be late. Thanks, Hale."

"You bet, Doc. See you at practice tomorrow night."

Lauren nodded as she turned, picked up the chart for her next patient and moved back into the world of medicine.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Hale entered Bo's room to find it dark, the view of the ocean shielded by the blinds.

"Miss Dennis?" Hale called out, circling around the bed to see Bo's face. He came face to face with a woman in tears, her eyes shut tight as wet streams moved down her face.

He moved closer, "Boy have I got a solution for wet cheeks."

Bo sniffed and opened her eyes, "Sorry."

"No need for an apology. I'm sure whatever you're so upset about is worth a good cry. I come bearing gifts… Lauren sent over a pint of Rocky Road ice cream, a spoon and a note."

"Really? She sent that for me?" Bo asked, her eyes hopeful.

Hale nodded, "She was in surgery for three hours and is now finishing up her rounds before she finishes her shift. The schedule Evony has her on is really kicking her ass. She said she'll stop up as soon as she can but it will probably be late."

Hale smiled, placing the items on her tray table and pushing it towards her bed, "Come on. Sit up and let's get at this."

Bo sat up slowly, "Ugh. I worked with a new PT today. I am so damn sore right now. She worked muscles I didn't even know I had."

She watched as Hale pulled out a spoon of his own and pulled the pint from his reach,

"Now just a minute there, buddy. You're really expecting me to share the first pint I've had in months with you? I'm not sure I know you well enough."

Hale nodded, "I suppose that may be true." He rubbed his neatly trimmed beard, then sat back and folded his arms over his chest, "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Wait… we're off the clock, right? I do not want to be shrinked while enjoying the first gift my girlfriend has ever given me."

"Girlfriend?" Hale asked.

Bo blushed, "She didn't tell you?"

"She didn't." Hale replied seeing the frown spread across Bo's face, "Hey. I haven't seen Lauren anymore than you have the past two weeks. All of our sessions have been as a team with Tamsin. Lachlan only gives us our thirty minutes then they're back on the court."

Bo frowned, "Or maybe she doesn't want anyone to know… I mean… here… at the hospital. I mean… she's a smart doctor playing in the Olympics. I'm just a beach bum who lives in a shack with her little sister and couldn't finish her degree. I'm… not worthy of someone of Lauren's stature."

Hale scratched his head, "You know, now I'm seeing how you and Kenzi are related."

Bo looked at him, putting the ice cream down on the tray table, then looked down at the card in her hand. She traced her name, written in Lauren's handwriting. She had nice handwriting for a doctor. Most of them you could barely make out a single letter.

Hale noticed Bo staring at the card, "Maybe it's time for you to read that. I'll leave you to it. Be back in five minutes. I'm just going to hit the little boy's room."

He stood and moved towards the door, "And Bo… don't let that ice cream melt. Lauren took the time to make sure she kept her promise to you… I think it would hurt her feelings if you rejected a gift this early in your relationship."

He left the room leaving Bo staring up at the pint, now sweating from being out of the freezer. She flipped the letter over and over in her hands before finally opening the trifold card fully.

 _Hello, my beautiful girlfriend… I really like the sound of that… my girlfriend._

 _I'm really sorry I couldn't make our lunch date, especially after two weeks apart. Please don't think I'm pulling back again. I really couldn't get out of the ER. Anyway, I hope you got the flower I had them put on your tray in the cafeteria. I had picked it from the hospital garden to bring to you right before the ambulance arrived that brought in my surgical patient. When I heard the ambulance, I just knew I wasn't going to make it, so I gave it to Helen and asked her to have it sent with your lunch. I promise I will try to make sure you don't have to eat hospital food for dinner, but as you know, I have practice so… well, I'll do what I can. I just want you to know that you are never far from my thoughts, Bo. I know this may sound strange, but even while I was in surgery, I felt this sort of feeling that… somehow I wasn't alone… that I'll never be alone again. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I told Helen about us… I hope you don't mind. She's been the Head Nurse in the ER for years and we've become very close over the last few years. She really helped me when I moved here and… well… I'll tell you all of that later. Really, I just want to shout it to the world that I'm yours. I feel like a teenage girl in love for the first time. I haven't felt such a zest for life in… well… ever, really. Thank you, Bo. I'll see you as soon as I possibly can. Yours, Lauren xoxo_

 _P.S. Rocky Road has all of your requested toppings in it and, I'm not sure if you remember suggesting that I go commando in scrubs before your brain bleed, but I've been doing it ever since. It's a very freeing experience._

Bo smiled and read the letter again… then again… then again. Finally, she laid it on the tray table, picked up the pint and leaned back against the raised bed, a satisfied grin on her face as she took the first delicious bite.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Time of death, eighteen twenty-three." Lauren said, lowering her head. She quietly considered the young boy in front of her who had decided he could fly while on a bad drug trip, "More senseless deaths."

She turned and walked towards the door, stripping off her gloves, gown and mask, dumping them into the disposal bin and pushing through the doors. Stepping outside, she leaned back against the wall, banging her head twice before slumping down the wall until her head was in her knees.

Lauren hated losing patients on the table. She knew as soon as she saw this kids' vitals and the condition of his body from the four-story fall, that it was a long shot at best… hell, it was a miracle he was alive at all… but still, she prided herself on finding a way to make the impossible, possible. That hadn't been the case tonight.

"So, you're four for six today, Dr. Lewis. A little distracted by your personal life?"

Lauren angled her head up, her brow furrowing at the last voice she wanted to hear after losing her second patient of the day. The blonde stood, squaring her shoulders to the Chief of the ER,

"I'll have you know that when I am in surgery with a patient, my mind is focused only on doing the best I can to give them the best chance at nothing less than a full recovery. Your insinuation that I would allow anything to diminish my level of professionalism and honor to the oath I took when I became a doctor is insulting and way out of line no matter what your position. I am tired of your harassment, Evony and I will be reporting you to the hospital Board of Directors. I am done putting up with your constant snarky comments about... well, anything and everything from my patients to my practice schedule to my chances of winning gold."

"Awww… a little sensitive about me bringing up your new relationship with that low life Bo Dennis, are we? Well, you best believe that I will be making sure I make her life miserable by making your schedule as ridiculous as possible. You two will be lucky to see each other for more than five minutes in passing between work and training… that is, if nothing else interferes with your relationship."

Lauren's anger rose, "You can't do that! It's an abuse of power and you know it! Pushing me into a 'ridiculous schedule' would put patients at risk!"

Evony snarked, "I can do whatever I want… I am the Chief of Staff in the ER, remember?" Evony went to turn away, her smirk growing, but stopped dead in her tracks when she turned, and bumped into another doctor who was clearly not happy. He glared at Evony before turning to the blonde, who was now on her feet,

"Dr. Lewis, I had the pleasure of watching your efforts on the Hansen boy from the observation room. I was not only impressed by the surgical techniques you applied in attempting to save that young boy's life, but also the intensity of the fight you put up for two hours when I'm sure you knew that it was a futile battle. Dr. Ohana was at the surgery for the police officer earlier today and was absolutely amazed that he survived what he described as a shredded aorta. In the hands of a lesser surgeon, we doubt that would have been the case. Your surgical team agreed."

"Why thank you, Dr. Fitzpatrick. I am… humbled by your compliment, though I had hoped for a better outcome with young Mike Hansen." Lauren lowered her eyes.

Dr. Fitzpatrick nodded, "I do understand, Dr. Lewis. I've had many cases just like that one in my career. At some point, I guess you learn to find a way to cope with the losses, but you never truly come to accept them. Now, please… I am sure you would love a hot shower and some dinner? Maybe with this woman Dr. Marquis mentioned? I believe she is the one named Bo that I operated on the other day?"

"She is sir and she is recovering nicely thanks to you."

"I am very happy to hear that. I haven't had a chance to stop in to see her this week, but my residents have been following her recovery very closely."

"Yes sir, as have I. She is being released at the end of this week to continue home therapy."

"I'm glad to hear that news. I'm sure she's tired of hospital food."

"Indeed." Lauren nodded with a smile.

"I am also very happy to hear you are embracing a personal life, Dr. Lewis. Between the intense ER rotations and your Olympic Training Schedule, I feared you would never find time for a personal life. I believe your friend Dr. Santiago would say that personal happiness is a big factor in any professional success."

He eyed Evony intently, "Please know that nothing will be standing in the way of you having all three."

He looked back to Lauren, "The hospital hired you because in the year you completed your residency, you were considered the number one candidate for hire by more than seventy percent of the hospitals in this country. The day you turned down Hopkins to come and work with us, was the day the board of directors began planning your future with us. It's one of the reasons they have decided to join the rest of the sponsors of Team USA Volleyball."

"What?" Lauren's mouth hung open in surprise.

Dr. Fitzpatrick smiled, "As President of the Board and Hospital Chief of Staff, I was given the directive to make the official announcement. Your priority will now be your training. We'll be adapting your schedule to your team's needs... and we've already convinced your partner's company to come on board and do the same for her."

"Dr. Fitz, that is amazing! Thank you so much!" Lauren clapped her hands together, then held her fingers over her mouth, her eyes filling with unshed tears, "Amazing."

"Now, from what I hear, your girlfriend Bo has a very big fan in my young granddaughter. Do you think there's any chance you could get me an autographed photo?" Dr. Fitzpatrick asked.

Lauren grinned, "Absolutely. I'm sure she would be happy to do that for you."

"Thank you so much." Dr. Fitzpatrick smiled and nodded.

"It's the least I can do. Now, if you don't mind, the Hansen Family will be waiting." Lauren squeezed her fists and gritted her teeth. This was the worst part about losing a patient.

"I understand. I need a moment with Dr. Marquis here anyway." Dr. Fitzpatrick looked up at his ER Chief and then back to Lauren, who had begun to step away, "And, Dr. Lewis?"

"Sir?" Lauren stopped and turned back to face the man who was essentially the surgical legend of her hospital.

"I think you will be pleased with the changes that will be happening in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I believe you will find filing those harassment charges unnecessary. Feel free to file them if you must. I heard the entire conversation between you and Dr. Marquis so will back your report. However, I believe you will find problem will be resolved swiftly. If not, I will want to know."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." Lauren nodded. She took a quick glance at Evony who was clearly ready to explode. Paying her no mind, she set off to find the Hansen family.

"Trick, I…" Evony began, but the doctor cut her off.

"No, Evony. Dr. Lewis' report will make eight reports of unfair treatment and harassment since your promotion to ER Chief of Staff. The hospital has decided it is time for us to part ways. You are unprofessional in the best of times. The rest of the time, you are costing this hospital money. As you know, this hospital was named after my grandson. Do you know what the name Alika means, Dr. Marquis?"

"Trick…"

"I'd like an answer… do you know the meaning of the name?" Trick asked again, determined to get an answer even though he was sure she didn't know it.

"No."

"It means guardian, Evony. This place is supposed to contain the guardians of life, not the destroyers of life. Now, I don't know what your grudge is with Lauren or her girlfriend, but based on my experience with the claims filed against you previously, I believe it has something to do with you not getting your way, so you sought to retaliate against them."

"Trick, I never…"

"Stop, Evony. Just stop. Pack your bags and leave this hospital. You will receive your severance check in the mail within ten days. Just know that we are maintaining the right to seek damages on behalf of the physicians and nurses who have filed claims against you. They have all agreed to accept your resignation as settlement. If you seek to retaliate against any of the complainants, their claims will be filed in a court of law with the full support of the board of directors. You will be found guilty. You will be fined and jailed. We will pursue the maximum sentence plus damages for pain and suffering. Are we clear?"

"Fine." She replied, off-handedly.

"Evony… I mean it. Stay away from all of them… and their families. You attempt to retaliate, we will pursue charges on behalf of all of them… not just the ones you go after. Stay away from Lauren Lewis and her girlfriend. I'm warning you now… there is an investigation pending by the World Surf League, Evony. Bo Dennis is very popular on the pro circuit and every day she is in that bed upstairs is another day she's losing points, marketing monies for her sponsors and money for herself and her hospital bills. According to the league and their witnesses, you had something to do with putting her in that bed. My suggestion is to lay low, get a good lawyer and find a new life. But of course, when have you ever listened to my suggestions?"

He turned and walked away as Evony mumbled under her breath. As he turned the corner, he heard her scream in frustration. He shook his head and continued to walk down the corridor to the elevator.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren sat on the bench in front of her locker, the towel wrapped around her torso as beads of water dripped down her shoulders. Breaking the news to the Hansen family about their son had been more than difficult. He had three little brothers and two little sisters. His mother explained to Lauren that he had been in and out of rehab, but it just didn't take. His father was in shock and barely said a word, so Lauren had called Hale in on the case to be sure the family was referred to appropriate services for grief counseling.

She opened her locker and looked up at the full-sized glossy picture she kept taped to the back of her locker. It was the cover of the informational folder she was given the day she had accepted her job at Alika Memorial Hospital… it was a photo of the facility itself with the power of the ocean in the background. Trick said they used that angle because his grandson so loved surfing the Northern Shore. He had earned the respect of the local surfers despite his father being Irish, so the family had supported his efforts once he was no longer coming home bruised from getting into fights.

As they had toured the facility on her first day, Trick had explained its history. In truth, it was that history and the man who told the story that had been the main reasons she had chosen Alika Memorial Hospital. The facility itself had been the brainchild of Dr. Kalani Ohana when Dr. Fitzpatrick's eldest grandson, Alika, was killed at the pipeline during a competition. The two surgeons believed he could have survived his neurological injuries had the nearest hospital not been so far from the coast just as Bo had survived her brain bleed two weeks ago because Trick was there right away. Alika Memorial was built a year after his grandson's death and finished just after Lauren finished her residency at Hopkins.

Lauren reached up and pulled the photo of the young namesake from beneath the paperclip that held it to the picture of the hospital. Sighing, she spoke quietly to the boy in the picture,

"I lost two more today, Alika. I tried… you know I did. Mike's case sucked, but he wasn't the hardest one… no… the hard one was an eight-year-old boy with cancer brought in by his sixteen year old sister. He had fallen asleep and woke up with a bloody nose she couldn't stop. Then he started coughing up blood. The best we could do was make him as comfortable as possible. Their parents were in New York meeting with doctors about a new treatment… imagine that… while they were off trying to save him, he was dying in the arms of his older sister."

She smiled, wiping a tear from the picture,

"He asked me to open the window so he could hear the ocean. He said he loved to sit on the front of his sister's board while she surfed and had been doing it since he was five. Before that he sat on one of his parent's boards starting at age three. It reminded me of Bo."

She paused, wiping the tears from her cheeks,

"He just laid there in his sister's arms staring out the window at the ocean. I put him on a morphine pump… it's really all I could do. Once the drug kicked in, he calmed down… he looked so peaceful, but he was so young. Was he really at peace? Did he want to keep fighting? He didn't say. We couldn't reach his parents. Maybe they were on a plane? His sister asked me to take away his pain. I don't think she could handle watching it anymore. Morphine was all I could do. I wished I could have done more. Was there something else I could have done? Should I have run tests? Did I do right by him? I guess I'll never know now… his oncologist came in and admitted him… he didn't expect him to last the night and even if his parents got him on the new trial drug, they didn't think they would take him in this condition. I'll still go check on him in the morning… maybe something will change… something will get better."

She shook her head, laughing at herself, "It's end-stage cancer Lauren… what do you expect to get better?"

It was nights like this that Lauren questioned her ability to continue to do the job. Being objective… clinical… it got harder and harder every day. She cared… deeply… for her patients and hated seeing them suffer… or worse. The youngest ones were the hardest.

Lauren heard the door open, pulling her from her internal battle. She stood and put the picture back in its place, then began getting dressed in fresh scrubs since she had no clothes to change into. She smiled knowing that she would finally get to see her girlfriend after a long day. She looked at her watch,

"Seven-thirty? Shit!" She slammed the locker shut, grabbed her backpack and ran for the exit.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **Airport - Sydney, Australia**_

"Bo called, she's being discharged this weekend. She needs someone at home with her and wanted to know if you were going to make it in or if she had to request a home care nurse." Dyson held Kenzi's surfboards while he watched her check their bags.

"I thought the Doc was going to be around this weekend." Kenzi replied, watching the woman tag the bags before handing Dyson tags for her boards.

Dyson shook his head, "She said the Doc hadn't been in all day, so she didn't know what was up."

Kenzi looked up at him, "All day? When I talked to Bo this morning, she said they were either having lunch or dinner. When did you talk to her?"

"I didn't. She left a message. She said it was seven her time, so I guess it was after dinner. Do you think the Doc is on the up and up?" Dyson asked.

Kenzi sighed, "You know, Bo's love life is her business, D-man. Don't go getting all guard-dog protective. You know she hates that shit."

Dyson sighed, "I know, but… I still care about her, Kenzi. I don't want to see her get hurt."

Kenzi watched her boards carefully as they were handed off to a worker from baggage. Kenzi called him by the name on his chest, "Hey, Doug?" The young man turned to her, "Your name is Doug, right? That's what's on your shirt?"

"Ma'am?" Doug asked, scratching his head.

"I'm a professional surfer and what you're carrying there is my livelihood… please don't make me come back here looking for them… Dougie."

The young man smiled and looked at the slip in his hand, "You're her… Kenzi Dennis, right?"

"You know me?" Kenzi asked, shocked.

"I was in Fiji this weekend… saw you surf the Fiji Women's Pro. I know your sister is the big name in your family, but rumor has it she's retiring after this season. Rough one… that drowning thing. Anyway… I just want to say you're gonna do just fine fillin' your sister's shoes, mate."

Kenzi gave him a shy smile, "Thanks."

"I'll take good care of these boards… but… well… do you think I could get an autograph?" Doug asked.

Kenzi smiled and dug into her backpack. She pulled out the program she had from the Fiji Pro, opened to her stat page, signed it and handed it to Doug,

"Here's a signed program in exchange to you getting those boards safely back to the states with me. Deal?"

Doug's eyes went wide, "Oh man that is… you're blowin' my mind! Thank you! I promise your boards will be waiting for you!"

A man from behind them called out, "If you're done being a fan boy, we've all got flights to catch?"

Doug blushed, "Sorry. I've gotta run. I'll take care of your precious cargo. Thanks, Kenzi."

"No worries, mate!" Kenzi tried her best Australian accent which caused the attendant to laugh, "That bad, eh?"

She nodded, "Thanks for making that boy's day… lost his parents in a car accident just three weeks ago. Good things haven't come easily lately… first time I've seen a beaming smile from him since his parents were alive."

Kenzi looked up at the exit where the boy had left, then looked back to the woman, "Wow… I know that life… no parents… my sister and I have lived it." She paused for a moment, then looked back up at the woman, "Can you help me with a little something for Dougie?"

"Of course, what?"

"Well, here's what I'd like you to do…" Kenzi smiled excitedly as she pulled out her wallet…

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren opened the door to Bo's room and slid quietly inside. She looked up to see a tray table of untouched food and an empty pint of Rocky Road. Well, at least she'd eaten the ice cream, Lauren thought. She rounded the bed and went to the seat by the window. Gripping the cord, she pulled the shade up and looked out into the darkness of the sea, only the whitewater of the breakers visible in the black night.

Sitting down, she stared up at the sky. The stars always calmed her and tonight, that's what she needed. She needed to push the images of death from her mind as well as the sadness that must have been on Bo's face when she got the news from Helen that she was again hung up in the ER. Helen had already told her that Lachlan was pissed that she had missed practice, but she had managed to calm him down a bit when he told her about the case she was absent to tend to.

Lauren looked across the room at her sleeping girlfriend, lit only by the nightlight over her bed. She wondered if she would ever be able to do right by her… to be there when she needed her. Lauren knew they had agreed they would figure out a way around their schedules, but she now wondered if that was even possible. Right now, everything just seemed hopeless… she knew it was from the helpless feeling she felt as a doctor today… she needed to shake it off but she was just too tired. Closing her eyes, she allowed sleep to claim her.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bo awoke with a sense of urgency to use the bathroom. She stood, wobbled and swayed before catching herself on the bed rail. Steadying her frame, she hurried to the bathroom and sat down just before the relief of release came. She lowered her head into her hands, wondering if the dizziness would ever completely go away. Her doctor said it should, but they could never completely know with 100% certainty in cases like hers.

Cleaning herself up, she finally moved back to her bed and settled in beneath the covers, her eyes moving to the open window. She propped herself up on her elbow when she realized she wasn't alone. There by the window, backlit by the low moon in the sky, was Lauren. Bo had been upset with her earlier and then felt bad that she had. Helen told her she'd had a bad day. The surfer didn't know exactly what that meant for a doctor, but for her, she knew that on her bad days she didn't want to be around anyone… and they probably didn't want to be around her.

She looked at the blonde and wondered if that's why she hadn't come to bed when she'd arrived… or maybe something had changed? She watched as Lauren adjusted herself in her chair, her eyes opening for a moment as she tried to get comfortable.

"There's room in the bed, if you'd like… or I could take the chair if you want to sleep alone. I've had plenty of sleep for one twenty-four hour period."

Lauren opened her eyes fully and turned to face Bo, "You're awake."

Bo smiled, "My sleep schedule is a bit… altered. I don't know what day it is half the time. I spent two months sleeping at odd times of day, my therapy schedule is based on four different therapists getting to me when they get to me, not always during what I would consider normal workout times of the day. I feel like I'm losing track of time… or that time doesn't matter. I don't really know what I'm saying. I'm just… not tired and you're welcome to sleep in the bed if you'd like to."

Lauren stood, "Do you want the blinds closed?"

"It's fine… the scenery is nice… if not a bit scary." Bo hung her head.

Lauren stood beside the bed, taking Bo's hand, "Scary? I've never heard you describe the ocean as scary before. Is that the fear thing you mentioned earlier today?"

Bo sighed, "It's part of my therapy with Hale… owning my emotions. Admitting I'm afraid, scared, fearful whenever I feel it. If I can say it, I can face it."

Lauren nodded, knowing exactly what this meant, "I see."

"So, I've sort of admitted it to you… well, telling you that I wasn't going to pursue getting on my board again this year. Apparently I'm… uh… afraid of getting back out there… on my board."

Lauren sat beside her girlfriend, "So what's the plan?"

"Face my fears. It's all I can do. I'll continue my therapy and then… well, I've been psyching myself up all day to set Rio as my goal date to get back on a board, so…"

She looked up at the concerned face of the blonde, "I know that's not what you want to hear, but… I can't go out like this, Lauren. I have to get back on my board and at least try. I would feel like a complete failure if I let one minor drowning incident end my career."

Bo watched Lauren spin towards her, her mouth flying open to speak, but she stopped her, "I know… I was being sarcastic. I know… I died… it's anything but minor… but I can't allow myself to dwell on how major it was. If I do, I'll never get back out there."

"Look. I told you earlier today to follow your dreams. I won't stand between you and your surfboard, but if you're just doing this to prove yourself to someone else, then I don't understand why you're doing this. You've proven yourself in the big girls' surfing club, Bo. I don't think anyone would criticize you for retiring now after what happened. I just don't understand getting back out there if you're afraid."

Bo cut her off, shaking her head, "Of course you do, Lauren. You're a competitor with a dream of being number one. I have that same dream, Lauren. It's not all ego. If you broke your leg right now, would you not do everything in your power to get back for that gold medal match?"

"Yes, but there is a big difference between dying and breaking a leg, Bo."

"I know that, Lauren. But I can't very well open a business that will rest on my reputation as a pro surfer if my reputation has gone to shit because I quit. No one likes a quitter, Lauren… you know that."

Lauren nodded as a shiver passed through her body at the comment. Had she quit on Mike today? Had giving young Matthew morphine been quitting in his battle against cancer? Was the young boy still alive?

Bo watched as the blonde seemed to battle an internal war. Her hands were balled into fists as she turned her back to Bo, her legs hanging off the bed. The brunette was about to speak when the blonde leaned back into her. Bo wrapped her arms around her and held her in silence.

What was going on in Lauren's mind? Should she ask? Did the blonde not want to talk about it? Bo knew that she didn't like her sport and that she had never dated a surfer before, but she thought they'd agreed that Lauren was going to put all of that aside? Was she having second thoughts about it? Luckily, she didn't have to speculate any longer as Lauren decided to speak,

"I had six surgical patients today… one was discharged, two are in the critical care unit, one is in intensive care, one is in the critical oncology unit… well, he's probably dead now and… well… I lost Mike… a young boy with his whole life ahead of him."

Bo held her tightly, "Did you do all you could to save them?"

Lauren considered the question, "Well, that's always the question in my job, isn't it? I mean… when you lose someone, you always wonder if there is something you missed… something you could have done that would have saved them. I just…"

The blonde didn't finish. Instead she rolled onto her side and laid her head in Bo's lap, curled up in fetal position. Bo shook her head,

"Talk to me, sweetie… please?"

Lauren lay silent for a moment, finding a calm as her girlfriend ran her fingers through her hair. She just wanted to stay here forever and shut out the world, but she knew that was exactly what Bo had meant by quitting. Sadly, that's what she was thinking about… quitting.

"Lauren? I don't know what to do for you. Are you mad that I want to go back out there?"

The blonde rolled onto her back and looked up at the brunette, "I'm sorry, Bo. I just… I'm just stuck in my own head right now. It's not about your choices… this is your life and you're entitled to follow your path. I will never stand in the way of that even though you also know how I feel about your sport… it just scares me."

"Well, then we can be scared together." Bo laughed, but she knew that Lauren probably didn't see the humor in anything life and death right now.

"I don't want to be scared, Bo. I want to stand on that beach and feel confident in you… strong for you… proud for you. I want to get to that place… I don't want to be afraid." Lauren's fingers graced the side of the brunette's face, "I want you to follow your dreams and I don't ever want you to feel like a quitter… whether you get back up this year or next, I think it's important that you get back up."

"And I want the same for you. I want to be there in Rio when you're battling for the gold medal."

Lauren sat up, "Oh no you don't, Bo Dennis. We talked about this. I know what you're doing. Don't you dare use my shot at a medal stop you from finishing off a top three finish in the World Surf League Championship. You've been working towards this your entire life… since you were three years old. Did you lie to me earlier today about not being physically and mentally fit to get on that board?"

Bo nodded, "Truth… I really don't know."

Lauren quietly added, "Well, you will not use my events as an excuse to avoid your fear of getting back on the board. You would resent me for all time and… well… I'm hoping we last as a couple for a long time."

Bo smiled, "No excuses… got it. Two weeks, we're in Rio and I'm on a board. By the September events, I'm back in the competition after missing only Fiji and Vans."

"What's Vans?" Lauren asked.

"It's a competition in California. I always like going to that one because it's our home turf. Kenzi always says that surfing there is like getting into our bathtub. We know the water so well."

"That sounds like it would be a good one to go back, Bo. Is it during the Olympics?" Lauren asked, thinking she was avoiding that one by going with her.

"No, Lauren. I promise I am not in a position to make any of the major qualifiers. Fiji is where Kenzi just finished. She's on her way back to the states now to compete in the Vans Pro next week. If you want, you can go with me to watch her surf?"

"It would be easier to see her surf than you." Lauren admitted, but then thought about what she'd said, "Not that I want anything to happen to Kenzi… I just…"

"It's okay, Lauren." Bo wrapped an arm over her shoulder noticing how quiet her girlfriend was, "There's something else going on in that big smart brain of yours. What is it?"

The blonde sighed, "I don't think I can do this anymore, Bo."

The brunette froze, her blood running cold, "But… I thought… you just said…"

Lauren looked up to see the terrified look on Bo's face and instantly went into save mode, "No, no, no… I don't mean us… I mean… I'm so sorry, Bo… I meant this… this place… I meant my job."

Bo's eyes went wide, "You don't want to be a doctor anymore?"

Lauren shook her head, "I don't… no… I just… I don't know… losing Mike today… seeing an eight-year-old boy dying of cancer and not being able to do anything about it… I just… I can't do death anymore. I just feel like it's everywhere lately and… I can't escape it. I just… I can't do this… my heart is breaking every day and I can't see the point in what I'm doing anymore."

Bo took her hands in her own, "I'm the point, Lauren. Me and people like me. Look at me, Lauren. I'm alive because there was an emergency room doctor on the beach that day. I'm not sure every doctor would have had the skill set nor the mind set to save me that day."

Lauren quietly replied, "I just don't think I have the energy to do this every day for the rest of my life. When I came here tonight, I sat in that chair to get lost in the chaos of the sea. To be honest, I was grateful you were asleep… I mean… is that the kind of person you want to be in a relationship with?"

"You are not your job, Lauren. You are the qualities that make you a compassionate person who would give total strangers every bit of knowledge and energy you possess to save them."

"And what if it's not enough? And what if I have nothing left to give to you at the end of the day? That's how I felt earlier. I mean… I missed our lunch, I missed our dinner, I missed my practice and I didn't get here until almost eight o'clock, Bo. I know that right now you're saying it's fine, but I'm sure that will eventually get old for you."

Bo sighed, realizing she wasn't going to win an argument with the blonde tonight. She was clearly not in a good headspace right now, so there was no convincing her they would be all right.

"Look, Lauren. You had a really bad day. I get it. But I don't think that we're going to solve anything tonight. I think you just need to sleep for now. A good night's sleep has a way of changing your perception on things."

Lauren sighed, lying down next to Bo, "I guess you're right."

Bo wrapped her arms around the blonde, "Did you at least have an Evony-free day?"

Lauren sat up with a big smile on her face, "Ohmagosh! I forgot all about it! Dr. Fitzpatrick, the one who did your surgery, caught Evony threatening me!"

Lauren's mood did a complete one-eighty as she conveyed the events of the encounter to Bo. All the brunette could do was smile in response to the news that her nemesis had been put in her place by the big boss of the hospital and that maybe Lauren's schedule would now lighten up with the changes he had proposed.

"Wow. They're sponsoring you and Tamsin?" Bo asked.

"Yes! Isn't it exciting? I'm hoping that now I'll be able to put more focus into my training. I got a text from Tamsin telling me some men in suits showed up at the practice court. She didn't know what happened, but she said there was a lot of nodding, smiling and hand-shaking. Lachlan told her he would talk to us together, but then I never made it to practice… I'm pretty sure it was men from the board at the hospital, though."

"That's fantastic. I'm so happy for you, Lauren." Bo replied as the blonde lay back in her arms, "It's always so much easier when you have sponsors helping pay the bills."

"Well, I predict that some day your surfboards will be a big name brand and you will be sponsoring all sorts of events up and down the coast." Lauren smiled.

Bo returned the smile, loving that the blonde had lightened up a bit, "I hope you're right. I really do love the boards I make so much better than anything else I ride."

"So why don't you ride them? It just seems so… counterproductive… to ride a board that doesn't make you feel as… I don't know… in control?"

"It's the sponsorship money, Lauren. I ride their boards or I lose the money." Bo replied.

"So why won't they make your boards?" Lauren asked.

"They offered, but the brand would become theirs and I don't want to give it up. I designed the first board in the series with my Dad a very long time ago. The one I like the most is the one I designed with my Mom the year after my Dad died. I can't give up the rights to those boards. It's… I don't know…"

Lauren smiled and kissed Bo on the cheek, "I do… it's your family legacy."

Bo smiled and pulled the blonde close to her, "Our legacy. That's it. You're absolutely right."

Lauren settled into Bo's embrace, "Dennis Boards, Inc."

Bo smiled, "My little sister wants them to be Kenbo boards."

"It's got a ring to it." Lauren replied.

"More so than Dennis." Bo replied, kissing the top of Lauren's head, "Do you think you can sleep now?"

Lauren settled her head on Bo's chest, her heartbeat providing a steady sound to ground her, "Yes."

"Good. You sleep. I'll keep the monsters away." Bo smiled.

"Thanks for listening, Bo. I know I was sort of stuck in a sort of negative train of thought. I'm sorry."

Bo pulled her head back so she could look at the blonde, "Never be sorry for being upset over a bad day, Lauren. I can't imagine how hard it must be to lose a patient, but I am getting to know your heart better and better every day… and that heart is genuine and kind. I can understand how someone with your heart would feel a little hopeless after the day you've had, but we have to work on getting you focused on the positives in your day."

She leaned down and captured Lauren's lips in a soft, but passionate kiss. The blonde moaned, deepening the kiss when Bo's hand slid along her neck, settling up along her jaw and ear. The brunette slowly pulled back,

"Sleep, baby. What time do you have to be up?"

"I checked the call chart when I left and I'm not on tomorrow other than to follow up on my cases from today."

"So what time do you want to be up?"

"I guess I'll check on patients around eight. I have a workout at ten and a practice at three." Lauren replied, snuggling back into Bo's chest.

"I'll set my alarm and make sure you're up at seven then. Is that enough time?"

Lauren nodded, "Sure. Oh, I forgot to ask… is everything arranged for your discharge this weekend?"

"Oh, Doc says I'm getting out this weekend. I messaged Kenzi and Dyson asking them if they'd be home. He wants me to have a home care nurse for two weeks just to be sure I have no issues when my restrictions are lifted. I don't have to have an actual nurse if someone is there with me, so I called Kenzi and Dyson to see if they'd be around."

"Oh." Lauren said stiffening a bit.

"Do you think I should have the nurse?" Bo asked.

"No, not if you have people willing to be there… I agree if he's saying it's just a precaution. I'd be happy to help out if I'm needed… I mean… if you want."

Bo smiled, "I didn't want to assume… that's why I asked them. They've always been my sort of go-to people… I just…"

"It's okay, Bo. You don't have to explain. We're new, I know. And, while I know we're calling each other girlfriends, that's more a declaration of monogamy, right?"

Bo frowned. She really was all-in with Lauren. Maybe the doctor didn't feel the same?

"I'm committed to seeing where we go, Lauren. It's not just about sex for me… although I am looking forward to adding that to the other aspects of our budding relationship."

Bo smiled as she felt Lauren relax in her arms, "Me too, Bo. I just… I'm all in as well and I don't want you to hesitate to include me in your list of go-to people."

The brunette smiled, "You are on the top of that list for most of my needs, Lauren. But for babysitting duty, well… you have more important things to do with your time."

It was Lauren's turn to frown, "Bo, after my gold medal quest, you are my very first priority. Please know that."

Bo smiled and kissed Lauren's head, "I'm glad to hear that because I want you to be my priority as well. But I think that right now, your priority needs to be sleep, Doctor Droopy-eyes."

Lauren laughed giving Bo one last peck on her lips, "Goodnight, surfer girl."

"Good night, Doc." She kissed the blonde's forehead and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of having her girlfriend relaxed and happier in her arms.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**


	3. Chapter 3 Restless

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad so many are enjoying this one. I'm sorry I've been silent in response, but it was a hectic week and I wanted to focus on getting this chapter out before I lost my writing mojo. Please know I read every single review and PM. I'll get back to each of you, as always! A little more backstory and a little more forward progress. Enjoy!

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Chapter 3: Restless**

"Bo-Bo! How do I put this handicapped toilet thing on? It doesn't fit! Our bathroom is too small!"

Bo pushed her walker ahead of her to the entrance to the bathroom where Kenzi was trying to adjust the bars that were supposed to wrap around the toilet.

"See? It's too wide. Can you just use your walker in here?" Kenzi asked.

"Move out of there and let me see. Take that thing with you."

Bo backed up and allowed her sister to move what looked like a walker out of the bathroom so she could go in. She got up over the threshold and then tried to turn, but the walker hit the wall. She backed out of the bathroom and tried to back in, but she hit the wall again.

"Fuck!" she sighed, taking a deep breath before she tried again without success, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I hate my fucking life! I can't even pee in this house!"

"Bo?"

Lauren's voice came from out in the living room of the single floor shack,

"Bo? Are you okay?"

Bo looked at Kenzi, "Great. She heard me and now she's gonna worry."

She gathered her emotions and stepped out of the door, "We're in here, Lauren. Straight back and to the left. I'm fine."

She mumbled to Kenzi, "I'm perfect."

Kenzi placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and pulled the walker from her once she was seated in her bedside chair.

"You know you really shouldn't sit in that chair. You're gonna have a helluva time getting out of it." Kenzi suggested.

"I have to get my quads back in shape sometime. Damn Kenzi, I've only been home for four hours and I'm exhausted already."

"Well, two months in a hospital will do that to you." Lauren's voice echoed through the room making Bo smile.

Kenzi turned around to greet her sister's girlfriend, "Hey, Doc. Long time no see! Hugs all around, woman!"

She pulled the doctor in for a strong hug, then pulled back, holding her by both shoulders,

"Thank you. You kept your promise and took care of my sis while I brought home the bacon." Kenzi smiled.

Bo beamed with pride as she spoke, "And boy did she bring home the bacon, Lauren. She rocked Fiji. She moved up to twelfth place overall in the World Surf League standings. My little sis is going places."

"That's fantastic, Kenzi." Lauren smiled.

"But you're still not gonna come see me surf, are ya?" Kenzi asked, disappointment lacing every word.

"We'll see, Kenzi." Lauren said.

"Ya know, that's what my Mom used to say when the answer was a definite no, but she wanted to change the subject. Consider me your warm up to Bo getting back out there."

Bo looked at Lauren with pleading eyes. The blonde sighed, "Fine. I'll go to your next competition."

"Awesome! That's the Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro in California this coming week!"

"Uh… I can't go to California, Kenzi. I have practice all week and then I leave for Rio for a week of training before the Olympics begin."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I understand." Kenzi said, hanging her head, "Hey, anyone want pizza? We'll get it from Little Joe's?"

"I've never had Little Joe's." Lauren replied.

"He's a guy from the East Coast who gets stuff shipped here from Philly… ya know, Philadelphia?" Kenzi asked.

"Yup, I know Philly. I went there for a medical conference two years ago. Had my first cheesesteak there… or what I called my first heart attack-on-a-plate."

Kenzi laughed, "It's happy food, Doc. You eat it, it's yummy, so it makes you happy. Happiness keeps your cholesterol down. It's a chemistry thing. I read it somewhere. I'll go order. Bo-Bo's buying!"

"Kenzi!" Bo yelled, but it was too late, "She's going to raid my rainy day fund."

Lauren moved to sit next to Bo on the edge of her bed, "Rainy day fund?"

"My parents always taught us that every paycheck, you pay yourself first, then you pay the bills, then you pay your savings account with everything you have left. When you pay yourself, you don't touch it unless it's something that will enrich your life in some meaningful way."

"And Kenzi thinks pizza is enriching our lives?" Lauren asked with a chuckle and a smile.

"Pizza is part of Kenzi's cellular makeup. I'm convinced if you drew her blood and looked at it under a microscope, her cells would be covered with pepperoni and maybe a Little Joe's logo." Bo laughed.

"So what do you use the rainy day fund for?"

Bo frowned, "Truthfully, I've never touched it. There has never been anything I wanted to use any of the money for to tell you the truth. My sponsors cover the cost of my clothing and my boards. I don't really own many clothes that don't have a sponsors name on it. If I'm in public, according to various contracts, I have to wear certain names. Your girlfriend is a walking, talking billboard for surfing products."

"Wow. I didn't know. I just thought you liked the clothes… although, I'll admit that this is the first time I've seen you in something other than a hospital gown or shorts and a T-shirt." Lauren replied.

"Well, you did see me in just plain jeans the night we first met. I had a billabong jacket on that night… Friday is billabong day."

"You have brand days?" Lauren asked.

"I have five sponsors for clothing and general gear, each one gets one day with my company getting day six and my PR and marketing company getting day seven."

"You have a PR and marketing company?" Lauren asked.

"Kenzi and I both have the same one. You'll be happy to know that they fixed the Kristy situation with the help of Kenzi's tech skills and a few calls to Chip."

"The boy you met at the steakhouse?"

Bo nodded, "Yup. They're giving the entire family a great package to the final championship tour event here in Maui."

"When is that?" Lauren asked.

"November to December." Bo replied, her fingers playing with the edge of the seat cushion on the chair.

"So they'll get to see you surf!" Lauren said, trying to sound enthusiastic for Bo's sake.

"I dunno. We'll have to see what happens."

Kenzi entered the room, "She'll be there. She'll be back up in time for the Vans in Cali come September."

Lauren turned to face her and smiled, "You mean your sister didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Kenzi looked from Lauren to Bo and back to Lauren again.

"Are you going to tell her or should I tell her, Bo?"

"Let it go, Lauren." Bo said, her eyes remaining fixed on the small fibers still between her fingers.

"Let what go? Someone tell me what's going on!" Kenzi demanded, her face filled with fear.

Lauren sighed, "It seems your sister is considering pulling out of the championship series. She's going to go to Rio with me, having promised that she will work hard so she can catch her first wave while there. Then, she plans to come home and ride the beginner to advanced waves in succession until she feels comfortable on a board again. She said she'll then enter the qualifiers and shoot to rejoin the championship series next year."

Kenzi's eyes went wide as she turned back to look at her sister, "You can't do that!"

Bo's eyes snapped to meet her sisters, "I can and I will. I've already decided!"

"You've decided to quit! You know you can't go through another qualifier! You'll have to start from scratch and Bo, trust me, there are a lot of new young surfers coming in this next wave of qualifiers! Next year is going to be harder and you know it! You're already in the top three!"

"For how long, Kenz? I'm going to miss Cali next weekend, which is going to put me behind in points and earnings. Courtney, Tyler and Carissa… they're your top three with Sally right behind them! I'm probably going to drop below Sally after this weekend!"

"So, you're still in the top five by the break! The next event won't be for another two months and then you have another three weeks until the next one! You can do this, Bo! You're so close!"

"I won't place the first time back up, Kenzi. I know I won't! My legs are useless! Look at me!" Bo slapped her bare thighs and gripped the fat on her legs, "I have no muscle! I can't even get off the fucking toilet without help because the damn handicap bar thing doesn't fit!"

"What?" Lauren asked Kenzi, more than her upset girlfriend.

Kenzi pointed at the bathroom apparatus, "That thing doesn't fit. Our shithole of a house has a tiny bathroom. Even my knees hit the wall when I sit down to pee."

Lauren walked into the bathroom, her eyes going wide. It was more like a port-a-potty than a full bath. The small sink had nothing for Bo to lean on, the shower barely fit one body and the toilet was a small round bowl, which was, indeed, very close to the wall. Lauren scratched her head, then looked up at the wall. She made a fist and wrapped her knuckles on the wall a few times, and then an idea came to her.

"I'll be right back." Lauren said, placing a kiss on Bo's cheek, a hand on Kenzi's shoulder, "You can continue this discussion without me. Oh, and after we eat pizza, can you…"

Lauren leaned down and whispered into Kenzi's ear as Bo watched. Kenzi's eyes went wide, then her face straightened into a serious look before she finally smiled and then turned to Lauren, "You've got it, Doc."

Kenzi turned back to Bo, "Okay, come on. You can't stay in that chair or you'll never get out of it."

"I'm too tired, Kenzi."

"Bullshit, Bo. Let's go." Kenzi brought her walker over and held it in place in front of her. Bo rolled her eyes, but gripped the handlebars and pulled herself up. Kenzi waited for her to steady herself before she let go and backed away.

"I get dizzy every time I stand, then my legs wobble before I can actually feel them. Don't you get it, Kenzi? My career is over."

Bo's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at her younger sister, but Kenzi was having none of it,

"No. You don't get to quit before those legs are strong again. Now let's go. We're going to sit out on our porch like we usually do and eat lunch looking at the water. Your mind has turned to mush because you've been in that damn hospital bed for too long. You're soft, Dennis. You've had nurses and apparent suitors doing everything for you, including motivating you. It's time for you to get your mind and body back."

Bo stood there, looking at the fire in her sister's eyes. She used to have that fire.

"What?" Kenzi asked.

"You. You're different. What changed?" Bo asked.

"I woke up one morning in Australia and realized that you were going to sag back in the points because I screwed up and kept you out of one of the events you needed to move up. You'd be in second instead of third if we'd been in Australia that weekend, Bo. You wouldn't have drowned because you wouldn't have been here. We would have been in the land down under straight through the whole month. I realized it was my fault, owned it and decided I needed to put on my big girl panties and do my part."

"If we'd been there, I wouldn't have met Lauren." Kenzi replied.

"You don't know that. The world has a funny way of finding a way to bring people together. Anyway, you've played Mom for as long as I can remember. You've always had this fire and determination to you. Nothing was going to stop Bo Dennis. I guess I finally realized that drive came from what life through at you. You were never given a choice. You had to get up every day and face the hand you'd been dealt… me, the finances, the college bills. You didn't have a choice but to attack every wave because our lives depended on you making it to shore."

Bo stood there, listening to what Kenzi said. Her sister was right. She had been on autopilot for so long, that she didn't realize how she had just thrown all caution to the wind. It was do or die… for Kenzi's sake… and with how shitty life had been for so long, she didn't have anything left to lose. But that was before the drowning. It was before she realized that she had Kenzi to lose. It was before she had Lauren to lose. Now, Bo felt like she had everything to lose.

"That's it." Bo said, quietly as they crossed the threshold to the front porch.

"What's it?" Kenzi asked as she took the walker, allowing Bo to take a seat at the table. She handed her a pair of sunglasses, then tilted the umbrella so Bo's eyes were shaded.

"Before I drowned, I was living life like I had nothing to lose, Kenzi. I did it for so long, that it became a habit. I threw everything I had into every wave because I couldn't leave you with nothing. Experiencing death…"

"Near death… you're alive."

"Okay, near death, made me realize I had you to lose… that you could have lost me and been left here alone. And now, I have Lauren to lose as well. Surfing the big waves just doesn't seem like such a priority anymore. I'm surfing for a trophy and money that we don't really need." Bo explained.

"You mean I don't have to go back to college?" Kenzi asked.

"No, Kenzi. I mean… I have enough money for you to go to college." Bo replied.

"But what about your business? I thought you didn't have enough for both?"

Bo was having a moment of truth… her truth.

"Do me a favor, Kenzi? Grab my car keys for me?"

"You aren't cleared to drive, Bo."

"I know. There's something I need to show you." Bo sighed.

Kenzi stood and went inside, grabbing her keys and some quarters from the change dish as well. She came outside and tossed Bo her keys before turning to their Coca-Cola dispensing machine. It had been Kenzi's idea to get some extra income to put the machine outside where anyone could get a coke when they were on their stretch of beach since it was pretty far removed from the popular areas. They also had a bait and tackle machine next to the soda machine. Bo always said it was the perfect job for Kenzi because she could sit and drink or study while the customers self-served and she made money.

"Want one?" Kenzi asked.

"Yea, why not." Bo replied, opening the tiny wallet that was on her keychain and pulling out a small card with a series of numbers on it.

Kenzi handed her a bottle of coke from the old-fashioned unit, then popped the cap on her own before walking back over to Bo.

"Go inside to the fireplace mantel. Take the picture of the tall ship off the wall, reach under the mantel on the right and push the small button that's there. Then look above the mantel again and punch in the numbers on this card. Bring out what you find."

"Bo?"

"Just do it, Kenzi. It's time you knew."

"You're scaring me, Bo."

"I assure you there is nothing to be afraid of, Kenzi. Just do it, please. I'd go, but I'm just tired, Kenz."

The younger sister closed her hand around the small card and went inside doing as Bo asked. When she finally pushed the button beneath the mantel and looked up, she saw a panel had opened. She dragged a chair over and stepped up so she could see inside.

"What the…?" She found a large wall safe inside. She entered the code and the safe popped open revealing a large and small metal box. Removing both, she carried them outside to where Bo was seated.

"Okay… explain." Kenzi said, dropping the two boxes to the table, and then placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm supposed to wait until you're twenty-fifth birthday to show you all of this…"

"I'll be twenty-five next month." Kenzi said.

"And I'll be in Rio…" she reached into her back pocket and pulled out an envelope, "… where you will hopefully join me after you finish in first place at the Paul Mitchell Qualifier. Kenzi… this is it for you… I'd ask you to go to Rio with me, but you can't miss this event. If you do well in these qualifiers, you go to the big time next year. I won't take that from you, but I hope you understand that the Olympics is a big deal for Lauren and… well… not that I don't owe you a thousand times over, but…"

"I know, I know… she did save your life." Kenzi looked out to the beach, taking a sip of her coke, "You would have died if she hadn't been there, Bo. I didn't see you… she saw you and pulled you from the water first… I panicked and she knew exactly what to do. I don't even know that I would have called emergency services."

"Kenzi, it's not your fault."

"Maybe not, but while I was in Aussieland, I took a water safety, first aid and CPR course. No one will drown without me trying to save them again, Bo." Kenzi replied.

"Yea, well that's good to know. I got phone calls from both the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association asking me to wear their logo. Val is working on it."

"Val's a PR and marketing keeper, Bo. I really hope they don't switch us back to that creepy guy Mitch. I like Val… I like that Val is a woman promoting two women."

"I know and I talked to Suzanne at the head office about that while I was in captivity." Bo smiled, "Anyway, open that envelope. I want you to come to Rio after you're finished in Cali. It's the last event until September for either of us, so I thought you could come and see Lauren play… and maybe be there when I get back on the water?"

Kenzi opened the envelope to find round trip tickets to Rio, "Ohmagod, ohmagod, ohmagod!"

"Wow, someone's excited." Lauren said as she strolled up to the porch carrying several shopping bags and a toolbox.

"I got a ticket to Rio!" Kenzi yelled, standing up and launching herself at Lauren, knocking the blonde back onto the sand while she landed on top of her.

Bo just laughed as Kenzi pretty much mauled her girlfriend with hugs and kisses all over her face,

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won't mind if I go see the men's matches, right? I mean… no offense to you and big sis, but I don't do the ladies… I like a nice big thick…"

"Kenzi! She gets it!" Bo interrupted.

Lauren smiled, "It's okay, Kenzi. I like a big thick one occasionally too."

The blonde winked at Bo whose mouth instantly went dry.

"Damn Doc!" Kenzi replied, "So… if I'm coming to see you play in Rio, you're definitely coming to see me surf this weekend! Just Saturday. I know you have to pack and stuff, but please?"

Lauren propped herself up on her elbows and nodded, "Fine. I'll be there Saturday for as long as I can as long as you drive to the airport so Bo can see me off."

"Deal." Kenzi said, giving Lauren a high five.

"Someone ordered Pizza?"

"Hey, Dom! Damn right! You know Kenzi can't survive without her pizza! Come to Mamma!" Kenzi licked her lips as she took the boxes from the delivery boy.

"Hi Dom." Bo said, waving a twenty-dollar bill at their regular delivery boy.

"Bo! Wow, it's so good to see you up and around. You gave all of us a real scare there, girl. I heard you had a little setback. You all good?"

"I'm gettin' there, Dom. Just need time and workouts, you know?"

Dom nodded, taking his baseball cap off his head and pushing his hair back before replacing the cap,

"Good. There have been some mad rumors flying around. You were paralyzed, you were a vegetable, you couldn't talk, and you couldn't walk. Then that picture surfaced of you and your new girlfriend last week and you were sitting instead of standing her…"

Lauren stood, her head low as she brushed the sand off of her body. She frowned at the young boy's statement until she heard Bo correct him,

"Dom, it's all crap… and I do mean all of it. This…" She held out her hand to Lauren, "… is my real girlfriend and…" Bo gripped Lauren's hand tightly while keeping her other firmly planted on the table, "… as you can see…" she stood, trying her best not to wobble when the dizziness hit, but she didn't have to worry. Lauren caught on and steadied her quickly, "I am more than capable of using my legs. They're still weak from two months of getting my brain working again, but I'll be back, Dom. You can count on it."

"Good to know, Bo. My money is still on you to place in the top three and I hope you know that you are definitely everyone's favorite."

Bo looked at Kenzi, then back at Dom, "I would think that the everyone you're referring to are the locals who still can't accept the California girl who invaded their territory all of those years ago."

Dom shook his head, "Once the guys at the pipe adopted you, well… you became a local, Bo."

"I thought that was Carissa." Bo said, trying to retain neutral facial expressions.

"Well, I think your backstory is something a lot of us can relate to, Bo. Rags to riches, lost your p's, you still go to see the little kids every day and play with them in the surf. You've donated your boards and your old clothes… you're a community lady, Bo… some say you may not live a high class life, but you're definitely a class act."

Bo's eyes welled with tears, "I… I didn't know… I thought…"

Dom smiled, "We love you, Bo… and by the way… Dad says the pizza's on us today. He thought Kenzi was eating alone, but if he knew you were back, he would have sent two for the same price. You need anything, just ask, Bo. I'll catch ya where us little people surf sometime, okay?"

"You've got it Dom. We're gonna work on those moves!" Bo yelled as he got into his car. She turned to Kenzi who moved to her side and gave her a hug. Lauren released Bo so she and Kenzi could have their moment, but kept eye contact with her teary-eyed girlfriend.

Kenzi pulled back, "I guess you have a reason to go big or go home again, eh Bo-Bo?"

Bo smiled down at her little sister, "I sure do, Kenz. I sure do."

She watched as Dom drove his delivery dune buggy down the beach towards the road, "I sure do."

Kenzi turned and placed the pizza on the table, "I'll get plates! Doc, there's a quarter there if you want a coke!"

"A quarter?" Lauren asked Bo as she helped her back into her chair.

Bo nodded to the machine, "A little side business of Kenzi's along with the bait machine and the tackle machine."

"Wow. She's a little entrepreneur, isn't she?"

"She's even better with tech. Combine the two and you get… well the last two over there. It's ingenious really. She took regular soda machines, some scrap metal and old computers and made those two machines. There are a couple of little guys who love to fish and they catch the bait and load the machine for a dollar per container. She charges three dollars a container and makes about a buck fifty on each. The kids used the money to buy tickets on fishing charters. It's a win-win."

"And the tackle dispenser?" Lauren asked, using the bottle opener in the front of the machine to open her diet coke.

"You swipe your credit card and a compartment comes out that gives you a loaded rod and reel for eight hours. Bring it back, swipe your card and you get charged ten bucks for the eight hours plus five dollars extra up to forty for every hour you're late."

Lauren bit into a slice of pizza, "Wow. This is really good pizza."

"Joe's really is the best… he's a really good guy. Being new here when we were younger, Kenzi and I knew what he was going through when he first arrived. We were his best customers, so we got to know him really well."

Kenzi came outside again with plates and a platter of raw fruits and veggies, "Thought we could use some real nutrients too."

Bo grabbed a carrot, "Fresh fruit and veggies. I'm in heaven. Not that I don't appreciate pizza."

"Tomatoes… pizza gives us tomatoes." Kenzi rationalized, "So, what's in these boxes, Bo-Bo? And why didn't you tell me we had a wall safe?"

Bo looked at Lauren, and then at the boxes, "So… you know my rainy day fund?"

"Yea. Great idea." Kenzi said, closing her eyes as she savored the taste of her pizza.

"Exactly. You like the rainy day fund too much."

"Hey. Mom and Dad taught us…"

"Kenzi, they didn't teach us to use our rainy day fund for pizza!"

"Okay, so our priorities are a little different." Kenzi argued.

"They are, so the two grand I've made you keep in the rainy day fund that you think is our rainy day fund was more like an emergency fund. I knew you could access the money if I wasn't around and it would be enough that if anything happened to me, it would last until mom's lawyer came to see you to show you the wall safe."

"Mom's lawyer? I thought he died years ago?"

"He did, but his daughter took over the practice. Her name is Amanda and she is the one who now knows all about… well… this." Bo spun her finger in a circle over the two metal boxes."

"Okay, so what is this?" Kenzi spun her finger as Bo had, mocking her.

Bo cocked her head to the side, "Really? You're going to disrespect the one who has been looking out for you?"

"Sorry." Kenzi said, "Now, out with it."

"Fine. Open the top box first." Bo nodded.

Kenzi wiped her hands and lifted the top box, placing it on her lap. She snapped her fingers at Bo, "Keys."

Bo tossed her the keys, "Small silver key."

Kenzi opened the box, "You do know I could pick that lock in about thirty seconds? I hope this isn't anything too important."

"It's usually in a safe, Kenzi."

"A safe I could crack in five minutes, Bo-Bo. All I would need is…"

"Okay, tech goddess. Whatever. Open the envelope that says Kenzi Dennis, Age 25."

"But I'm not twenty-five. Is it booby trapped?"

"It's not booby-trapped, Kenzi. You'll be twenty-five when I'm in Rio with Lauren. If you're there, then we'll celebrate, but this box wasn't coming with us to Rio. It's too important. This stays locked up."

Kenzi opened the envelope and gasped, "Ohmagod!"

Bo nodded, "Yea, that's what I said on my twenty-fifth birthday too."

"Why?" Kenzi asked.

"Why?" Bo asked.

"If you knew, why did you keep surfing? Why didn't you send me back to school? Why didn't you go back and finish your masters?"

"I know you think I don't want you surfing, Kenzi… and part of me doesn't want this life for you. But Mom and I had a long talk after Dad died. We all knew you had a lot of talent on a board and that you loved the water… no… more than that… you were a part of the water. Kenzi, when you surf, it's like watching a wave and a person dancing. You know the wave and the wave knows you. It's a pretty special thing to watch."

Bo laughed at the memory of her conversation with her Mother, "You know, Mom used to say watching me surf was like watching a matador with a bull. She said watching you surf was like watching a kite on the wind. I couldn't take this from you, Kenzi. I couldn't send you back to college until you had let this career run its course. As long as you were making enough money to live within the means you chose to live, you would continue to surf… that was the promise I made mom. If you weren't in the money, off to college you went."

Kenzi nodded as she folded the papers, "They didn't leave us with nothing."

Bo shook her head, "Well, they did. The money was all invested with Mom's lawyer having legal power of attorney over the funds until I turned twenty-five. I chose to have the money pulled from the funds."

"So that's it? This is cash now?"

"Those are all cash now in an account you can access as of your twenty-fifth birthday. In the envelope, you'll find a Visa and ATM card attached to that account for you to access the money. The other papers are patents."

"Patents?"

"Mom and Dad apparently own twenty-seven design patents and over a hundred patents on various products or gadgets."

"Engineering marvels." Kenzi said, looking through the patent forms.

"What?" Bo asked.

"It's something grandpa used to say. He called Mom and Dad engineering marvels."

Bo thought for a moment, "I remember that. I can't believe I forgot he used to say that."

"Yea, well you've forgotten a lot of things over the years. You were so busy worrying about the future that you forgot all about the best parts of our past."

"I didn't forget, Kenzi. I just… I was too busy to think about it most of the time. Believe me though, there were plenty of lessons there that I've carried with me over the years."

"So what's in the big box?" Kenzi asked.

"That's the real rainy day fund… it's to turn this shack into our board shop."

Kenzi opened the box and gasped, "Bo! You broke rule number one!"

Bo sighed, "Yup."

"Rule number one?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi looked at Lauren, "Duh! Never keep cash in your house! It can burn with your house, it can be stolen with no proof you ever had it or something else really bad! Geez, Bo… how much is in here?"

"Enough for both of us to finish our degrees and for me to open the surf shop." Bo said quietly as she watched Kenzi pull out pile and piles of money.

"Well, I'm taking this stack of Madison's and buying us some walls and a new bathroom!" Kenzi said, grabbing a pile of five thousand dollar bills.

"Kenzi! See? That's why I didn't tell you about the real rainy day fund!" Bo yelled grabbing for the stack, but Kenzi was too quick and pulled it away.

"We've been living in the slum house for way too long, Bo-Bo! You can't even fit in the bathroom with your walker! What am I gonna do, hang out here all day so I can pull you off the toilet?"

"Uh… if I may…" Lauren stood and lifted a bag from the sand along with her toolbox, "I brought a solution to the bathroom problem. I'll go handle that right now while you two… uh… talk… with some civility… to each other? You know… discuss how you should use the money?"

"Lauren, you can't possibly be siding with her while I'm in this condition! We don't know if I'll surf again and getting the business off the ground is going to cost millions! Surfboards aren't cheap to make and it's going to take marketing and we're going to have to pay surfers to use them to get the brands out there!"

"You and I can market them, Bo-Bo! We both have the visibility and some of the lesser known youngsters I'm meeting in the qualifiers have already tried my boards and they love them!"

"Like I said… talk… just hear her out, Bo. She's entitled to an opinion, right?" Lauren kissed Bo on the cheek and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Your pout is adorable, but she's not a child anymore, Bo. Please hear her out. I'm going to go install this because it's a little awkward for me to be here right now."

Bo looked up at her girlfriend and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her before Lauren kissed her lips softly and walked inside. The brunette turned to her little sister,

"Okay, you have ten minutes to pitch your idea and how we're going to afford everything. I will exploit any loopholes to the high seas and back, so make your case solid."

"Geez, Bo! Do you want me to go make a PowerPoint?"

"Maybe you should! This is my entire life savings, Kenzi! This is not money that Mom and Dad left us. You see a metal box full of money and you think new boots and a new wardrobe! I see medical bills… two months worth of medical bills, Kenzi! I see my home therapy and visiting nurse! This is why I saved the money. What we do is dangerous!"

"But Bo, I'm bringing in good money now. It's not in the millions, but I do have a hundred grand in the bank after this season." Kenzi rationalized.

"And what happens if you take a tumble like me? What happens if you end up in a wheelchair or worse?"

"We don't talk like that!"

"Maybe we should, Kenz. I know you don't want to think about the possibilities, none of us do but the fact is, it's our reality! My body is not going to be able to take much more if I can even get back out there. Sure, you've got another five years or so, but what happens if those young surfers you're telling me to worry about are too good for you?"

"I can't afford to think that way!" Kenzi replied.

"You can't afford not to… literally!"

The pair was silent for a long while, taking in everything that was said. Finally, Kenzi broke the silence,

"Okay, so what do you say we remodel the shack? A compromise? We stay here… we convert our current living space into a surf shop and then we build a new residence for us off the back. It would cost us no more than what I have in the bank. Bo, I know you're afraid of having nothing again. I don't remember it well, but I know you remember us being homeless. You were a good sister… I never remember a night where we didn't have a place to sleep."

"I know, Kenzi but you don't know what I did to get us those places some times. It makes me sick to think about it now. I just know about people that have come into a lot of money and lose it all overnight. We have to be careful, Kenzi. We have to have a rainy day fund… one that can bail us out if we have medical bills, disability or our business goes under. Kenzi, we have to finish our degrees… that's non-negotiable… I won't break that promise to Mom and Dad. It's our fall back plan… normal jobs like normal people."

"Fine. I can start taking classes again with the money I earn this season. Half to the house, half to college and I'll have enough. You have to pay half the renovations then and all of your medical bills. Deal?"

"Deal. I'll do the designs and appliances, you do the interior and the tech wiring. And Kenzi, I don't want some modern surf shop… I want it surf style… I don't want to turn into a big chain of shops that sell cheap shit. I don't want to go away from our roots."

"Did you decide on a name that will go on our shingle?"

Bo smiled, "Kenbo Surf Shop it is."

"I'll talk to Val to make sure, okay? I don't want us going under because the name is crap."

"Did you decide if you're going to change your major?" Bo asked.

Kenzi shrugged, "I haven't really thought about it. I was still sort of in the train of thought that I'd talk you out of making me go back."

"Is it really that bad? Going back to school?" Bo asked.

"Nah. You know me, Bo. I'm just lazy."

"I love you, Kenzi but you can't be lazy forever… growing up means grown up responsibilities."

"Yea, I'm starting to get that." Kenzi replied, "I was sort of hard on the Doc when I first met her. I made the assumption that she was rich and I didn't hold back on that particular topic. I was angry that we had to scrape and save while she got to go all the way through medical school."

"Kenz, you should know that she grew up with her Aunt. Her parents died when she was much younger than us. Her aunt worked three jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. She was super smart, so she went to college at sixteen. She told me the whole story and it came up again one night when we were just hanging out in bed."

"Hanging out in bed, huh? Is that what the kids are calling it today?" Kenzi laughed.

"Come on, Kenz. You know I wasn't cleared for sex, which sucked by the way. Anyway, it was during my dark time… you know, no lights, no tech… nothing but talking to do, which, by the way, was great. I've never had a relationship where I felt just as close to someone by just talking as I do with Lauren. I almost don't care if we never have sex as long as we get to have long bedtime talks every night… almost."

"So, no sex yet?"

"My doctor says it's okay as long as I don't overdo it. Apparently your blood pressure goes really, really high when you have sex." Bo frowned, "We just had a little tiff before you came home, but things are good now. Hopefully we'll venture into that territory soon."

"Okay, well just let me know when you do so I can go hang out somewhere else. Make sure your renovation plans include super duper insulation and sound proofing around your bedroom."

Bo laughed, but noticed Kenzi grew quiet, "What's the matter Kenz?"

"So, Lauren's parents died?"

"Yup. She went through college and med school on a lot of scholarships, one of them being an ROTC scholarship with the promise to be a physician in the military for five years after she was done. She did her time in Afghanistan and Germany and then came home, got a job, tried out for Team USA and bought her house with all of her savings. Apparently she still has some student loans she's paying for, but now the hospital has decided to sponsor her and Tamsin, so I think she's breathing a little easier financially."

"She was in Afghanistan?"

"Yea, in the mobile hospital units… front lines, Kenz. She didn't talk about it and I didn't ask, but I can't imagine she has good memories from it all."

"That's some serious shit, Bo-Bo… living in a war zone for five years."

"Tell me about it." Bo replied.

"I feel like a complete and total ass for saying the things I said to her."

"She's not one to hold grudges, Kenz, but I would appreciate it if you would apologize to her at some point. I don't want things to be awkward between the two of you."

Bo sighed, looking out across the breakers to the horizon, "I think she's the one, Kenz."

"Whoa. That's big, Bo… huge, coming from you."

Bo looked back at Kenzi and smiled, "I know, right? I never thought I could ever love… like… I didn't think I was capable of opening myself up like this after losing Dad and then Mom… it was a rough couple of years."

"Not many people lose both parents in the same year, let alone end up homeless. Why do you think they didn't have a plan for us to have some of this back then?"

Bo laughed, "Are you kidding? We would have blown it all back then, Kenzi. We didn't have any idea what we were doing with that kind of money. I'm glad we went through what we went through now… it made us closer and it made us learn to work for what we have."

"Well, one of us, anyway… but I'm learning now. I promise I'm not going to blow this, Bo. It's staying in the bank or in that wall safe."

"Speaking of wall safes, you'll have to give us something more secure in the new design."

"Agreed." Kenzi replied.

"Am I interrupting?" Lauren stood in the doorway, peeking her head out onto the porch.

"No way, Doc. Come on out. There's still three slices left." Kenzi pointed to the box.

"Mmmm… good. I worked up a better appetite." Lauren smiled, taking the chair next to Kenzi.

"You wanna sit next to your Bo-Bo?" Kenzi asked.

"No, I'm good. She's probably had enough of me for now." Lauren winked at Bo as she took a bite of pizza.

"Never enough, baby." Bo smiled, "So, I see black smudges on your face. What did you do in there? Remodel our bathroom?"

"Nope, just made it Bo-Bo accessible." Lauren laughed.

"You mean you got the thing in there? What did you do, knock out a wall?" Kenzi asked.

"Nope. I bought a bar at the hardware store and mounted it to a stud on the wall." Lauren said proudly, pulling her hair up in a pony tail, then wiping her brow with the back of her hand before taking another bite of her pizza.

"I hope the stud holds. In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of rotting wood around here." Kenzi replied.

Lauren nodded, "So did you two make a decision?"

"We're renovating." Bo replied, "Our current living quarters will become the shop and we're going to build a residence onto the back. Oh, and Kenzi is going back to school."

"Great! What's your major? I thought it was business, right?"

"Well, Bo and I were actually just discussing that. I've decided I want a major in computer science with a minor in marketing. Both are going to be necessary."

Lauren nodded, "That's great, Kenzi. How many years do you have left?"

"Well, I did a three semesters, then some community college courses. I think I should only have four semesters left so I'll take as many credits as I can to finish as fast as I can."

"Do you think you can do summer sessions while you're on tour?" Lauren asked.

"If I take online courses, I think so."

"Good idea. How about you, Bo?"

"I have a year and a half left in my engineering degree. I left right before I was supposed to do two field experiences, each a year long."

Lauren nodded, "Tamsin's parents were engineers… she followed in their footsteps. Her company is joining the hospital as a sponsor, though I think I might have told you that. There's a lot of good firms around here."

"Yea, the volcanic activity is what sort of lured me here."

"Really?" Lauren asked, "You don't here many people say they came to Hawaii because of the volcanoes."

Kenzi and Lauren laughed.

"Hey, geological engineering is my major so it makes sense. It's fascinating stuff, really."

"I know, Bo-Bo… it just sounded funny."

"Well, those underground anomalies are the reason we get such great rips here. You owe your career to those volcanoes." Bo said, turning back to face the ocean.

"So you want to be a geological engineer?" Lauren asked.

"My Master's is a combined mechanical and geological engineering degree." Bo replied.

"Ambitious." Lauren replied.

"Very. It's why it was put on hold."

"Well, you should finish it while you're living as a landlubber." Kenzi replied.

Bo thought about her sister's comment and suddenly realized, "You're absolutely right, Kenz. I'll look into it first thing Monday morning."

"Well, it's what all of this is for, right?" Kenzi said, pointing to the metal box filled with cash.

Bo nodded nervously, "It is, but Kenzi…"

"I know, I know… we're going to be very careful with it. I swear I will pinch every cent in that box, Bo."

"You could budget the total sum." Lauren said off-handedly, not thinking about the fact hat she'd said it aloud.

"What do you mean?" Bo asked.

"Oh… uh… I'm sorry. I really don't have any say in the matter." Lauren was clearly a little uncomfortable being a part of this conversation.

"No, Doc. Share. I'd like to hear your opinion on what budgeting means."

"Kenzi, I really don't have any experience with money…"

Kenzi put a hand on Lauren's forearm, "Look, Doc. I know what I said before and my sister here set me straight. You grew up a lot like us, so I'd like to know how you've made it work."

"Well, I would count it out and put it… well, if you're into metal boxes… separate it out into more metal boxes, each one meant to be the amount you're willing to spend on each category."

"One box for my medical expenses." Bo began.

"One box for the construction." Kenzi added.

"One box for the appliances."

"One box for the furniture and interior design elements."

"One box for marketing and PR for the new store."

"One box for the product line and stock."

"One box for let's say… five years of monthly living expenses."

The two continued to trade box ideas while Lauren sat and smiled. It was nice to see them working through their financial issues. It was a stark contrast to how it started before she went into the bathroom to install the handicapped bar on the wall. She then thought about how long Bo had been sitting. She hated to interrupt, but it was time,

"Bo? You've been sitting for a really long time, baby."

Bo groaned, "Arrgh. I don't want to walk. I'm tired."

Lauren smiled at Kenzi, "Well, actually… Kenzi and I had something else in mind."

"What?"

"Well, I stopped at a few stores on the way here…" Lauren stood and stepped off the porch to retrieve the rest of the bags. Putting them on the picnic table, she looked until she found the one she was looking for, "I thought maybe you could put this on and we could do some aqua therapy?"

Bo looked at the bikini Lauren was holding up, "I guess at the size, but…" she whispered in Bo's ear, "I had a good idea of your cup size since I spent a lot of time with the girls a couple months ago… experience really is the best teacher."

Lauren pulled back, looking down at her girlfriend's cleavage, licking her lips, "So… will you wear this for me?"

Bo smiled, "Of course… did you get a suit for yourself?"

Lauren pulled a suit from the bag, "I did. I hope you like it. Now… how 'bout you go put that on and I'll meet you down at the water's edge?"

Bo nodded, "Help me up?"

Lauren put her hands out and stabilized Bo while she stood. She slid her walker over to her and waited until she was through her dizzy spell.

"Lauren? Will I always be dizzy when I first stand up?"

"It will pass, Bo. You just have to give it time. At least we know the dizziness is inner ear related and not vessel related." Lauren replied.

"Yea, but I thought the inner ear thing had a better chance of not healing." Bo replied.

"Not necessarily and I believe this line of questioning is just a way of getting out of aqua therapy."

"Now why would I dodge the opportunity to see my beautiful girlfriend in a bikini?"

Lauren blushed, "You know, you're cleared."

Bo smiled, "I know. So don't wear me out too badly in the water, okay?"

"Okay." Lauren smiled, "Off you go now, get changed."

"Okay."

Lauren followed Bo inside and stepped into the bathroom while Bo went into her bedroom. Lauren changed quickly, and then looked over at the wall where she had installed the bar. Thinking of what Kenzi had said, she gripped it with both hands and pulled, making sure it wasn't going to come out of the wall when Bo used it to pull herself up. Satisfied that it was secure, she opened the door when she heard a loud thud.

She rushed out of the bathroom and rounded the corner into Bo's room to see her sitting on the floor with her bare ass completely exposed. Lauren pushed the thought of how incredible that ass was and moved to help her girlfriend,

"What happened?"

"I was trying to get my foot out of my underwear and lost my balance. Lauren, this really, really sucks."

Lauren pulled the panties from Bo's foot and then grabbed the bikini bottoms. Threading them over Bo's ankles, she pulled them up to her knees. Bo laid on her back and pulled them up the rest of the way while Lauren kept her eyes on Bo's face giving her a little dignity. Now fully dressed for a swim, Bo put her hands on her abdomen and lay there staring at the ceiling.

Lauren lay down beside her, cupping her cheek to turn her head to face her,

"Did you hit your head?" Lauren asked.

"I don't think so. I hit my ass hard, though… maybe my hip a little."

"In your OT appointments, you learned how to safely dress. What happened?"

"I took a shortcut."

"And what did you learn, Miss Shortcut?"

"To use the OT safe dressing rules." Bo frowned, "Will I ever be normal again?"

For the first time, Lauren saw a tear trail down Bo's face over her condition. She'd seen her angry, frustrated, hopeless and hopeful, but never broken. This was new territory for Lauren, although she'd known that Kristy had seen her like this.

"Bo, to me you are normal. Remember, that I've only known you at your worst really. I mean, sure I met you before your accident, but this woman who is battling so hard to get back to the person she once was is the only version of you I know… this is the woman I fell in love with."

"You love me?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "I'm sure of it, Bo."

"I love you, Lauren. I know it's only been a couple of months… I know we haven't even gotten to the physical part, but I can't imagine not having you in my day."

Lauren smiled, "So… what do you say, sexy lady in the black bikini… want to hit the water?"

Bo smiled at the blonde, "I would follow you anywhere… even into the depths of the ocean."

"Good, because I want you to teach me something while we're in the water."

"You don't know how to swim?" Bo asked, a panicked look on her face, "Lauren, I shouldn't be teaching you to swim right now. I'm not strong enough."

"No, Bo. I want you to teach me to feel what you feel in the ocean."

"Huh?" Bo asked.

"I want to understand why people think of surfing as a religion. I want to feel what you feel in the water." Lauren replied.

"Oh." Bo replied, not sure if she would actually feel that same feeling when she entered the water now. She thought of Chip, of Kenzi, of all of the fans and sponsors, of all the little kids on the beaches where she went to hang out and teach them to love surfing like her parents taught her and then, her thoughts drifted to her parents… to riding on the front of their boards… and she smiled.

"What?" Lauren asked.

"Sorry. I drifted off."

"Where did you go?"

"I was just thinking about when I was little and I'd ride on my parents boards with them. I was remembering the feeling… Kenzi was so little then. I wanted to show her the whole world."

Lauren watched as a tear ran down her girlfriend's cheek, "Bo?"

"Have I done enough for her, Lauren? I mean… have I shown her the world at the expense of giving her the things that matter most? I don't know if…"

"Hey… you did the best a young woman asked to care for a teen could do. Kenzi is smart, she's apparently a great surfer and she's happy, Bo. That seems most obvious to me. You've helped her to become strong, independent and confident. I think your parents would be proud of how well you've done with her."

Bo nodded, wiping her face, "Well, let's get you out there, then. Can I trouble you for a little help up?"

"Sure thing, baby." Lauren smiled.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren helped Bo to the water's edge, the walker left behind at the house since it wasn't that long of a walk, with a promise to go get the beach wheelchair Tamsin had built for her out of PVC piping if she was too tired to make the walk back.

Bo turned as she saw Kenzi walking down the beach carrying their old long boards over her head.

"What's she doing?" Bo asked.

"What I asked her to do." Lauren replied.

"Lauren, there's no way I can surf!" Bo's eyes filled with panic.

"I know. We're in shallow waters with a sandy bottom and light waves. You're going to teach me to surf."

"Lauren… I dunno… I…" Bo was worried.

"Bo, it's my choice. I want to learn. Now, either you teach me or Kenzi will. Of course, the two of you could work together… It'll probably take both of you for me to stand up for ten seconds." Lauren laughed which made Bo smile, but still the brunette was worried.

"Lauren, I don't want you to get hurt. You leave in a week. Can't we just wait until after the games?"

"Nope. This will be a great workout for me… it combines core with stability and balance training. I use all three for volleyball, so think of it as my workout for the day."

Bo scratched her head, "Well, it certainly will make you very aware of muscles you've never known you had."

Lauren smiled, "Okay then. Move over, Bo Dennis. You're about to get some competition."

Bo laughed as Kenzi moved to her side, "Here ya go, Bo-Bo. I thought it would be easier for you to be on a board than standing in the water trying to resist the waves."

Bo got on the board and laid there in the shallows while Kenzi placed the other board on the sand,

"Okay, Doc. First thing about surfing… the pop up…"

Bo watched as Kenzi drilled her girlfriend over and over again. Constant reminders to bring her feet to her hands, feet shoulder's width apart, feet center of the board right over the stringer, know where you are when you pop up, make sure the wave didn't break yet, keep paddling until you pop, pop when you feel the wave lift you up… Lauren was starting to look a little tired just like everyone did when they got sick of being on land and wanted to try it in the water, but Kenzi knew as did Bo. This drill was the difference between getting up and falling down. It was the most essential part of surfing. You could never practice it enough.

Curious, Bo gripped either side of the board and pressed her chest up. Her upper body felt strong enough, but that wasn't the issue. Would her legs do as she asked? It couldn't hurt to try, right? Gripping the board, she pressed her chest up slightly, then in one motion, she brought her feet to the board and stood, smiling… until a wave of dizziness hit her and she found herself facedown in the water.

Lauren was by Bo's side in a second, "Bo?"

Bo rolled over, laughing, "I'm such an idiot."

"You popped up, baby." Lauren smiled.

"I did and then I fell over." Bo laughed.

"Got a little dizzy, eh?"

"Sure did… I forgot about that part."

"Time, Bo."

"I know, I know. So are you ready to catch your first wave?" Bo asked rolling back onto the board.

"I am. It's exciting." Lauren said with a smile.

"Okay then, Doc. Let's do this." Kenzi said, "I'll be right back. Just gotta get a board. Bo-Bo? You take her out, okay?"

Bo nodded, "Come on, sweets."

Lauren smiled and lifted the board into the water.

"Just follow my lead. You want to take long, deep strokes to catch a wave, so we're going to practice paddling on the way out."

"Okay. It looks sort of like you're swimming freestyle." Lauren remarked.

"Exactly. Were you a swimmer, too?"

"Three years on varsity when I was in high school. Freestyle and butterfly." Lauren explained.

"Only three years?" Bo asked with a smirk.

"Well, considering I did my sophomore through senior years when I was fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, I'd say not making varsity as a thirteen-year-old freshman wasn't too shabby."

Bo smiled, "I stand corrected. Three years varsity is impressive. Okay then, dig in and let's get out beyond the breakers. When waves come, push the nose of your board under them so you don't get flipped back."

The pair paddled out, Lauren checking Bo every once in a while noting that she was getting winded quickly. She needed to add water work to Bo's therapy, she was sure of it. This should have been part of her therapy all along. Her anger towards Kristy was building. What had been her goal? To keep Bo in the hospital all along? Now that she thought about it, Evony and Kristy were friends. Shit! Why hadn't she thought of that before. She stopped paddling, her mind caught in a whirlwind of possibilities so she didn't hear Bo calling to her.

Suddenly, she found herself underwater, getting flipped over and over. Unable to find the bottom, she panicked until a hand gripped her own and pulled her up.

"Lauren! Lauren!"

The blonde coughed and coughed until she finally met Bo's panicked eyes, "I'm okay."

"What the hell were you doing?"

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." Lauren said, her mind going back to Kristy.

"No! Not out here! You never get distracted out here!" Bo said, panic lacing every word.

"I'm sorry, Bo. I just…"

"No… look at me… hear these words… out here, it's you and the ocean… nothing else exists, do you understand?"

Lauren couldn't speak. She was totally taken aback by her girlfriend's tone and the strength of her grip on her arms,

"Bo, you're hurting me."

"Do you understand?" Bo insisted, gripping her arms harder.

"Yes! Now please… you're hurting me."

Bo sat up on the board, releasing Lauren's forearms, "Sorry. I just… I can't lose you."

Lauren climbed back onto her board and watched as Bo paddled for shore, "Where are you going?"

"We're done for the day."

"No, we're not!"

"YES! We are!"

"No, we're not! If you go in, then I'm staying out here and doing this by myself!"

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am! My life, my choice! You don't get to throw your fears on me!"

Lauren turned and started to paddle out beyond the breakers. Bo moaned and then followed,

"So stubborn."

"I heard that, Bo Dennis. You're just as stubborn!" Lauren called back.

Kenzi watched the pair from the beach, laughing, "Ah, young love. Ain't it grand." She kissed her board, "Come on, Betty. We've gotta go help these two before they kill each other."

Kenzi paddled out with quick strokes, noting the direction of the current and the height and power of the waves. This was definitely a little more than she'd like to teach Lauren in, but she had great strength and balance in her pop ups, so she could likely handle this.

Arriving at where the two were now sitting on their boards beyond the breakers, Kenzi listened as Bo explained what Lauren was looking for, sets, timing, paddling into a wave, reminders about the pop up, angle of the board to the beach and some other basics.

"Ready to go, Doc?" Kenzi asked, coming to sit next to Lauren.

"I think so. It's exciting, yet I'm nervous."

"That's normal for people who learn as adults. Bo and I were so used to riding, standing up was no big deal. We were both soloing by age five. Knowledge creates fear and fear creates nerves."

Bo added, "But you're a strong swimmer who's comfortable in the water if you're focused on what you're doing. That said, stay focused… and stay safe, Lauren. Do as we've told you. Now… before you go… lay down on your board."

"What?"

"Lay down… flip on your back and lay down."

"But…"

"Do as we tell you, Doc." Kenzi replied with a smile.

Lauren mumbled something about not liking being told what to do while Bo and Kenzi laughed at her. The two then did the same, Kenzi on Lauren's left and Bo on her right. They each took a hand, and then Kenzi spoke while Bo translated,

"Na a 'ohe nalu, a laila aku i kai, penei e hea ai…"

"If there is no surf, invoke seaward in the following manner…"

"Ku mai! Ku mai! Ka nalu nui mai Kahiki mai…"

"Arise, arise you great surfs from Kahiki…"

"Alo po i pu! Ku mai ka pohuehue…"

"The powerful curling waves. Arise with the pohuehue…"

"Hu! Kai ko'o Loa…"

"Well up long raging surf…"

"So… that was interesting…" Lauren said after the pair paused.

"Shhh… that was the traditional Hawaiian prayer for surf… now, lay here and become one with the sea. Feel the motion… become one with the dance of the sea." Kenzi explained.

Lauren opened one eye and looked over at Bo whose eyes were closed, a smile on her face. She then opened her other eye and looked at Kenzi to find the same look of bliss on her face. She didn't get it. She was floating on a board in the water… what was the big deal?

She closed her eyes and felt Bo's hand in her own, Kenzi's in the other. It was strange how two sisters could be so different yet feel so much the same. They both had a touch that was strong, yet gentle. She realized that in this moment, she felt safe with the two surfers on either side of her. Their knowledge and experience was extensive, of that she was sure but their confidence and love of this sport was what really became… what was the word… contagious?

She heard Bo whisper, "I can see the look on your face… you're thinking, not feeling. Lauren, think of the sea below you… imagine it cradled you… rocked you from the moment you were born like it did Kenzi and I on our parents surfboards… think… no, imagine… feel what we felt all of our lives. The ocean… the sea… the waves… they're part of us. To know the feel of the waves is to know us."

Lauren pulled her eyes from Bo and thought about the picture she saw on the wall outside of the bathroom… the one of the two parents of the women who now lay on either side of her. They were floating as they were now only the Mother held an infant on her chest and the Father held a tiny Bo. She smiled imagining how her girlfriend felt, safe in her Dad's arms while she smiled at Kenzi on her Mommy's chest, her fingers barely gracing the water.

"I see it, Bo… I feel it."

It must have been five minutes that the three just floated in the water before Kenzi noticed the sound of the breakers getting too close.

"Okay, ladies. Time to have some fun. Let's paddle out a little ways, then we'll turn around and get Lauren her first wave."

They paddled out together with Kenzi in the lead before they settled on a spot, all three sitting up on their boards.

"So, Kenzi's going to go first, Lauren. Watch her and then I'll get you set up for your first wave. Okay?"

"Okay." Lauren said, her voice carrying equal parts nervousness and excitement.

Bo and Kenzi looked over their shoulders, watching and explaining to Lauren what they were looking for until Kenzi finally said,

"This is my set. I'm in… woohoo!"

Bo laughed as she watched her little sister catch a brilliant wave. Right away she cut back and came back over the crest, dragging her fingers through the water before cutting back again and doing a tail slide,

"Yea Kenz! Nice ride!" Bo called out.

Lauren looked at the ear-to-ear grin on her girlfriend's face as she watched her little sister. Looking down, she noticed Bo's legs moving back and forth,

"How do you feel, Bo? Are you getting tired at all?"

"Nope, I feel great! You ready, baby?"

"Uh… I guess, yes."

"Okay, now a long board is much more stable and easier to ride, but it's longer, so harder to turn and maneuver. Don't try to do anything other than get to your feet, adjust your angle to shore and ride it out, okay?"

"Nothing crazy… got it."

"Okay, I'm gonna hold the nose here. I want five good popups before you paddle in. It's different on the water than on the sand, just feel the water. Let it cradle the board."

Lauren lay down on the board and performed a pop up, quickly finding herself in the water. Bo smiled as she climbed back out,

"Okay?"

"Yup. Again."

Lauren tried again, this time landing stable, but then a small swell knocked her off balance and she fell in again.

Bo laughed as her girlfriend came to the surface, an even more determined look on her face.

"Okay?"

"Fine. Again."

This time, Lauren got up and stayed up. Feeling solid, she quickly lay back down and popped up solid again and then again.

"Okay, then… you're ready to go." Bo smiled as Kenzi moved in beside the blonde.

"Remember what we talked about, Doc. Paddle hard when we tell you to…. Head on over to where I started and when we yell go, you paddle your little ass off."

Lauren looked at Bo, giving her a nervous smile earning her a big smile in return,

"You'll be great, baby. Go get 'em. Stay focused and feel the water."

"Right."

For the next ten minutes, the two pro surfers watched as Lauren was pushed off the board by five different waves.

"I don't know, Kenz. It's getting pretty rough out here."

"I agree, Bo. Your girl doesn't look like she's ready to back down, though."

"We might have to convince her to stop. I can't let her get hurt. She would never forgive herself if she had to give up her spot on Team USA."

"Wow, I wasn't even thinking about that. We really should stop her."

The pair turned to where they heard a loud yell and looked up to see Lauren on the perfect wave, screaming at the top of her lungs,

"Wooooohoooooooo!"

The two sisters laughed as they fist pumped the air, "Go Lauren!"

"Ride it, Doc! Nice moves!"

Kenzi took off after Lauren on the next wave, giving Bo a good look at what she could do with a bigger wave. Bo was truly impressed with how much her little sister had improved in the past two months. She really was getting better and she had no doubt she would qualify for the world champs next season. Bo watched the sets roll in behind her, the temptation just too much. She lined up for the next set, waiting for a nice swell that would give her deep water in case she had to ditch. If she could just get through the momentary dizziness, she'd be fine. The water was her home… it was time she embraced that.

Back on the shore, Lauren looked up at Kenzi,

"Wow. You're impressive."

"I'm nothing. You should see Bo-Bo. She really is amazing, Lauren. We've got to get her back up before she loses her nerve. She was born for this and she should be beating all of those others by now. The night you met her was the night I took a shit-load of points from her. I screwed up our passports or she would be sitting in second place right now… maybe even first with the confidence it would have given her to win the one we missed."

"Well, I think she's thinking of getting up right now, Kenz." Lauren tapped her shoulder, pointing back towards Bo, "Oh, Gods, Kenzi. The dizzy spells… she's not really going to…"

"She is, Doc… that's her set up. I'd know that look anywhere. She's looking for deep water, probably in case she has to ditch so she won't get hurt."

"Kenzi… we should paddle out."

"We can't, Lauren. If we're in front of her when she goes down, she could get pushed into our boards. We have to let her do her thing and trust that she knows her own limits. She's on a long board… more specifically, our family long boards. They were built to be safe for the two of us when we were little. This is like a sixteen year old experienced biker using training wheels."

"I hope it's enough."

They both held their breaths as they watched Bo pick her wave, paddling hard. Kenzi whispered,

"Come on, Bo-Bo. You can do this."

"Oh, God please keep her safe." Lauren added.

They watched as Bo popped up… wobble, wobble… steady…

"She's in! GO BO!"

Lauren gripped Kenzi's arm as they watched Bo ride a good distance before she threw a sharp cutback, dropping down the wall of a nice wave that curled nicely over her shoulder. She dropped down, her fingers trailing along the wall of blue water before she pushed up and off the backside of the wave.

"Safe move, safe move! Well done, Bo!" Kenzi yelled.

"Where is she?" Lauren panicked.

"It's okay, Doc… watch. She's on the backside of the curl. It was starting to break so she cut back over so it wouldn't break on top of her. She's not ready to get buried in whitewater… the dizzy stuff and all."

Lauren watched as the wave broke and Bo became visible, belly riding some whitewater onto the shore.

"She'll need help getting up, Kenz. The water is easier to move in."

"I've got the board, you get Bo."

Kenzi pushed both of their boards up on land before turning back to the water where Lauren was gripping Bo as they both got pounded with whitewater. Bo fell back onto the board just as Kenzi arrived.

"Tow her in, Doc." Kenzi said, motioning to Lauren to grip the board. The two pulled Bo to the beach, falling down onto the sand next to her.

"Ohmagod that felt great." Bo said, her breathing labored, "But my legs are spent."

"Apparently." Lauren said, lying on her back, catching her breath as Kenzi did the same.

"I didn't think you had it in ya, Bo. Well done, Sis."

"Gods, Kenzi that felt amazing!"

"You looked good, Bo. A little hesitant there on the take off, but your cutbacks were sharp as ever and speeding into that curl on a long board… only you, Bo… only you."

Bo looked at Lauren, "Why do I feel okay in the water, but not on land?"

"Well, it's funny you should ask. Remember when you got upset with me out there for losing focus?"

"Yea, it was…"

"I'm not asking for another lecture, Bo. What I wanted to say was that my concentration was hindered by a few realizations. First, I'm wondering why Kristy never put you into aqua therapy. Our rehab facility is state of the art. Most athletes whose sports involve water would have it in their program as early as possible and yet you had none in two months time. I remembered a note on the OT's chart to ask Kristy about why it hadn't been started. I didn't think about it at the time because I thought that they must have talked about it and decided it wasn't appropriate in your case."

"Why not?"

"Well, that I'm not sure but it brings me to my second point… Kristy and Evony are friends… very good friends."

Lauren suddenly had two pairs of wide eyes staring back at her. Bo went to speak, but Kenzi's voice was the one Lauren heard first,

"Fuck a duck and pick a chicken! Are you shittin' me? Those two set this up! All of it! There are so many angles here, I don't know which one to check first. Evony's ex-husband riding Bo's girlfriend at practice… what does Evony have on Lachlan that she would have him making your life miserable? Kristy keeping Bo from getting back to full form would put Evony in the running to be an alternate to the world champs. She'd never win, but she might be in line to compete if she's out long enough."

Bo shook her head, "The picture at the restaurant getting posted to Facebook… Kristy trying to pick me up… all the touchy feely stuff she was doing that I didn't respond to… her getting more and more assertive when I didn't respond… just like Evony."

"Were they trying to get between you two?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren nodded, "Do you remember the day I told you that Dr. McCorrigan had caught Evony threatening me?"

Bo nodded, "What about it?"

"One of the things that Evony had said was that she was going to make your life miserable by making my schedule as ridiculous as possible. She said that the two of us would be lucky to see each other for more than five minutes between our work and training schedules. Then she said something about 'nothing else' interfering with our relationship."

"Kristy. She'd already gotten her to try to get between us." Bo replied.

Kenzi interjected, "Either that or she was planning to kick that part of her plan into action. So what are you two going to do?"

Lauren looked at Bo who smirked, "Well, Dr. McCorrigan asked me for an autographed picture for his granddaughter, so I think I owe him a visit."

Lauren looked at Kenzi, "My Chief has grown very fond of your sister, though he remains very 'professional' in his conversations with me about her."

Bo looked at Kenzi, "We're besties. He told me that the former Chief of the ER had threatened Lauren and that the threat included me. He respectfully requested that I report any problems I might have with her because they would be bringing the full force of the law down on her if she retaliated in any way. I believe he mentioned harassment and assault charges. Since the WSL is already reviewing the video…"

"And, just so you know, the latest is that it doesn't look good for her…" Kenzi interjected,

"Well, that's even better then… more evidence that she's been going after me if they find her guilty of fowl play on that wave."

Kenzi smiled, "They've got film."

"What?" Bo said, her eyes wide.

"Val told Dyson and I while we were waiting for our flight on Thursday. Apparently there's some guy who was doing a documentary on surfing for USC and he was there for the weekend filming surfers at the pipe. He was there to try to get an interview with you and instead got footage of the accident… close up footage."

"What did it show?"

"The kid is under a gag order and his film is in lock up until the case is decided. Val promised him an interview with you to ease his pain over losing all of his film from Hawaii, but he's supposed to get it back."

"Of course." Bo nodded.

"No one's talking about the footage and the WSL is supposed to give their ruling by the end of the month."

"So two weeks."

"Yup. If she's guilty, the WSL strips her of her membership and her winnings are deferred to you for medical bills, including her sponsorships. The sponsors are responsible for paying some of the damages as well."

Lauren smirked, "Sounds like she's gonna be up to her eyeballs in some serious poop."

Kenzi laughed, "Poop? How cute."

Bo rolled her eyes at her sister, "Okay, I'll fan the flame by telling Trick what we know about Kristy and Evony. It will be up to him to decide or determine if they've been scamming."

"Okay, I'm hungry." Kenzi said, standing up from the sand.

"You're always hungry." Bo replied.

"Hey! I have a high metabolism!" Kenzi replied, "Get your ass up so I can carry your board in."

Bo went to get up, but her legs were useless, "Uh, guys? My legs… I can't move them."

"Can't move them as in can't feel them or can't move them as in they feel heavy." Lauren asked.

"Oh, I can feel them, don't worry about that. They're just sore as all hell… sore as in cramping."

Lauren smiled, "Stay there, baby. I'll go get the wheelchair and help Kenzi with the boards."

"Okay. I'll uh… just wait here, I guess."

"Put your legs in the water and do your stretches. The cold water will help." Lauren advised as she and Kenzi walked away.

Bo sighed, sliding down off the shore, allowing the cool water to move up over her legs. Lauren was right, the movement and temperature was perfect. As she began to stretch, she looked out at the breakers. She'd caught her first wave and it was amazing. She couldn't wait to do more. One thing was for sure, the world hadn't seen the last of Bo Dennis.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kenzi had opted to lie on the floor in her sleeping bag while her sister and girlfriend crashed on the couch. The three had decided on movie night once Lauren and Kenzi had returned from practice. While they were gone, the homecare nurse stopped by and helped Bo adjust to the shower chair. She then reviewed procedures for safe dressing as requested by Dr. Lewis after Bo's fall that afternoon.

Bo had explained how she had felt in the water and the fact that she had gotten up on an intermediate wave. After some discussion about symptoms, the nurse had confessed, as others now had, that she was surprised she hadn't been given aqua therapy as part of her treatment in PT at the hospital. She suggested to Bo that she discuss it with her new physical therapist who was scheduled to stop by tomorrow for her first appointment.

They then reviewed a course of action with her diet that would help her gain back some of her weight and muscle mass. She then helped Bo make a grocery list and gave her the name of the delivery boy she was to call each week. He would deliver her groceries complete with recipes for how to prepare the meals. Their time together ended with the nurse doing another vitals check, asking Bo about the need for pain meds, which the brunette politely declined since she had planned to be in the water from now on. The last thing she needed was to be loopy on pain meds while on a board.

When Kenzi got home, she had asked Bo to go over some moves with her, which the big sister was happy to do. As they usually did, Bo used a finger skateboard and ramp to demonstrate the physics behind what happened when a wave met a board. As always, their conversation eventually turned to the two sisters talking about potential new moves they could invent.

After a super foods salad for dinner that was packed with protein, Bo completed her third workout of the day and finished with some stretching, assisted by her sister, some Therabands and a towel. After working up a good sweat, Kenzi sat in the doorway while Bo followed the nurses' instructions on how to safely shower.

"I can't wait until I can do all of these things by myself." Bo said as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair.

"It's just gonna take a little longer, Bo. Be patient, right?"

Bo sighed, "That's just it, Kenz. I'm tired of being a patient. I'm getting really restless. The nurse wasn't particularly happy to hear that I got up on a board today."

"That's just because they all think it's so dangerous. An intermediate wave like that one is as easy… or maybe easier… than you getting dressed in the morning right now."

"Tell me about it. I fell taking off my panties, but I rode a wave from almost a quarter mile out. Go figure."

"Really. When's Lauren getting back?"

"She should be back soon. I think she was going to stop home to get some clothes to change into. Do you mind if she spends the night… uses our shower?"

Kenzi shook her head, "She's your girl, Bo. I assumed she'd be around a lot more now."

"Well, I would go stay there, but… well…"

"What? Not comfortable in that posh house?" Kenzi asked.

"It's not posh, Kenz. It's… well… actually I didn't really see much of it to tell you the truth. I just… I'd rather not be away from home right now… I haven't seen much of you and you're going away again."

"I'll see you in Rio though, right?" Kenzi asked.

"Absolutely. Don't lose the tickets or your passport, Kenz. I won't be able to replace them."

"I know, Bo."

Bo explained, "Especially the event tickets. You know, we're the only family she has going… and we're Tamsin's family too."

"Tamsin's the partner, right?"

"Right. I've only met her once, but she seemed pretty cool." Bo added.

"So… you miss me then?" Kenzi asked.

"Always, Kenz. Would you rather I stay with Lauren? I mean… does it make you uncomfortable?"

"It's always been just you and me, Bo… usually with some uninvited guests. But… I don't know… she sort of… fits. I mean… in an awkward, geeky, volleyball player kind of way, but damn, Bo… she got up today."

"I know! What was that all about, huh? I thought we'd be working on getting her on a board for a decade before she'd budge."

"She was a champ… and so determined."

"Good form, right?"

"Well, that depends on what form you're talking about. Are we talking surfing form and technique or are we talking hot body?"

"She does have a hot body. She's ripped, Kenz. Her legs go on for miles, her hands are so damn strong and… well…"

"I know, I know. She's got a great ass. You always were an ass woman." Kenzi laughed.

"Yea, well she's a boob woman, so we work." Bo replied.

"And here I thought this wasn't one of those physical relationships." Kenzi deadpanned.

"It's not, Kenz! You know we only had that one night together." Bo replied.

"Yea, well you're cleared now and she's staying over tonight so ladies, start your va-jay-jays!"

"Kenzi!"

"What? I'm just sayin'!"

"I'm gonna get Lauren's dinner ready. Did you pick a movie?"

"How 'bout an 80's classic night?" Kenzi asked.

Bo replied, "Sounds perfect."

"I'll pull out five movies and we'll let Dr. Hotpants pick the one she wants to watch out of the five. It's the least we can do for her picking up some groceries, the handicapped bar and the desserts. Hey, your girl is handy with tools, too right?"

Bo smiled, "Yup. I was afraid I was doomed to weeks of shouting for help when I was finished doing my business."

"Hello?"

Lauren's voice filled the room, giving Bo reason to smile.

"Hey sweetie." Bo replied, leaning on the counter to move around to her girlfriend.

"Stay there, I'm coming." Lauren said, moving quickly to her girlfriend and giving her a strong hug, "Here, let me help you with that."

"I've got it, Lauren."

"You've been on your feet a lot today, Bo. I don't want you to over do it, so please, let me get it. Where are the plates?"

"Kenzi and I already ate. It's just you, so you can eat out of that big bowl."

"Are you sure?" Lauren asked.

"The nurse went over nutrition with me today. Trust me when I say with double workouts on the court and double training workouts all week, you need every bit of that salad and everything that's in it."

Lauren perused the salad, smiling, "It's a superfood salad! This is incredible, Bo. And you guys added some grilled chicken!"

"Yea, we're the hibachi queens. If it doesn't cook over an open fire or charcoal, we don't eat it."

"Why not use your stove?" Lauren asked.

"The only thing that works on that old thing is the back left burner… the smallest one." Kenzi called from the living room.

"So how do you two eat?" Lauren asked.

"Most of our food comes from Rosie's produce stand that's inland down the road. We stop there every other day and get a basket of fruits and vegetables from her. She gives us eggs too. We do all right. If we want chicken or steak, we go out, but mostly we eat fish because we can catch it and throw it on the hibachi."

"Wow, sounds like you two eat really well." Lauren replied, shocked by the revelation.

"Healthy body, healthy mind. You can't surf on the pro circuit without a fit body, so we do what we've gotta do to maintain our lean muscle mass." Kenzi replied.

"Kenzi looks at a surfboard and drops ten pounds. It's hard to keep her well fed." Bo replied.

"Well, I might have some suggestions about that." Lauren replied, digging into her salad and taking the offered glass of wine from Bo, "I'm going to savor this wine. Coach says no alcohol after Wednesday."

"Poor girl." Kenzi smiled, "More for me."

Bo and Lauren watched as she moved to the kitchen and refilled her glass, "So what's your idea for keeping muscle on the Kenz-i-nator?"

The couple laughed before Lauren made her first suggestion, "Not just eating a large meal a few times a day, but eating several meals all day long. You clearly burn fuel faster than you take it in, so consider it permission to snack all day long. Just keep the snacks to things that will fuel your body… high protein, low carb and low sugar would be your best bet."

"Hear that Bo-Bo? Dr. Hotpants just gave me permission to eat all day long!" Kenzi smiled, going to the refrigerator.

Bo looked up at Lauren, "You've just doubled our food bill… at least… and created a monster."

"Dr. Hotpants?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi sat down on the couch with a bag of Bo's homemade beef jerky, "Bo thinks you have a great ass."

Bo blushed, "Kenzi!"

Lauren walked over to Bo and whispered in her ear, "Do you really think I have a nice ass?"

The blonde trailed her fingers from Bo's shoulder down to the small of her back, giving the brunette sensations that rubbed her all the right ways. Bo swallowed hard,

"Yes… yes, I do." She cursed herself that the two months in the hospital had seemingly taken all of her game along with her legs. She sat back on one of their bar stools, wobbling a little.

"Bo? Are your legs okay?"

Bo smirked, "Legs are fine… just got a little weak in the knees for a second there. Weak legs and your touch don't go too well together while standing right now."

"So you're saying I need to touch you while you're horizontal… just to be safe?" Lauren whispered the question in her ear.

Chills ran down Bo's spine, "Yes… to be safe."

"Good to know." Lauren replied, her warm breath doing amazing things to Bo's libido.

As the brunette closed her eyes at the sensation of her girlfriend's close proximity, she failed to realize that Lauren had walked away with her salad and glass of wine to join Kenzi in the living room.

"Bo! You coming?" Kenzi waved a stack of DVD's from the living room.

The brunette's eyes snapped open to see Lauren on the other side of the room and sighed, mumbling, "Apparently not yet."

She stood, gripping her walker and moved to the living room. Collapsing back on the couch next to the end table, she picked up her wine and took a sip before picking up her sketchpad.

"Whatcha doing?" Lauren asked, scraping the bottom of the bowl with her fork.

"I'm drafting some basic architectural sketches for the renovation. I'm meeting with an old friend who's agreed to help with the project tomorrow. He's like to do some of the demo while Kenzi and I are gone which also means we're going to have to put all of our stuff in storage while we're gone."

Kenzi smiled, "So we decided we're going to buy a shed. We can store all of our stuff there for now and live out of it if we have to, then when we have a house to move back into, we can use it to store all of our personal stuff, our tools for our business, signs, stock, and whatever else we have."

Lauren nodded, "Sounds like a great plan. So, what movie are we watching?"

"It's 80's classics night. Kenzi narrowed it down to five movies and you get to pick which of the five we watch. We like them all and have probably seen them fifty times each. We'll make popcorn over the fire in about an hour after it settles down to coals."

Bo pointed out at the fire ring in the sand outside where a steady fire was burning, "And before you worry, there's a screen between the house and the fire so no concerns over flying embers and our dry rotted shack going up in flames."

Lauren smiled, "You know, I haven't spent much time here and your beloved shack may not be much, but I think I'm going to miss this place. I can't imagine how you two feel about renovating it."

The blonde watched as the two sisters looked up at their house, their gazes slowly wandering around the small living space. The two shared a look, then shrugged,

"This place is a shit hole." Kenzi said matter-of-factly.

Bo nodded, "Yea, what she said. It's one big memory of everything bad that happened in our life that led us to live this way. We aren't building a massive home, but it will be nice to have a bathroom that two can fit in at the same time when we're in a hurry."

"And it will nice to have some distance and solid walls between our bedrooms. I'm sleeping outside tonight, by the way." Kenzi added.

Lauren looked at Bo who blushed and then changed the subject, "So, which movie?"

The blonde looked up at the movies in front of her and read the titles aloud, "The Breakfast Club, The Goonies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbusters and Dirty Dancing."

Lauren seemed to hesitate, so Bo placed a hand on her forearm, "Do you have a favorite?"

"Uh… I don't know any of those movies." Lauren replied, her face showing her embarrassment.

Kenzi sat up straight, "You don't know Ferris Bueller? Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing? Nobody puts baby in a corner? Batter, batter, batter, batter, sa-wing batter? The truffle shuffle? Bo, your girlfriend has lived a sheltered life. It is so sad."

Lauren blushed, "Sorry, but… in the 80's I was taking two grades at a time to graduate early and get to college. I was a geek, so movies weren't something I went to that often unless my aunt had enough money to see them. She scraped and saved so we could see all of the Star Trek and Star Wars movies, though. We both loved SciFi."

Bo watched as her girlfriend became lost in the memories of her past with her aunt and frowned. She looked up at her sister with a pleading look. Kenzi looked at Lauren, then back at Bo and nodded,

"Ewoks it is." Kenzi smiled, putting the other movies away, "This week, it's a Star Wars marathon. But after you win gold in Rio, we begin the re-education of Lauren Lewis. You need to see what you missed when you were a kid and that means reliving the childhood must-have's. It's happening, so don't argue."

Bo and Lauren smiled at each other as Kenzi loaded the movie, and then crawled back into her sleeping bag. Lauren stretched out on the couch, her head coming to rest on Bo's lap. The brunette looked at her sister and girlfriend as they became engrossed in the movie while she continued to sketch. She didn't feel so restless right now… this is something she could get used to.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Come in!" Bo shouted at the door. Who was knocking? She and Kenzi didn't know anyone who knocked. Their house was like the stick house in the story of the Three Little Pigs. The knock came again.

"COME IN!" She yelled louder.

On the third… and much louder knock… she groaned to herself and stood, taking a moment for the room to stop spinning before she began the stroll to the door. She had to admit, over the last couple of days, she'd gotten better with her walker and was moving a little faster. The dizzy spells were less intense and shorter lived, but they were still there.

Bo pulled open the door, "Tamsin?"

"Bo." The blonde replied before crossing the threshold into the house.

"Come in… please." She said sarcastically.

"Wow. Lauren wasn't kissing when she said you lived in a little shack on the beach." Tamsin laughed, looking around the place, "Of course, she may have used a more endearing tone of voice."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't come here to share decorating tips, so do you feel like sharing with the class?" Bo asked, making her way back to the couch.

Falling back, she picked up the two ice bags and put them back on her low back and legs.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Tamsin asked.

"Time? I've got nothing but time. We just don't usually get up to answer the door. It doesn't lock and you could literally push on any wall to get in if it did lock. Why bother knocking?"

"Uh… it's usually considered a courtesy." Tamsin replied.

"And I yelled come in twice. I know you heard me because I can yell for my sister or Lauren when they're in the water and they can hear me."

Tamsin laughed, "Yea… caught me there, but Lauren asked me to make sure you got up and walked around a bit. She said you're really stiff from your PT and OT appointments the past two days and she wants you to keep moving between appointments."

"I've been moving, thus the need for ice and stretching. Moving or not moving doesn't matter. Everything hurts no matter what I do." Bo replied.

"Yea, well that Kristy chick didn't do you any favors by keeping you on land for two months."

"Lauren told you?" Bo asked, a little offended that Lauren was talking to Tamsin about something so personal, but she tried not to let it show.

"That you have a stalker? Yup. We did a little research… and by research I mean I went over to the beach where Kristy and her friends were playing and joined their volleyball game. After a few well-placed spikes, she confessed that Evony put her up to the whole thing."

"Well-placed spikes?" Bo asked.

"Uh… yea… let's just say she's probably icing her lip… and… well… nose and… forehead…"

"You hit her in the face?" Bo asked, shocked.

"Uh… repeatedly… a lot… a little… maybe… sort of…" Tamsin replied quietly, looking out the window, "So… nice view."

Bo shook her head, "Yea. So what now?"

"Oh, well Lauren had Kristy go see Trick and explain. Kristy is suspended pending a formal investigation and Evony is being sued by the hospital on your behalf."

"On my behalf?" Bo asked.

"I don't know a lot about that stuff. Lauren is going to tell you later on."

Bo frowned. She wasn't supposed to see Lauren until late tonight. Tamsin sat in the chair across from Bo,

"So, the reason I'm here is because my company has five internship positions open. Three are six month positions starting in September and two are full year positions that start in mid-September. Lauren said you might be interested, but she wasn't sure if you had called to talk to your old advisor at school yet. Where did you go anyway? Lauren didn't say."

"Neither did I." Bo said, changing the subject, "Did Lauren tell you my area is geological and mechanical engineering?"

"She did and there is one internship in each in the full year internships, a geological in one of the six month in additional to one electrical and one chemical."

"So three of the five I could be eligible for if I can work out the logistics."

"What logistics?" Tamsin asked.

"Going back to school, training, renovations here, opening the new business… it's a lot to add an internship to, you know?" Bo asked, hoping to get some support for her point of view. The truth was, that she'd called her advisor and gotten everything squared away, but she had to do three classes on campus and that meant commuting back and forth to California unless he transferred.

"Oh. Well, Lauren said that Kenzi was going to run the shop while you finished your degree and then when you were finished, she was going back while you took over the store."

"Lauren said that?" Bo asked.

"Actually, Kenzi said it when we were having a picnic lunch down by the pipe." Tamsin replied.

"You had lunch with Kenzi?" Bo asked, a little jealous that her sister had eaten lunch with her girlfriend when she was stuck here doing PT with the new guy Mitch.

Tamsin nodded, taking a bite of an apple she took from the bowl on the coffee table between them.

"Help yourself." Bo said, sarcastically.

"Don't mind if I do. Thanks." Tamsin replied, ignoring the brunette's snark.

"Okay then, you told me about the internships. Was there something else?" Bo asked.

"I need some information from my boss so he can run a background check and all. II already told him about your accident, so he knows he'll have to come to you for an interview."

"I can go to him. I'm not a cripple!" Bo replied, insulted by the insinuation that she couldn't get a ride to the office building and do all that was required to get the internship on her own. But the truth was, she was feeling like a charity case right now. Lauren's teammate was a stranger and here she was calling in favors from her."

Tamsin put both hands up towards the brunette, "Hey, I'm just trying to help a girl out here. Don't shoot the messenger."

"Why are you trying to help me? What's in it for you?" Bo asked the question she'd been dying to know the answer to since the blonde arrived.

"I'm helping a friend and getting help in return."

"I'm not your friend. I don't know you." Bo frowned.

"Lauren is a friend. I meant I'm helping Lauren by helping her girlfriend." Tamsin replied, she was getting frustrated with this stubborn surfer girl.

"You said you're getting help in return. How is helping me helping you?" Bo asked.

Tamsin sighed, "I'm the one responsible for filling the internship positions. I go through piles and piles of resumes every day trying to find someone who might actually fit my bosses' vision for our company and one of our many projects. When Lauren casually mentioned you were talking about going back to school, I made a sarcastic remark that actually turned out to land me a potential candidate."

"Sarcastic remark?" Bo asked.

"Well, considering you're a world class surfer on the mend, I thought it was sarcastic. I asked Lauren if there was any chance you'd give up your dream of winning the WSL Championship and drop out when you were only three thousand points back to take an internship that would probably not be that interesting and may never result in a real job." Tamsin laughed.

"Three thousand points? I think you're not so good a math. Surprising for an engineer." Bo mumbled with a smirk.

"I'm great at math and three thousand points is the spread." Tamsin replied.

"I've got to be at least ten thousand back." Bo replied.

"When was the last time you watched a WSL event?" Tamsin asked.

"I don't know. Dyson has been updating me on the standings. It's hard to watch." Bo hung her head, looking down at her legs. She rubbed her quads, trying to knead out the stiffness from her last workout.

"Bo, that young rookie from Ojai… I forget her name…" Tamsin searched her memory, but the brunette filled in the blank for her…"

"…Sage…"

"Yea, her… well, she won the last two events taking a ton of first place points. That other rook from here, Melanie?"

"…Malia…"

"Yea, her… she took second in the same events. The top three got pushed out of the points all together. Some South African squeezed in for third."

"Bianca." Bo said, her eyes wide with disbelief as she slowly shook her head, "So…"

"You're still in there, Bo… I mean… if you want to be. Lauren said you might give it up. That's why we were talking about the internship. I mean… it started out as a conversation with me trying to tell her she couldn't put her fears about surfing on to you… that it wasn't fair… and that's when she told me you and Kenzi got her up on a board. You're a miracle worker, by the way… I've been trying to get her on a board since we were at Stanford."

"Cal Tech." Bo replied.

"Uh… no… we went to Stanford… played together… then she went to med school and I went to work."

"No, I meant… I went to Cal Tech." Bo replied, "You'd asked."

"Right. The internship. Thanks, I'll tell my boss… I mean… if you're interested." Tamsin replied.

"I'm interested." Bo frowned, still stuck on the fact that she was still in the standings… had a real shot at the championship. Why hadn't Dyson told her? Why hadn't Kenzi?

Tamsin noticed the conflict in Lauren's girlfriend, but didn't want to overstep. She sighed, figuring it wasn't such a big deal if Bo was mad at her… better her than Lauren,

"So… are you going to get back out there?" Tamsin asked, looking out the window.

"I'm trying. So… did you have another reason for being here today or is that it, because… well…"

Bo stopped talking when Tamsin interrupted, "You see, it's like this Bo…" the blonde leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees, her eyes keying on Bo's deep brown orbs, "This thing with Lauren… are you legit?"

"Legit?" Bo asked.

"What you're doing with her… do you mean it or are you just using her to get you over this rough patch in your life before you dump her?" Tamsin asked.

"Wow. You come to my house, make me get up to answer the door, help yourself to our food, offer me an internship, drop some stats and actually start to act like you might really care but then insinuate I'm not sincere in my feelings for my girlfriend?"

"I'm a mechanical engineer. People aren't my thing… well… Lauren is the only person I give a shit about, so you might be able to understand why I want to make sure she's safe with you." Tamsin replied.

Bo could honestly say she understood that. If it were Kenzi, she'd want to be sure the guy was going to do right by her. She nodded,

"Well, in that case, yes Lauren is safe with me in any way, shape or form you'd like… physically, mentally and emotionally safe… and no, this has nothing to do with my accident and me being needy. As I said before, I'm not a cripple… to tell you the truth, I'm getting tired of people treating me like one."

Bo sighed, reining in her anger,

"Sorry. Anyway, I met Lauren and was thinking about Lauren before that day. We spent one amazing night together and I haven't thought or been with another woman since. Is that enough for you? If so, my next PT appointment is coming up in fifteen minutes."

"I know. I'm your partner for therapy today." Tamsin replied.

"What? Wh- How? Wh-"

"I volunteer with Mitch when he has clients that are surfers. He sucks on a board and when he wants to get them back up, he calls me in. Lauren told me that you got her up surfing here the other day… congratulations, by the way… so Mitch and I thought this would be the best place for therapy. It's deep, the waves run from intermediate to semi-advanced and the best part… no press or paparazzi around for miles."

"From your lips to God's ears." Bo replied.

"Hey! Bo!"

Bo turned around at the sound of the voice, "Hey, Mitch. So… Tamsin was just filling me in on your little secret."

Mitch moved over to stand beside Tamsin who was now pulling off her Team USA hoodie and sweatpants.

"Yea, she's a great help in the water… plus I get to stay dry." Mitch smiled and gave Bo a wink.

"So I guess I'm getting wet again?" Bo asked.

Mitch nodded, "Sure are, but you won't be running, jumping, swimming, doing pull ups, crunches or any other forms of water therapy. This time, you'll be surfing."

"So my whole appointment is just surfing?" Bo asked.

"Mostly." Mitch replied as Tamsin dug in his bag and pulled out a pair of pull paddles.

"What are they?" Bo asked.

Tamsin smiled, chucking Bo a pair, "These are pull paddles. They're good and bad."

Mitch smiled, "Do you want the good or the bad first?"

Bo shook her head, not liking where this was going, "Bad."

"When you paddle out with these, you're pushing back three times as much water as you do with your hands… it kinda hurts." Tamsin explained.

"And the good?" Bo asked.

"You also get out beyond the breakers much faster." Tamsin replied.

"Oh."

"Come on then, Bo. Let's go get you on a board. I'm dying to see you surf." Mitch encouraged.

"Yea, I wanna see what you've got there, hot shot." Tamsin added, walking out the door, "I'm gonna go grab my board, Mitch. I'll see you at the water."

Mitch nodded, turning back to Bo,

"You ready, kid?"

Bo nodded, "As I've ever been."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Geez, pop, Dennis! You look like an old lady on that board!" Tamsin yelled out to Bo who was struggling to climb back on her board after what felt like her thousandth wipeout.

The brunette paddled slowly back towards Tamsin, pushing her board under an oncoming wave. She came up, head back, eyes closed allowing her hair to flow back out of her face before continuing to paddle. She had to admit, she missed the feel of the ocean… the water rushing past her fingers as she paddled… the sounds of the breakers on the shore. She looked up and watched the next wave rise and curl in the distance… it would have been a good ride if she'd been behind it when it rushed towards shore.

She ducked down under the water, opening her eyes and looking up at the curl overhead. Her hand reached up, imagining she was inside the curl, fingertips grazing the wall as she was pushed through the current beneath her board… gaining speed as she flexed her knees, taking a step forward as the water threatened to push up the tip of her board. Bo wanted that feeling again… she needed that feeling… the speed, the thrill, the rush… the peace… a peace she only found when she was inside a pipe… the place where she was young again… where she was home again with her parents… where all of the tragedy of her youth disappeared and she felt connected to her origins.

"Bo? You okay?" Tamsin said, watching the brunette who was now laying atop her board, staring out at the horizon.

The vague distant sound of Tamsin's voice echoed through Bo's mind, her focus on the sets building in the distance. She paddled, adjusting her board so her back was to Tamsin as she looked over her shoulder, her Dad's voice echoing in her mind,

'Find your set… the one that feels the way you feel… the one that you just can't resist. Watch for the swell… watch the rise and fall of the seas, Ysabeau… listen… your wave will call to you… it will invite you to rise up on its shoulders… it will carry you safely to shore as you laugh and laugh with her… and when the ride is over and she's gone, be sure to turn around and thank her for the wind in your hair, the fresh spray on your face and the moment you shared together.'

Bo smiled as she felt the feel of the seas rising beneath her board, the call of the oncoming swell… she began to paddle…

"Bo!" Tamsin called to the brunette as she saw the size of the swell coming behind them, "It's too much! You're not ready!"

"Tamsin?" Mitch called from the beach as Kenzi and Lauren stepped out of the blonde's convertible jeep behind him.

"Oh shit." Kenzi said, watching the massive swell that was so uncommon for the waters outside of their house, "Dad?"

"Kenzi?" Lauren asked, looking at the younger sibling of her girlfriend who now looked like she'd seen a ghost in the first moment while a broad smile spread across her face in the next, "GO BO! WAHOOOOOO!"

They all watched as Bo rose up atop a brilliant swell, riding the crest before it began to turn,

"Oh… oh… it's shifting… CUTBACK! CUTBACK!"

Kenzi watched as her sister did just that, adjusting her angle to shore as the wave hit her face. Bo tossed her head to the side, to rid her vision of her long dark locks.

"Whoa… look at the face that's forming… SHE'S SMILING, BO! GIVE HER A KISS!"

Kenzi laughed as she watched her sister drop down the face,

"YEA, BO! YOU'RE IN THE GREEN ROOM, SIS! RIDE IT, BABY!"

They all watched as the wave began to curl over itself,

"OHMAGOSH! IT'S A PIPE! GET IN THERE, BO-BO!"

They all watched as the brunette disappeared in a tunnel of water, seeing only a mix of green, blue and white water. Lauren reached down and latched onto Kenzi's arm,

"Kenzi?"

"She's good, Lauren… she's really good… she's in the zone, Lauren… trust her."

"Trust her?" Lauren asked the blue-eyed girl, "You want me to trust her? The sea is unpredictable, Kenzi! It's how…"

Kenzi silenced the blonde with a squeeze of her head, "Trust her, Lauren. You can love her and call her your girlfriend all you want, but if you don't trust her out there, you two have nothing. Trust her. She was raised in the cradle of the sea. Trust her."

Kenzi nodded, before turning back to Bo.

Lauren looked up at the curl, "I trust you… please don't die on me."

Bo emerged from the curl, suddenly gaining speed as the wave settled back behind itself. She road up the wall to the crest and spun around on the board before sinking back behind the wave.

"A 360! A FUCKING 360! OH. MY. SWEET! POSIDEON! YOU ARE AMAZING, BO DENNIS!"

Kenzi's hands were fist pumping into the air as Lauren watched Tamsin and Bo doing the same in the water. She gripped Kenzi's hand,

"What happened? I mean… I think I know… that was really cool… but…"

"Very few people do 360's Hotpants… least of all the 'injured' Bo Dennis! That was AWESOME!" Kenzi threw a fist out from her waist, raising it up into the air as she walked into the water to greet her sister.

Bo dropped her board and hugged her little sister before they both fell into the shallows laughing.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Tamsin replied, getting up from her board and approaching the surfer, "You could have been killed!"

Bo rolled off of Kenzi and looked up at Tamsin, "Seriously, Tamsin? By a little… what was it, Kenz? Eight? Nine?"

"Probably nine or more… little stuff." Kenzi shrugged.

"Little stuff? That is not little stuff! Two or three feet is little stuff!" Tamsin yelled as Mitch approached with Lauren beside him.

"Easy there, blondie." Mitch said, placing an arm on Tamsin's bicep.

"No! I'm the one that's responsible for her brain out there! You coulda been killed! How would I explain that to Lauren! That I let you ride the wave that got you killed?"

Lauren shook her head, "Tamsin."

Tamsin's head shot up at the sound of her teammate's voice, "Shit… I didn't… I didn't know you were here… I tried to stop her, but she's so stubborn!"

Lauren smiled, "It's okay, Tamsin." She looked at Bo, "If she thinks she can handle it, then she can handle it. I trust her."

Bo's smile stretched from ear to ear, hearing those words from her girlfriend, "Really?"

Lauren nodded, "Really. But… can I ask… I mean… you haven't looked at a wave more than two feet over the water…"

Kenzi started to interrupt, but Lauren stopped her,

"… I know, Kenz. I don't know surf talk or know how to measure how big waves are. I just know she's been riding what I assume are ripples on the surface compared to what you ride."

Kenzi nodded, "We don't usually get waves like that around here." She looked at her sister, "Something must have happened to the reef in the last storm. It's been a little gnarly around here lately."

Bo nodded, "Well, I'd love to take a dive and find out but Mitch already gave me a big negative on any diving right now."

Lauren shook her head, "You can't dive, Bo… your lungs…"

"I know, Lauren… Mitch told me I have an increased risk of embolism because my lungs are so weak."

Mitch nodded, "It's also the reason we agreed to know big waves. If you get held under, I don't know how long you can hold your breath, Bo."

Tamsin smirked, "Well, I don't know about that. Before her epically stupid ride, she was doing just fine holding her breath getting crushed by wave after wave. Which begs explanation of how you all-of-a-sudden caught that big ass ride and handled it fine when you couldn't handle the little puddle jumpers."

"Puddle jumpers?" Kenzi asked, "I thought you said you grew up surfing."

Tamsin nodded, "Yup, but my grandmother didn't like it so we created our own surfing language so she wouldn't know when we were talking about our favorite sport."

Kenzi laughed, "Cool."

"So?" Tamsin turned back to Bo, "Why take the chance?"

Bo looked at Kenzi and then down at her board floating beneath her hands in the water. She closed her eyes and felt the current as she spoke,

"It called to me."

Tamsin burst out laughing, "Called to you?"

Kenzi pointed a finger at the blonde, "Hey! It called to her!"

Lauren moved to stand next to Bo, taking her hand in her own beneath the water. Bo opened her eyes to see her girlfriend smiling next to her, "Tell me."

"When we were young and our Dad was teaching us how to handle the big waves on our own, he would sit on the board next to us, turning our board so we were ready for the approaching wave. He would talk to us, telling us what to look for… how we would recognize the perfect wave. Kenzi told you before that surfing is like our religion… well, he taught us to listen to the world… the earth and sea… around us. He told us that there was one wave that would call to us… that was the one we should take."

"So crazy." Tamsin said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Tamsin." Lauren cautioned, turning back to her girlfriend, "Continue, Bo."

"To Kenzi and I… when we're out there… we watch the rise and fall of the seas and listen… it gets really, really quiet. Then, we see it… it's a wave we can't resist… that's what we mean by it calls to us… it invites us onto its shoulders and carries us safely to shore. Of course, while we're on it, it's like our best friend. We laugh together, we feel the wind together… the spray of the water…"

Lauren watched as her girlfriend's eyes closed, her free hand moving back and forth, feeling the water that surrounded them. She'd never seen this side of Bo, but she could somehow feel that the brunette was experiencing in her mind everything she was saying.

Bo smiled, opening her eyes to look at her girlfriend, "And he taught us that when the ride is over and our friend dissipates upon the shore, that we should be sure to thank her for the moment we shared together."

"And did you thank her?" Lauren asked, smiling as she pushed a wet strand of hair behind Bo's ear.

"I did." Bo smiled, nodding.

"Well, Kenzi said you did something amazing. A 360?" Lauren asked.

Bo turned to her sister, a brilliant smile plastered on her face, "I can't believe I landed it! I just… I don't know… I just felt like doing it and I did. I think… I mean… before the accident, I was always trying to do trick… Gods, Kenzi somewhere along the way in my career, I forgot what it felt like to surf. Today I remembered… I remembered everything Mom and Dad ever taught us and… it was like they were with me out there."

Lauren smiled, "Maybe they were."

Bo and Kenzi looked at Lauren before turning back to each other and nodding before they spoke in unison, "Maybe they were."

Tamsin groaned, "Okay, it's getting a little deep out here. Are we done for the day?"

Mitch nodded, "I just have to do her stretching and massage." He looked up at Bo, "And I brought the portable ultrasound and stim machines. You ready?"

Bo shrugged, "Can I go a few more times? Kenzi can go with me."

"I'm in!" Kenzi smiled, running for her board.

Bo turned to Tamsin, "Come on, T. Let's see what those Cali waves taught you."

Tamsin looked at Lauren who smiled, "Go on, Tamsin. I promise I won't be mad if we lose our shot at gold because you break your leg."

"Are you sure?" Tamsin asked, not really believing her partner was being sincere, "I mean… think about this, Lauren."

Lauren smiled before shouting over to the little sister, "Kenzi? Can I ride that long board again?"

"You got it, Doc."

Bo frowned, "Are you sure? It's pretty big out there."

Lauren nodded, "Face your fears, right? Besides… I can't stop thinking about the way it felt to ride that day. It was really fun… it was… freeing."

Bo smiled and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, "Okay, I'm gonna get paddling. Standing here in the shallows is making my legs tired. I really only have about two more rides in me."

She turned to Mitch, "I promise. I won't do more than two more rides, okay?"

"Okay. Don't overdue it, Bo." Mitch warned.

"I know. Watch for cramping, dizziness, and shortness of breath… I have none of those right now."

"Okay then."

Kenzi joined them with two boards, "Let's go girls!"

The four women paddled out together, talking and laughing as they went. When they arrived behind the swells, they all sat up on their boards. Lauren wasted no time with questions,

"Okay, so how do you know what wave to take? I want to pick my own."

The other three women looked at each other before Bo turned back to the blonde, "I don't know, Lauren. I don't want you to…"

"Teach me." Lauren shook her head and demanded the information.

All Bo could do was smiled, "Someone's catching the bug."

Lauren shook her head, "I assure you I'm perfectly healthy."

The other three laughed, "We meant you're catching the surfing bug, Hotpants."

"Oh." Lauren replied, feeling just a little silly.

Kenzi explained, "Okay, Doc. Here's a crash course in wave dynamics."

"I want to know about pipeline waves… the big ones." Lauren specified.

Kenzi looked at Bo who shrugged and nodded, "Just so we're clear, you don't plan to go out to the pipe on your coffee break and try to long board there, do you?"

"Of course, not, Kenzi. I don't have a death wish. I just want to know more about what you and Bo do."

"Good to know because I'm an advanced surfer, but I would never surf Banzai Beach." Tamsin admitted.

"Good, because I really do want to go for the gold medal." Lauren smiled at her friend.

Kenzi continued, "Okay, so there are basically four waves at the Pipeline. There's the left…"

Bo explained, "That's a wave that spectators on the shore see break from left to right. It's known as the Pipeline or the First Reef and is the one that most of the surfers and photographers hope to ride or get in a picture."

Kenzi nodded her agreement, "Sometimes the reef gets hit by a north swell and it makes a A-frame shaped wave."

"On A-frames, the Pipe closes out and peels off to the left while the Backdoor opens up and peels away to the right at the same time."

"Yea and when the size of the pipe goes over twelve feet, Second Reef…"

"… Which is out further in deeper water…"

"Right… well, that starts to break with these really long walls and smooth faces that you can ease into and slide across because they're longer too."

Bo finished, "The most extreme waves are off the Third Reef and they break even further outside…"

"And those waves are ginormous." Kenzi motioned, spreading her arms wide and then as high as she could reach.

"Ginormous, huh?" Lauren teased.

"What? It's a word. I'm sure it's in Tamsin's secret family surfing language." Kenzi transferred the joke onto the other blonde.

"Ha. Ha. Well, you can all sit here and hold class. I'm taking this one." Tamsin began to paddle while the other three watched.

"Please don't die. Please don't die." Lauren whispered.

Bo smiled at her girlfriend, "No one's dying today, Lauren. I've been surfing with her all day. She's good… not as good as the pros, but she can hold her own."

Lauren only nodded, causing Bo's concern to grow, "Do you want me to take you back in?"

"No… no, I really want to do this again. I'm just…"

Kenzi knew that things were about to get personal, "I'm taking this one… look how cute it is, Bo-Bo? It's just a baby."

Kenzi paddled off,

"That's a baby wave?" Lauren asked.

"Considering she's used to the twelve foot range, yes it's a baby. So… what's going through your mind, sweetie? Will you tell me?"

"Hale told me to tell you… I just… there hasn't been a good time and…"

Bo stilled Lauren's hands, "Hey… just tell me… there's nowhere to be right now."

"I can't stop the flashbacks… he says its' the PTSD… I just… I have to face my fears and…"

"That's why you want to surf?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "I'm facing my fears. I figure that if I can understand the allure, I'll understand you and the sea and…"

"… You won't be so afraid…" Bo asked, though it was a statement more than a question. She was well aware what Lauren was trying to do.

Lauren nodded and looked over her shoulder, "This one… I think I like this one."

Bo looked back, "Then paddle hard, champ… go, go, go!"

She cheered Lauren on knowing that the wave would be something she could handle.

Lauren paddled hard, missing the moment to pop up. She was suddenly surrounded by white water and pushed off the board. Bo gave it a ten count before she allowed her panic to begin to rise, but the blonde climbed out of the water and on to the board before paddling back to her.

"Okay. I popped up to late, right?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, "That's right. You remembered!"

"I had a good teacher." Lauren smiled.

"You're a good student. Go again?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded enthusiastically, "This one?"

"Not unless you want to ride something over your head."

"No thank you." Lauren replied, shaking her head rapidly.

They sat holding hands, watching the swells come and go before they were joined once again by Kenzi and Tamsin.

"Nice rides, ladies." Bo said.

"Thanks." Tamsin replied.

"I forgot how much fun you can have on small waves. It's like skateboarding with a bigger board." Kenzi laughed, "This one's you, Bo-Bo. Hang ten chicka!"

Bo paddled off, enjoying the easy banter that seemed to form between the four women today. It was a good day.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren walked into the shack to see Mitch working on Bo's legs, "Tight?"

He nodded, "Quite a bit, but I'm not surprised considering how much she surfed today. It's amazing how much progress she's made in two weeks. You really should go after…"

Lauren shook her head violently, "Shhh." She said quietly, holding a finger to her lips.

"She's asleep, Lo. She crashed while I was working on her shoulders."

Lauren moved to her side and sat in the chair next to her colleagues' massage table. She brushed the hair back off of her neck out of her face and sighed, "She's so tired."

"She's been working really hard, Lo… harder than she should have to. Please tell me you guys are suing the pants off of Evony and Kristy."

"Chief is suing them on our behalf… malpractice." Lauren replied.

"Shit. They'll lose their licenses." Mitch replied.

"You disagree?" Lauren asked.

"No… no, I don't. Bo should be practically back to normal. I went through Kristy's records with a fine tooth comb… partly because the Chief asked me to and partly to know where I needed to go to repair the therapy progression… she could have compromised her recovery, Lauren."

"I know." Lauren nodded.

"No, Lauren… her atrophy is so bad that the nerves were not sending messages to the muscles anymore… well… not consistently. She's lucky to be walking right now, Lo."

Lauren's eyes welled with tears. She couldn't believe that the two women had hatched a plan based on personal vengeance that would put a patient's well being at risk. They took an oath to protect life, not destroy it.

She felt Mitch's hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

"None of this should be happening to her, Mitch. She should be out there doing what she loves and instead she's here, fighting for every scrap of her old life she can rip back into her grasp."

"She's a fighter, Lauren. She'll be back… and I'll make sure she's stronger than before. She's already finding pieces of herself she'd lost long ago. You know the old saying… everything happens for a reason, right?"

Lauren smiled, "I guess you're right. Dwelling on what's been done does nothing to help what will be."

"Can you set up the stim machine for me?"

"Sure… where do you want it?" Lauren asked.

He pointed to the opposite side of the table, "Right there… I have an extension cord that will reach to the outlet next to the TV." He pointed to the bag near the door.

Lauren nodded and began setting everything up listening to Mitch as he spoke,

"Don't you and Tamsin have practice soon?"

"Coach gave us the night off and our new arrangement with the hospital means when we have scheduled practices, we don't work. Since I wasn't on the schedule, I came here after checking on one of my most critical patients."

"You did alright out there on that board. I was impressed." Mitch stated.

"Well, I am an athlete, so the balance and coordination part come pretty easy. It's getting beyond the fear of what's waiting for me beneath the water if I wipe out."

"The Loch Ness Monster?"

Lauren smiled a tight smile, looking down at her feet, "That's not exactly what I meant. What I was thinking about was sharp, jagged reefs and rocks that would like to split my head open and turn me into a vegetable."

"You know, that really doesn't happen to your average surfer." Mitch explained, "Now, the tricky part… how well do you know her facial expressions?"

"Pretty well." Lauren blushed.

"Well enough to tell me when the stim is approaching discomfort or should I wake her to turn it up."

"Can't you just put it where it usually is when she's awake?" Lauren asked.

"She's been really sore the last few days, so I'd rather know for sure it isn't too much. If I turn it up to high, she'll cramp."

Lauren nodded, "Did they draw blood today?"

Mitch shook his head, "She said she didn't have a chance to go. Something about a conference call and Tamsin showing up early?"

"Tamsin came here early?"

Mitch nodded, "Apparently."

"I see. Well, do you think her potassium levels are off? Her hydration?"

"I don't know. She's drinking plenty of water, but I'm not so sure about how she's doing with her diet."

"The nurse said the meals have been gone when she's gotten here, so I'm assuming she's eating as directed."

Mitch nodded, "Unless her sister is eating them."

Lauren laughed, "That little girl can eats more than a three-hundred pound weight lifter."

"I know. She's adorable, though." Mitch blushed.

Lauren smiled, knowingly, "She is. She and Tamsin went to pick up dinner. You're welcome to stay if you'd like. They were going down the road to the steak house. Kenzi said she needed meat… lots of meat."

The pair shared a laugh before they noticed Bo's eyes roll open. Lauren moved to her side,

"Hey, baby. Mitch wants to start the stim, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay, say when, right?"

Bo nodded again. Lauren nodded to Mitch who began to turn up the stim while Lauren watched Bo for any sign of discomfort. When the brunette mumbled,

"Enough."

Mitch stopped and placed a large heat pack over the stim pads, "Okay… twenty minutes."

Lauren nodded and stood to move away, but Bo gripped her hand, "Stay?"

The blonde smiled and kissed the brunette's cheek, "Of course."

"Read to me?"

"You bet. Let me just get our book, okay?"

"Okay."

Lauren smiled at Mitch who said, "I'm going to go sit outside. You two bond."

"Thanks, Mitch." Lauren said as she turned and lifted the book from the coffee table. She walked back over to Bo, dragging a chair with her. She sat down at Bo's head and began,

" _The DaVinci Code_ , chapter nine…"

"Remember… no spoilers, Lauren."

"I know, I know… now… where was I…"

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The group of friends had made a fire on the beach and hung out until well after the sun went down. That's when Kenzi decided they should all try some night surfing. Needless to say, Lauren had been more than hesitant, emphasizing to everyone the likelihood of someone getting injured or worse. Kenzi had suggested she would be better off being an insurance auditor before also reminding her that there was a doctor on the premises should anyone get hurt.

Bo had remained with Lauren on the beach while Kenzi and Tamsin took Mitch out. He was an intermediate surfer, but the waters were very calm here in the later hours of the evening and tonight had been no exception. Lauren had been watching Bo carefully after they sat down near the fire, but her girlfriend was especially quiet,

"Bo? You can go out if you want to."

"Where you go, I go." Bo said, bringing their hands to her lips to kiss Lauren's knuckles.

"But you want to be out there. I can tell. Don't let me stop you." Lauren urged.

Bo smiled, "If you're not ready for night surfing, you're not ready. One day you'll go and I'll be right there with you when you do."

"What's it like?" Lauren asked.

"Well, it's very dark and very wet." Bo smiled.

Lauren laughed, "I know that you goof, I meant… how does it feel?"

Bo closed her eyes, "It feels amazing, Lauren. Because it's so dark, all of your other senses are alive. You feel everything so much more… everything."

Lauren looked at Bo as she looked out at the ocean. It was in that moment that the blonde realized the water was her girlfriend's home. Lauren stood up,

"Come on. Show me what this night surfing is all about." Lauren smiled.

Bo returned her smile, "Are you sure?"

Lauren nodded eagerly before helping Bo to her feet, "Are you sure you're okay? You look really stiff."

Bo shook her head, "To tell you the truth, it's starting to feel good to feel sore. I feel alive again, Lauren. It's just hard when things don't move as fast as I want them to."

Lauren nodded her understanding as they walked to the shed and opened it up. Bo pulled out her favorite long board, then closed the shed doors, leaving Lauren confused,

"Only one board?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "You're riding with me. I'm going to teach you what my parents taught me."

"But, Bo…"

"Don't worry, Lauren. You'll be safe with me. I would never take a chance with your life. You know that, right?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "I do, Bo."

Bo leaned in and kissed her girlfriend, "Let's go."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Okay, I'm pruning. One more wave for me and then I'm going home to crash."

"Why don't you hang with us tonight, Tamsin? We have a sofa bed." Kenzi suggested.

Lauren smiled, "It would save you the thirty minute drive home. Besides, we only have an evening practice with coach tomorrow. We could run from here in the morning and then to our plyos and drill sets together."

Tamsin nodded, "Sounds good, partner."

"I'm gonna go in with Tamsin then. Mitch, you're welcome to hang out too. You could sleep in the hammock on the porch or on the floor in the shack." Kenzi suggested.

"Nah. I only live about ten minutes from here. Thanks for the invite though. I'm going to head in with you ladies. Bo, I'll see you around noon tomorrow?"

"That sounds perfect, Mitch. You'll probably have to give me a massage just to get me moving." Bo smiled.

"We'll start with some stretching then." Mitch replied with a smile.

"Goodnight everyone." He waved to Bo and Lauren before joining Tamsin and Kenzi in a paddle to shore.

Bo turned the long board around so it was facing the full moon, "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Beautiful." Lauren said, looking at her girlfriend.

Bo laughed, "I meant the scenery."

Lauren smiled, winking at her girlfriend, "So did I."

"So, how was night surfing?" Bo asked.

Lauren looked down at center of the board, the logo of Bo's company illuminated by the moonlight between them,

"It was amazing, Bo. All of this is amazing." Lauren tilted her head and leaned in to Bo's hand, "And you were right. You feel everything out here in the dark. I feel… so much, Bo."

"Me too, Lauren." Bo smiled, inching towards Lauren before pulling her the rest of the way, "Turn around and lay down."

"What?"

"I want you to feel something." Bo replied.

"Okay." Lauren said, her brow furrowing.

Bo laughed, "Oh relax and trust me."

Lauren laid her head back against Bo's chest and stretched her legs out across the board. Bo lifted her legs from the water and wrapped them over Lauren's, placing her heels between her calves to help her balance the board.

"Feel the water beneath us… feel the motion of the sea… ride the swells and listen to the sounds of the night." Bo said, closing her eyes to do the same.

It took a little while, but Bo finally felt Lauren relax into her embrace with a sigh,

"You okay?" Bo asked.

"When I'm with you, I'm always okay, Bo." Lauren replied.

Bo smiled, "Even out here late at night, in the dark on one of those damned surf boards that you swore you would never get on?"

Lauren chuckled, "Even with all of that, I'm still okay. Why do you ask?"

"Because you felt a little tense and then I felt you relax." Bo replied.

"Yea, it took me a little while to realize I wasn't relaxing and doing as you asked. Once I focused on the things you asked me to focus on, it was easy. It really does cradle you."

"What does?"

"The sea. It's always made me a little nervous." Lauren admitted.

"Because you see the train wrecks. I can't imagine the horrors you've seen in the ER, Lauren. I wish you could remember that there is a massive world with over seven billion people in it, most of it not in your ER on any day of the week." Bo replied, giving her girlfriend a squeeze.

"I think I've made a decision about my career." Lauren threw the statement out into the wind.

"You have?" Bo asked, surprised she had come to any decision so soon after she'd mentioned it.

"The ER isn't good for my state of mind. I'm finding it almost impossible to separate what I see in the ER from my conscious state in my person life. Living in fear isn't a good thing and I'm constantly worried about the things that I see at work happening to the people I care about… and I'm transferring those fears onto those people."

"Lauren, I know you're afraid, but fear is not a bad thing. Sure, I push the envelope on the waves that I surf, but there's always just a little bit of fear there. It's that fear that keeps me from tearing open the envelope and throwing it away."

"Kenzi said you were pushing the envelope way over the edge the day you had your accident." Lauren said quietly.

"She told you that, huh?" Bo spoke, wondering exactly what Kenzi had said.

"I know you don't remember much about it…"

"Actually, I remember more now. Kenzi and I have been talking about it… she helped with the recall." Bo sighed, "What did she tell you?"

"That you guys had a major fight before you went out on the waves, that Vex had set up a topless photo shoot for you without your consent and that you were arguing with Dyson while you were out there just before you hopped that wave."

Bo frowned not knowing where to begin. She remained quiet for a while, the memories of the day coming back in waves. Finally, Lauren pressed up on her elbows and twisted her torso around to face her girlfriend,

"Bo?"

"Yea. I'm okay. Come here." She pulled Lauren back into her, allowing her to lay back and relax once more. She placed a kiss on the top of her head before she finally spoke.

"Kenzi and I had argued about finances… nothing knew there. The night I met you in the bar, she had screwed up our passports. They'd expired and she said she knew someone who could get them expedited. Well, when we got to the airport, we got locked in a tiny room for forged documents. The person she'd used was apparently more than shady. Luckily, they let us go with a warning… and several autographs for their family."

"It pays to be popular?" Lauren laughed.

"Not always. I mean… you and I haven't left the island yet. Once we do, I'm afraid I'll draw more attention than you'd really care to have… and once they know you're my girlfriend, well… you were talking about your fears… that is mine."

"Bo, crowds of people wanting your autograph aren't going to chase me away." Lauren said, definitively.

"It's not just autographs, Lauren. I mean… women throw themselves at me, ask me to sign inappropriate places and I get at least one marriage proposal a day. I hope you're not the jealous type. It's not easy being with me in public."

"Well, hopefully we don't win the gold then… it would be unbearable for the two of us to go anywhere in public."

Bo laughed, "Don't think I never noticed your little fan club on the sidelines at your practices."

"You noticed that, huh? Well, our security guard takes care of keeping people to the spectator bleachers."

"That big guy with all of the tattoos?"

"Bruce. His name is Bruce and he's actually just a big teddy bear." Lauren smiled, "So, did you do the topless photo shoot?"

"No way. I didn't sign the contract. Vex forged my signature, so he paid all of the legal fees and found them another surfer willing to do it." Bo sighed, the relief of getting out of the situation apparent.

"Well, I'm sure she was a disappointment on the cover of that magazine in comparison to you. I guess it was a small magazine?"

Bo was silent, leading Lauren to wonder why.

"Bo?" Lauren asked.

"Yea?"

"What magazine did you give up?" Lauren asked.

"Why? Do you think I should have done it?" Bo asked.

"Uh… well… it's not really my decision. I mean… it's your body and… well… your career…"

"Lauren, do you or do you not want me bare-chested on the cover of a magazine?" Bo asked.

"I… I don't know, Bo. I mean… I guess if it's tastefully done I'd be able to deal with it."

"Deal with it?"

Lauren sat up quickly and twisted her torso to face Bo, almost flipping them over. After they finished balancing themselves, she gave Bo a soft smile,

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Lauren, talk to me. I need you to be honest with stuff like this."

"Honestly…" Lauren looked down, "I'd rather other people didn't see your body… I mean… I understand the bikini thing, but… well… it's your body, Bo. Your body, your choice."

"I'd like to think you have some claim on my body." Bo said, shyly, "I mean… I know we haven't… you know… but…"

"I get it, Bo." Lauren said, lying back against Bo once more, "So what happened with Dyson? Kenzi didn't feel she could say. She said it was your story to tell."

"Yea, well… Dyson and I… well… we used to… gosh, I don't even know what you'd call it. He wanted more than I could give. I mean… I care for him, but it's more like an older brother type thing. I mean… it wasn't like that when we were… you know… but then he said the L word and, well… I couldn't say it back. I just didn't feel that way."

Lauren nodded, "I see."

"I swear, our relationship now is strictly professional, Lauren."

"Does he know that?" Lauren asked.

"I've said it plenty of times, but he does tend to be… overly concerned sometimes. He can overstep, but Kenzi and I just remind him and he usually chills out."

Lauren nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you cold?" Bo asked.

"A little." Lauren replied.

"Let's head in, okay?" Bo asked.

"Okay. How are we going in?"

"Well, I think my legs are shot, so we're just going to coast in laying down, okay?"

"Okay." Lauren said, turning carefully to face the other direction.

"Lay down, and I'll lay between your legs. When I tell you to, make sure you paddle hard, okay?"

"Okay."

Bo got herself situated, her eyes, getting an incredible view of Lauren's ass and… well… everything she'd wanted since they night they'd had together months ago. Their make out sessions had gotten more and more heated since she'd been cleared for any activity, but Lauren was still concerned about her blood pressure, so was still not willing to let Bo do more. Maybe tonight would be different?

Bo looked over her shoulder and saw a good swell, "Now! Paddle hard!"

Lauren groaned, but did as she was asked. Before she knew it, they were riding a small wave that pushed them towards shore. She felt Bo's body lean, her hands gripping the sides of the board on either side of her hips to steer them along the crest of the wave. When they arrived at shore, Bo hurried Lauren off the board so she wouldn't get wet again when the breakers came in. Seeing that Bo couldn't get off the board, Lauren towed her to the sand and then sat on the board next to her.

"Thanks. I guess I'm a lot more sore than I'd thought." Bo smiled halfheartedly.

"Your legs are still trying to catch up to where your mind and heart are right now. You'll get there, Bo."

Bo smiled, lying back on the board, "I love this sky."

"It is beautiful. It was one of the first things I noticed when I came here. You don't see this many stars in the city."

The pair laid on the sand, Bo on the board and Lauren next to her in the sand staring at the sky for some time before Bo noticed her girlfriend was definitely getting cold.

"Come on, you. Help me up and let's go inside and take a warm shower."

Lauren smiled, "I thought you'd lay here forever. I'm freezing!"

She held out her hands to Bo and pulled her to a stand, "I'll go get your walker."

"No, it's okay. I'll just lean on you if that's okay." Bo said, waving her to her.

"Okay." Lauren said, sliding her shoulder beneath Bo's armpit and taking her weight as they walked into to the shack.

When they got inside, Lauren insisted that Bo shower first so she could get her muscles warm. While she listened to Bo hum, Lauren smiled and turned down the bed. She pulled out a pair of shorts and T-shirt for her girlfriend and took them into the bathroom, placing them on the counter,

"Here are some clean clothes for bed." She called to Bo, the steam on the shower door offering a silhouette of the brunette's frame. Lauren swallowed hard as Bo replied, by sticking her head out and smiling,

"Thanks."

Lauren smiled in return, blushing when she caught just a glimpse of Bo's left breast before she quickly turned and left the room.

Another thirty minutes and both women were showered and under the covers, a soft breeze coming through the window not far from Bo's bed. They lay side by side, staring at the ceiling for a short while before Lauren sighed,

"This view is nothing like the one out on the sand."

"I could paint the ceiling black and put twinkly stars on my ceiling when we renovate." Bo smiled.

"Oh, would you?" Lauren asked, sarcastically, "I do so love a beautiful view."

Bo bit her lip, before making a very bold move. She sat up and pulled off her top before turning back to face Lauren,

"I'm not a starry sky, but maybe this view is better than my ceiling?" Bo asked, blushing as Lauren's eyes went wide.

Lauren wanted to reply, she really did. She tried, but her throat was completely dry as was the rest of her mouth… that is, until it became very wet… like… drooling wet… she licked her lips as her eyes tried desperately to move to meet Bo's but they were absolutely glued to the beautiful breasts she hadn't had the pleasure of seeing anywhere but in her dreams for months. Now, here they were… in the flesh as it would be… and she was paralyzed.

Bo waited for a long while as Lauren just stared at her, so she grabbed her shirt, turned away and began to pull it back on. That was all Lauren needed to snap out of her trance,

"Bo… don't… wait…" Lauren's hand on Bo's back stilled her movement. The blonde sat up, her fingertips trailing down the center of her girlfriend's back until she had just about reached her buttocks. She pulled her hand away, "Beautiful… absolutely beautiful."

Bo looked over her shoulder, "I thought…"

"I'm sorry… I was just… speechless. I mean… have you seen your breasts?"

Bo laughed, "Actually, yes I have."

"Yea… me too… but… I guess it's just… different now."

Bo turned to face her. Palming her breasts, she smirked, "Why? Same old breasts."

Lauren bit her lip at her girlfriend's open display, her eyes once again glued to the two beautiful mounds of flesh before her, "Bo, please… come here."

Bo lay back, moving into her girlfriend's arms, their lips meeting softly for a light kiss, "I don't want anyone else to see your breasts. I especially don't want them on a magazine cover for the entire world to see…" she dropped one hand to cup one of the heavy breasts, "… and I want to cut Vex's balls off for trying to make it happen."

Bo laughed, "No one will see them but you… I promise… they're yours and no one else's."

"Mine?" Lauren asked.

"Yours." Bo replied, leaning in to kiss the blonde, deepening it quickly until they pulled apart, breathless.

"We should stop." Lauren said.

"No." Bo replied.

"Bo…"

"No. I can surf, I can lift weights, I can get on a treadmill and an elliptical… I can have sex, Lauren." Bo replied, her anger at her weeks of frustration flaring.

Lauren stared at her for a moment, before she finally broke the silence, "You're right."

She pushed Bo back on the bed, her mouth latching onto a nipple while her hand palmed the other, giving each breast equal attention. She looked up to see Bo watching her with dark eyes, her tongue licking her lips as her hips rose up, seeking contact with anything she could find.

Bo reached down and gripped the edge of Lauren's shirt, pulling it over her head before pushing the covers down to expose their lower bodies. Lauren gripped the brunette's waistband and yanked her shorts down to her knees, before lifting her foot to push them down and off of her body. Bo pulled Lauren's down, the blonde standing to take them the rest of the way off, knowing Bo didn't have the flexibility to get some things done.

"You just lay there and let me take away your pain, okay? You don't have to do anything… I'll do it all. Just relax." Lauren smiled, caressing the side of her girlfriend's face as she lay down between her legs, "I've wanted you so much, Bo… for so long."

"Then don't waste another second, Lauren. I want you so badly."

Lauren kissed her girlfriend softly, the intensity growing as her tongue sought entrance to Bo's mouth. The brunette allowed the blonde to enter and the duel of moist, wet flesh began. Lauren's hip settled between Bo's legs, earning a moan from the brunette. The blonde pulled back, looking into Bo's eyes,

"I love you, Bo Dennis."

Bo took Lauren's face in her hands, kissing her lips softly, "And I love you, Lauren Lewis. I've waited all my life to say those words to someone. I can't believe this is happening to me."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "You've never told anyone you loved them?"

"I've always been very careful with those three words. I've said them to Kenzi, my Mom and my Dad… but I've never been in love, Lauren… not romantically… until you."

Lauren smiled softly at the brunette, "I'm sorry I didn't wait to say it to you."

"Hey, this isn't a competition, sweetie. Do I wish I were the only woman you've ever loved? Sure, maybe… but if you've had love in your life before now, I'm happy for you."

Lauren shook her head, "That's just it, Bo… I said those words to someone who didn't deserve my love. Nadia was my college girlfriend… Tamsin actually found out that she had initially gone out with me on a bet that she couldn't bed the geek of all geeks at Stanford. I was young… so young when I entered college at sixteen. My life was pretty much books and volleyball, so when someone gave me attention… well… I was so lonely… and she was beautiful. I couldn't believe someone like her could want someone like me. It turns out I shouldn't have believed it."

Bo's face reflected the anger she felt at the woman who had used Lauren, "I'm sorry that happened to you, Lauren. You didn't deserve it."

"I was young and naïve, Bo… it was a lesson I would carry with me for a very long time."

"You shut down." Bo made the statement sure it was true. Lauren confirmed it with a nod, "I understand. After my parents died, I didn't want to feel love for anyone because I feared losing them… truth be told, I didn't want to love you either, but I couldn't get you out of my head after the night we shared. My accident changed something in me… I want more out of life. I don't want to live without love anymore, Lauren. I'm not going to deny what I feel for you… what I want with you."

"What do you want, Bo?"

"I want it all, Lauren… when I look at you… when I see my future… I can't see it without you in it. I'm seeing things in my future that I've never seen before."

"Like what?" Lauren asked with a smile, her fingers tracing the space between Bo's breasts.

"A house, coming home to you, dinner every night together talking about our days, waking up to you every morning, vacations together, walks on the beach… and maybe… maybe some kids?" Bo hesitated, "But maybe not."

Lauren laughed, "A boy and a girl, Charlotte and Ethan."

"Really? You have names picked out?" Bo asked.

"Of course, don't you?" Lauren replied, kissing Bo gently on the lips, "But there will be no kids in our bedroom when we're naked."

"And we are naked."

Lauren took one of Bo's nipples in her mouth, swirling her tongue around it before she pulled back, thumbing the moistened skin, "Believe me, I'm well aware we are naked."

She resumed her ministrations, giving each breast equal attention as Bo watched, her leg slipping between Lauren's. Their hips instinctively moved together as their need grew,

"Lauren… that feels so good, but I need more… please… don't make me wait anymore."

Lauren slid her hand down Bo's body, rolling off so she could look down at Bo's wet core. She slipped her fingers between the brunette's legs and parted her folds with her long slender fingers, gaining a moan from Bo for her efforts,

"Mmmm… I've missed touching you, Bo."

"I've missed your touch." Bo said, her hips rising up into the blonde's touch as she entered her, "Oh, God Lauren… damn you feel good."

"You feel incredible, Bo… I love watching the way you move when I touch you."

The blonde kissed her way down Bo's body, her lips pausing to place delicate kisses in the places she remembers as her favorites from their long night together. She noted some new scars from the cuts she'd received in her accident on the reef, giving them a little extra attention before settling between Bo's legs.

The brunette spread her legs wider to allow the blonde easier access, drawing a moan from Lauren at the sight of her girlfriend's soaking wet core. She pressed her tongue deep into the space between the fleshy lips and slid it up the length before swirling the tip around the small hardened nub of nerves. She watched Bo's eyes darken as her hips rose up to her mouth, seeking more contact. Lauren didn't disappoint, adding another finger and taking the stiff clit into her mouth.

Bo watched as Lauren feasted on her, their unified moans filling the room until finally, the brunette felt her climax begin to rise like the swell of a giant wave before she slipped over the edge, down the face at top speed, the exhilaration of the moment filling ever fiber of her being as she cried out her lover's name. Lauren helped Bo to ride out the final moments of her climax before placing soft kisses on her mound and slowly removing her fingers.

The blonde crawled back up Bo's body and took her lips in a heated kiss. The brunette lost herself in the kiss, the taste of her own juices on Lauren's mouth making her want the blonde in so many ways, she didn't know where to start. She tried to roll her over, but her legs were locked up and stiff.

"Can you… uh…" Bo began, but embarrassment flooded her cheeks.

Lauren knew exactly what was happening since she had felt the brunette trying to move her legs without success,

"Hey… don't you dare allow yourself to feel any shame. You had a long, hard day and I'm pretty sure you just put every muscle in your body into a long sustained spasm." Lauren chuckled, placing a light kiss on Bo's lips.

"I think you're the one that caused that… Gods, Lauren… you felt so damn good. Your mouth should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for… I don't know… most talented or something."

Lauren smiled, "Why thank you, but if I recall, your mouth is equally as talented."

"Would you care to try it out? I can't seem to get it there on my own, but you're welcome to ride it if you'd like." Bo's voice was shy as she spoke.

"Mmmm… I'd love to… but first, can I ask why you seem to be so shy about this?" Lauren asked.

"Uh… I guess it's… well… I guess my uh… confidence is a bit… off?" Bo said, blushing.

"Wow. Where's that cocky woman I met in the bar a few months back?" Lauren asked.

"You didn't hear? She almost died. Apparently near-death experiences mess with a person's mojo."

"Mojo?"

"Kenzi said I lost my mojo in the accident." Bo explained.

"I see. Well, as one of your doctors, I can tell you that loss of mojo is almost as serious as the loss of musculature. We should really see just how bad it is." Lauren smirked.

Bo laughed, but played along, "Well, doctor, I'm open to any suggestions or… tests… you might need to run to measure how strong or weak my mojo is."

Lauren spoke seductively, "Well, there is a rather unusual test we can try. It will involve me checking you from head to toe… we can't leave any area untested."

"We can't have that. I agree." Bo replied, licking her lips.

"So, your tongue would be the first muscle we would want to examine." Lauren said, slipping her still-moist fingers into Bo's mouth. The brunette licked them lightly before greedily taking them into her mouth and sucking as Lauren watched. The blonde felt a surge of wetness explode from her core at the sight and feel of her lover's fingers in her warm, wet mouth.

"Is that all? I mean, I want to be sure it's working properly."

"Well, I do have one area that would give us a good indication of whether or not you can effectively elevate your mojo." Lauren said, standing to straddle her girlfriend's torso, her wet core now in Bo's line of sight, "Let's see if you can make me scream."

Bo gripped the back of Lauren's thighs and pulled her to her knees. The blonde lowered her core to her girlfriend's waiting mouth, the brunette wasting no time taking the offered treat. Lauren moaned as Bo's hands reached around her, gripping her ass cheeks and pulling her closer.

"Gods, Bo!" The blonde rode her girlfriend's face, moaning louder when the brunette entered her with one finger, then two.

Bo opened her eyes, looking up at the blonde whose breasts were bouncing up and down as she rode her fingers and mouth. Lauren flipped her hair over to one side, lowering her eyes to meet Bo's as they shared the moment that found the blonde drive to the edge of ecstasy and beyond. Coming down from her orgasm, Lauren found herself unable to move as Bo kept her grip on her lover, taking her mouth away only long enough to say,

"Again."


	4. Chapter 4: Destination Rio

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay, but I'm not a pro surfer nor am I from Hawaii! It takes a lot of research to get some of the things right in this story. Please excuse any mistakes! There was some weird line spacing thing happening when I tried to upload this chapter. Hopefully the spacing works out. It looks fine now on my end, but you never know what happens when it actually gets to the readers! Thank you so much for all of the reviews and PM's! I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story. Let's go to Rio!

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 **Chapter 4: Destination Rio**

"BO! Where's my Rio ticket? I thought I put it with my… oh, forget it! Found it!"

Bo emerged from the bathroom, "Do you have clothes for Rio?"

"Yea. I talked to Val who talked to our sponsors. They're expecting us to wear their clothes in case we're on camera and you have an interview in Rio on Wednesday, don't forget."

"I know, I know." Bo replied, still angry at Val for taking a trip that was supposed to be about Lauren and turning it into a press junket for her return to surfing.

"Bo, I know you're angry at Val, but Lauren understands. It's business, not personal."

"I know, but I still hate it. I just want to go and be a spectator and supporter of Team USA Volleyball."

"Well, one third of the program anyway." Kenzi smirked.

"Fine, I'm not there to cheer for all three teams, but I will cheer for them when they're not playing Lauren and Tamsin, okay?"

"Fair enough." Kenzi replied, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, "Okay, I'm ready to go."

Dyson entered the house, "Hi Bo."

"Hey, Dyson." Bo said quickly, before looking back to Kenzi, "You call me when you get there and no secrets this time, you hear? I want to know what you know."

"I got the message loud and clear."

"Can I take your bags, Bo?" Dyson asked.

"I'm not going with Kenzi." Bo replied, looking back at Kenzi, rolling her eyes when Dyson pressed for information.

"I see your bags. If you're not going with Kenzi, then where are you going? The pros are off until September."

Kenzi smacked Dyson on the chest, "Nosey much? Grab my bags, please."

Dyson gave a low growl, his eyes staying glued to Bo, "I'm not a friend anymore? I can't know when you travel?"

"Dyson, we've been through this. You don't need to know where I'm going and what I'm doing."

"I don't understand, Bo. We're friends! Why can't I know where you're going?" Dyson pressed.

Kenzi shook her head, whispering to their scruffy-faced friend, "You're smothering… pushing her away… you need to stop man."

"What?" Dyson asked, looking at Kenzi before looking back at Bo. Kenzi just rolled her eyes, checking her backpack for her passport, headphones and other small items she needed.

"Hey there." Lauren entered the house and moved to Bo's side.

Bo leaned over and kissed her softly on her lips, "Hey there."

Dyson's eyes went wide, causing Kenzi sigh before smacking him on the chest again, "Are you going to get my bag or are you staying in the states this trip? I can call Mark or Vex to drive the wave runner for me."

The tall man didn't respond, his eyes still locked on the woman he had been waiting to reciprocate his love. The pair seemed lost to each other… they were in their own little world. He moved the short distance to where they stood and extended his hand,

"Hi, I'm Dyson. You must be Bo's doctor." He wouldn't allow himself to think of this woman as anything other than a professional in Bo's life.

"Idiot." Kenzi whispered, picking up her own bag and carrying it out to the car.

Bo pulled back from Lauren, gripping her face and giving her one more kiss before pulling back and looking at Dyson's extended hand. Lauren wrapped her arm around Bo and returned the gesture,

"Hi. I'm Lauren." The blonde's smile disappeared as she felt the extra firm grip that wrapped around her much smaller hand as she looked into eyes that seemed to flare with… what was that? Anger? Jealousy? Lauren wasn't sure, but she knew the grip on her hand was uncomfortable, but she wasn't about to allow that to show. She squeezed back equally as hard, causing Dyson's eyes to drift to the joined hands.

Bo placed a hand on Dyson's chest, applying just the right amount of pressure to get him to release Lauren's hand, but not make a scene,

"Kenzi's waiting, Dyson and we have to be going."

Dyson's eyes looked hopeful for a moment, "You're coming with us?"

"No. Kenzi and I told you that I'm going to Rio." Bo replied drawing a frown from Dyson.

"The games don't start for two more weeks. I don't understand why you aren't coming to support your sister and be with your team when you get into heavier water again." Dyson replied.

Lauren placed a soft kiss on Bo's cheek, "I'm going to put your bags in the car. I think this is a conversation for two."

Bo gave her a shy smile and watched as their hands slid apart. Watching the blonde walk towards her bags, she sighed and turned back to Dyson,

"Look, Dyson… we've been through this."

"I just don't understand why you have to go before the Olympics even start, Bo. You need your team around you right now. You've been discharged from the hospital. You don't need a doctor, you need the people who have always been there for you to get your head back in the game. Why are you shutting out the people who love and care about you?" Dyson asked.

Bo smiled at the big dumb lug before her, wondering if he would ever get the message that she'd been trying to send for over a year now,

"Dyson, I am not ready for big water yet. We told you that the shack is being renovated over the next month, so I can't be here. Kenzi's star is rising… I'm just a distraction to that if I'm there with her. We've talked about it, sister to sister. It's time for her to do some events on her own so the cameras are on her and not me."

"I know, but…"

"Dyson! Stop it! You can't control my choices! I'm going to hit some of the smaller surf for a while in Rio. I need to get my courage up… I need to find the surfer I was before I met 'the team'." Bo said, using air quotes.

Dyson frowned, "But…"

"No, Dyson. Look, I appreciate that you looking out for me and what you think is best, but I have to do this my way. I have to listen to my mind, my heart, and my body. You can't help me with this."

"But your Doctor can?" He spit the words.

Bo shook her head, "She is more than just my doctor and you know it, Dyson."

"I can be there for you, Bo. I can help you through this. Why won't you let me? We've been through so much together. How can you just push me aside?"

"I'm not pushing you aside. We will always be friends, Dyson. We've shared a lot over the years. There is no way I would ever not want you to be a part of my professional life."

"But not your personal life?"

"On occasion, for picnics, beach hangouts with the gang… of course." Bo gave him a soft smile.

"Are you saying we're over? You seriously believe what you have with your doctor will ever be stronger than the bond that you and I share, Bo? We're meant for each other, I know it. We fit, Bo and…"

Bo held up her hands. She was getting frustrated, "Dyson, we're over. I've been saying it for a long time. Look, I don't want to hurt you, but I can't say it any more plainly than that."

"Please don't let this doctor…"

Bo cut him off, "Her name is Lauren. She is my girlfriend. I'm in love with her. That's not going to change… ever… if I have my way. If you want to be in my life, it's going to be as a friend. If you can't handle that, then you and I will part ways, Dyson. I'm going to Rio to work on the things I need to work on with a specialist Mitch referred me to who is working with Team Brazil. When the Olympics begin, I'll be at Lauren's matches and wherever else she needs me to be… or not be."

"Bo, this is a mistake…"

"Dyson, we're done… this conversation is over. If you are going to be my sister's driver, then you need to spend time with her… not me. She's coming up, Dyson. I'm on my way out, this season or next, for one reason or another. Right now, that's all up to me to get my head back in the game. You can't help me with that. You can, however, help Kenzi just like you helped me."

"See? I did help you. All you needed to do was admit it. You know we're a team, Bo... driver and surfer. We have a rapport… an understanding. I know when to tow you in to the mix… I know when the conditions are perfect for you."

"Then how did Evony get to me that day? How was it that she got towed in to my wave, Dyson?" Bo had wanted to ask that question ever since her memories of her accident had begun to come back.

"I didn't see her driver, Bo… I don't know how…"

"No, Dyson. Those were tow-in conditions. There is no way she got up on that board on her own in waves topping twenty-five feet and you know it."

Dyson hung his head as Bo raised her voice, "The truth, Dyson! What happened?"

"I heard the engine… you know it's hard to hear out there. I thought it was a small boat, not a PWC."

"So that's the way you're gonna call it? You're going to claim you thought it was a small boat instead of a personal watercraft. What? Was someone out fishing in the middle of the pipeline, Dyson?"

"Of course not, I'm just saying that…"

"You're saying that you screwed up, Dyson! She got towed in because you weren't watching! Was I the first one in? Tell me! Was I the first in? Was what happened to me my fault?"

"NO! No, Bo! Absolutely not! You had the right of way, I'm sure of it! She entered the wave through the back door and came across the peak! You were already in the curl when she dropped in on top of you! I've been playing it over and over again in my head! Ever since the accident… ever since I testified at the WSL hearing… I've been reliving the moment over and over again. I don't know how I missed it… I don't… I'm sorry, Bo. I'm so sorry."

Bo knew it wasn't Dyson's fault. Once Evony dropped in, there was nothing he could have done. Even yelling to her wouldn't have helped. She never would have heard him over the sound of the pipe. They all knew the dangers of that spot. Tow-in surfing was dangerous and there was a certain risk that came with it.

Dyson finally spoke after a long moment of silence, "So are you going to any of the tow-in spots in Brazil?"

Bo frowned, "I'm not ready for that, Dyson. I think we both know that. Like I said, I'm hunting small surf."

Dyson chuckled, "Small surf for you is anything over twelve feet."

Bo nodded, "I may go down and check it out just to watch. I'm sure Manny is going to be down there with Miguel and Enzo. It would be nice to catch up with those guys."

"I heard Enzo was towing in at Mavericks last weekend." Dyson said, shoving his hands into his pockets as she shifted back and forth on his feet.

"Wow. Maybe they're not headed to Rio after all."

"Nah. They'll be there. Everyone who's anyone is going to be there. They want to have all the best there to get the spectators into surfing. They need to make a good showing in four years when it's an exhibition sport or surfing will never make it into the Olympics for good."

"I guess my invitation was lost in the mail." Bo laughed.

Dyson shook his head, "Everyone is asking about you, Bo."

"It's okay, Dyson. I haven't exactly been the easiest person to like on the tour. I've always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. My accident was actually a good thing. It's put me in touch with parts of myself that I lost long ago with my parents. I think people are going to like the new Bo Dennis."

"They liked the old one just fine."

"They liked her okay, but it would be nice to have some real friendships with my peers rather than a lot of friendly rivalries."

Bo sighed, "Oh well, all in good time. Right now, I just need to get back out there and figure out what the new Bo Dennis is capable of for the rest of this season."

"You can do anything, Bo. I believe in you."

"And I appreciate that, Dyson. You know I always have… but… well, I have to believe in myself or none of this is any good."

"I can help you believe in yourself again, Bo. Please…" He took both of Bo's hands in his own, "… be my partner again."

Lauren stood in the doorway, watching her girlfriend with her ex. She held her breath, waiting for Bo's response, the fear building up in her chest as Bo spoke,

"Dyson, I will always care about you, but I'm in love with Lauren… completely, utterly, hopelessly and endlessly in love with her. I know you don't understand, but it's just the way it is. No matter how many ways Kenzi and I have tried to say it, you're just in denial. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to figure this one out on your own."

She placed a hand gently on his chest, "We're over, Dyson… whatever it was that we were beyond friends… it was over years ago. I've tried and tried to tell you, but you just won't listen. I wish I could feel what you feel for me, but you're going to have to accept that I'm in love with someone else."

"I'll never stop loving you, Bo." Dyson replied.

"Well, that's something you'll have to choose to hang on to or let go of… I hope it's the latter, Dyson. You deserve to have love in your life, so I hope that you won't hang on to something that will never be. There's someone out there for you, Dyson. Please don't give up on finding them."

Dyson nodded, "Promise me you won't go doing anything crazy when you go visit the guys at Maresias?"

"You mean like when we got a little crazy with the helicopter at Jaws?" Bo laughed.

"That was radical." Dyson smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It was the best ride ever. Nothing beats air tow-ins."

"Well, I'll just have to take your word for it. I'm bailing at anything over twenty feet." Dyson laughed.

"You always were a light-weight." Bo laughed in reply.

"Hey! I towed in at Mavericks and Ship Stern Bluff!"

"Yea and you pretty much dove off your board as soon as you landed." Bo laughed, slapping him on the shoulder.

Dyson laughed, "I think I shit my trunks too."

"Ah, you were always a good sport."

"Seriously, Bo. Please don't let anyone else tow you in. I don't trust…"

Bo placed a gentle hand on the blonde's arm, "I don't trust anyone else either, Dyson. You will always be the driver for the Dennis sisters. But Dyson, you have to be able to separate out these feelings for me from the job. If you can't do that, then I'll have to use Vex or hire someone else."

"No. No Vex. He towed you into the shitter at Ilha dos Lobos the last time we were in Brazil." Dyson said emphatically.

"Yea, I know. Maybe someone new would be better all together." Bo replied with a soft smile.

"Please, just… give me a chance before you go hiring someone else? I know your sets, Bo."

Bo nodded, "I know you do, Dyson."

She looked up at the clock on the wall in the kitchen, "Dyson, I really have to go. We have a flight to catch."

"You and the Doctor?" Dyson asked, frowning.

"She's my girlfriend, not my Doctor. Her name is Lauren and she's in my life, Dyson. If you want to remain in mine, you'll have to get used to having her around… and if you can't show her the respect she deserves, you won't be welcome. Are we clear?"

Dyson frowned, saying nothing, so Bo repeated the question,

"Dyson, are we clear?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"Great. Well, I'll see you when we get back from Rio then."

"Is it okay if I come down… I mean… to Rio? When Kenzi comes down, if you don't mind… I mean… if the Doc… I mean… Lauren wouldn't mind…"

Lauren stepped into the room, "Lauren wouldn't mind at all. The more support for Team USA the better, right? I mean… as long as you're not afraid to cheer for the underdogs."

Bo smiled at the blonde as she stepped into her arms. Dyson sighed before giving a small grin at the look of happiness on the brunette's face,

"Not at all. I love an underdog." He smiled before looking at Bo, "You look happy… a lot happier than I've seen you in a long time."

Bo smiled, "Well, I've got a new outlook on life." She looked at Lauren, "The last two weeks out of competition have given me a chance to get back in touch with a part of me that went missing somewhere along the way."

Dyson smiled, "Well, whatever it is, it looks good on you."

Dyson turned to Lauren, "Congratulations. You've got yourself quite a woman there. I hope you know how lucky you are."

Lauren's megawatt smile beamed as she looked at Bo, "Oh, don't worry. I definitely know. Are you ready, sweetie?"

"All set." Bo turned to Dyson, "Take care of Kenzi, okay?"

"Always, Bo. She'll be safe with me." Dyson assured.

Bo moved to leave, but then turned back, "Just please remember that Evony has a lot of free time on her hand and she's banned from WSL events right now."

Lauren added, "And I just learned today that her medical license has been suspended pending a hearing."

Bo's eyes went wide, "A hearing at the hospital?"

Lauren shook her head, "No, the board of review… the group that governs all medical licenses in the state of Hawaii. If she loses her license here, it goes on her permanent record. She would likely never practice medicine again."

"She's not going to let this go, Bo." Dyson warned.

Bo nodded, "I know. She's going to want to get back at me… and at Lauren."

"Why Lauren?" Dyson asked.

The blonde smiled, "Her ex-husband is my coach and she used to be my boss in the ER until the Chief of Staff of the hospital walked in on her threatening to make my life… and Bo's life… a living hell. Then when this whole plan to hurt Bo with Kristy came out, well…"

"I get it. She's definitely going to want revenge." Dyson said, shaking his head.

"Keep Kenzi safe, Dyson. Please?"

Dyson nodded, "Well, at least we don't have to worry about tow-ins for competitions."

"I know, but she told me she's been gaining confidence doing it for practice. I just…"

"If Evony is spotted anywhere, I won't let her practice tow-ins, okay?"

Bo shook her head, "That's the whole problem. She's never spotted. She just appears out of no where and screws with everyone."

Dyson nodded, "Vex and I will be extra vigilant, okay?"

Bo nodded, "Okay."

"Hey! Are we intentionally trying to miss our flights? I mean, if you want to stay here and breathe in dust, dirt and destruction then be my guests, but I'd rather go breathe the stale air on the plane." Kenzi waved her arms as she spoke, causing the three older adults to laugh.

"Okay everyone, let's get going." Bo smiled, walking to her sister and giving her a great big hug.

"Are you sure you don't need me there?" Bo asked.

"Need you stealing my thunder? Are you kidding?" Kenzi gave her sister a hug, whispering in Bo's ear, "I'll miss you. Do what you feel and nothing more, okay? I won't be around to save your ass."

Kenzi pulled back, looking into her sister's eyes as her own brimmed with tears, "Safe travels, safe rides and safe shores."

"Safe travels, safe rides and safe shores. I love you, Sis." Bo replied, hugging her sister once more.

Kenzi looked at Lauren, "I'll see you in two weeks. I'll be the one fangirling from the sideline. Just wait until you see the T-shirts I had made."

Lauren looked on in horror, but Bo laughed and eased her fears, "She's kidding, sweetie. But she will be screaming her head off for you. She's used to cheering over the sound of the waves, so…"

Kenzi wrapped her arms around Lauren, "She's right about the screaming… and I really did have T-shirts made. Play your ass off and make sure my sister is happy, okay?"

Lauren pulled away, "Always."

Kenzi added, "And safe."

"Well, that is not fully in my control as I'm sure you know." Lauren smiled, "But I will threaten her."

Kenzi smirked, "Just threaten to withhold sex if she does anything stupid. That'll keep her from throwing herself into a wave she has no business on right now."

The younger sister turned to Bo, "And I know you'll be looking up Manny, Miguel and Enzo down at Maresias… they always talk you into doing insane things with helicopters."

Lauren's eyes went wide. It was the second time she'd heard something about helicopters,

"Do you jump out of them?"

Bo knew that look on the blonde's face… her fear was kicking in, "No, baby. We don't jump out of them. They hang a rope and toe us into waves."

"I thought you used Dyson on a wave runner for that." Lauren asked.

"Well, the chopper is up higher and can see the waves coming from further off. They can actually pick better waves and drop you in the right direction. It's just expensive, so I don't do it much."

Kenzi laughed, "But our boys in Brazil are loaded and own their own helicopter, so she's sort of leaving that part out."

"Bo…"

"Lauren, I promise you… there is no way I'm towing into a wave using a PWC or a helo."

"PWC?" Lauren asked.

Dyson replied, "It's a classification… personal water craft… wave runner."

"Oh." Lauren replied.

"Okay then, let's get going." Bo smiled.

The group turned and headed for the door. Bo and Kenzi allowed the other two to leave first. They stood together, turning around to face their home,

"Well, Bo-Bo, the next time we see this place, it won't be this place." Kenzi wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder.

"Are we making a mistake?"

"Giving up a shithole with one even shittier bathroom? Hell no! Besides, getting real walls… with the soundproofing I ordered around your bedroom… will allow me to begin to heal the damage done by having to listen to your sexcapades with the Doc this week. I mean, I'm glad you're healing and all, but I'm never sure if I should duck and cover because there's a volcano erupting or if it's just you or the Doc having one of your multiple orgasms."

"Kenzi!"

"What? I'm a sensitive child being exposed to porn sounds in my own home. The renovations are necessary for me to retain my youthful innocence!"

"Right… and you're a virgin, too." Bo smirked before giving her sister a squeeze, "I'm gonna miss this place, Kenz. It may be a shithole, but it has always been our shithole. This place got us off the streets and out of the shelters."

"And that's why we're not moving, Bo. We're renovating. Once we get all of our stuff back in here, it will start to feel like home again."

Bo smiled, "Of course, where we're standing now won't ever be home again."

"Nope. It's our future… the future of Kenbo Surf Shop!"

Bo laughed, "We haven't decided on that yet."

"It'll grow on you. I know it." Kenzi smiled, smacking her sister on the ass, "We're out!"

Bo looked over her shoulder, watching her sister walk away. She turned back to the shack,

"They'll take good care of you, I promise. Bruce and Sam have all of the plans… they're just going to give you a little face-lift so you don't fall down around us. You'll be proud of your new look."

Bo laughed at herself for talking to her house like it was a real person, but she'd been talking to these walls for more than a decade… they held all of her fears, her anger and the secrets she never told anyone. Somehow she felt like by breaking down the walls, they would all get out. It was silly and she knew it, but still…

"See you soon, shack. We're going to have a great future." Bo smiled, closing the door behind her.

Stepping outside, she looked up at the house one last time. She remembered the first day she stepped inside, using five thousand dollars to buy it from the previous owner, Fitz. He was a youthful seventy-eight year old man who still got out and rode on his surfboard every morning. He owned several properties on the island and had seen Bo surfing not far from the shack. After a few hours together, he'd decided to invest in her future, saying she was one of the most talented surfers he'd ever met on the island who wasn't a native.

Bo smiled, thinking of the old man who had helped her get her start… helped her break into the group of island locals at the pipe. Fitz had come to the hospital twice to see her after her accident. Bo was amazed at how a man pushing ninety could still get around the way he did. She hoped that she could keep his respect and get back up on the board again. The longer she thought about it over the last couple of weeks, the more she realized that her life had been full of people to support her in her career and personally. She'd been so wrapped up in missing her parents, that she hadn't realized how many people who had stepped in to assume many of the parenting duties in her own life.

She sighed, hearing Lauren call her name, "See you soon, Fitz." She turned and called to Lauren, "I'm coming, baby."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **Two Weeks Later…**_

Bo settled in to her courtside seat, looking around for her sister. Finally, she saw her and waved frantically. Kenzi smiled, running towards Bo,

"Bo-Bo! I missed you so much!" Kenzi smiled, wrapping her arms around her sister.

"Ripped it, kiddo. I watched the finals yesterday! Nice rides! Those other chicks never had a prayer. You really have turned a corner, Kenzi. I'm so damn proud of you!"

Bo hugged her once again for good measure before pulling back and sharing a smile. Kenzi's eyes welled with tears,

"That means so much to hear you say. I wish you could have been there, Bo. It was amazing! And I got picked up for next season by Billabong as long as I maintain at least my current standing!"

"That's awesome, Kenz! Did Val check the contract?" Bo asked, concerned about not being there for the business side of things. She had much more experience in these matters than her younger sister.

"They're faxing her the contracts next week. I'll be fine, Bo. Val is a wiz with this stuff. Right now, it looks like we have something else to deal with… how's your girl?" Kenzi nodded towards the pair warming up on the court in white suits.

"She's nervous, Kenz. I mean, she's trying not to show it, but I could feel it. I hugged her early this morning and she was stiff as a board. I felt like I was in a vice she was squeezing me so hard."

"Awww… broken bone hugs. It must be true love." Kenzi quipped.

Their attention was pulled by the sound of the announcer starting the match,

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Copacabana Beach! The home of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Beach Volleyball!"

The crowd cheered as the announcer continued,

"There is perhaps no other sport more closely associated with Rio than beach volleyball since its entrance into the Olympic Games in 1996. We are proud to host both the men's and women's competitions."

The crowd cheered again, the roar building as the two teams made their way courtside,

"And now, let's get to our next match, Team U.S.A..."

Cheers resounded once again, as Lauren and Tamsin stepped forward and gave timid waves to the cheering crowd,

"And Team Latvia…"

The crowd erupted in applause again as the Latvian flags fluttered in the ocean side breeze of the beach venue opposite the American flags. The announcer gave a quick synopsis of the sport,

"Beach volleyball is played on a sand court divided in half by a net. The two teams of players will try to hit the ball onto the ground in their opponents' court, scoring a point each time they do. Let's get to the action now, ladies and gentlemen. Let the game begin!"

Bo and Kenzi smiled, fist pumping the air as the match was called to begin,

"Let's go Torrent!" Kenzi yelled as Tamsin entered the court.

"Come on, Lewis!" Bo added, cheering for her girlfriend as she walked on behind her partner, "Please." She added, clapping her hands together and lowering her head for a moment in silent prayer to whoever was listening.

Kenzi wrapped her arm into the crook of Bo's elbow, "Okay… they're supposed to win this one. Piece of cake, right?"

"Right. Of course. Piece of cake. No problem. They've got this. Right? Of course I'm right."

Kenzi laughed at her sister, "Uh… are you sure Lauren was the nervous one?"

Bo took a deep breath and exhaled, "See? This is why surfing is better. You get up on a wave and a minute later, the ride's over. This? It's like what… an hour of shear torture with the lead going back and forth and back and forth? Is it an hour? Is it longer? I don't think I can take it being longer. Look at my nails! I have nothing but nubs! How will I ever make it through the whole tournament? I'm going to bite off my fingertips down to the first knuckle at this rate!"

"Awww, it's okay, Bo-Bo. You don't need fingers for surfing. Of course, Hotpants might miss them when you're supposed to be giving her your hot, hot lady love."

Bo smacked her sister hard on the shoulder, pushing her away.

"Oowwa!" Kenzi gripped her shoulder, glaring at her sister.

"I should have brought Dyson." Bo frowned, turning towards the court once again.

"Oh yea, that would have been a great idea. Hotpants would have been glaring at the stands the whole time instead of concentrating on playing."

"Stop, Kenzi. She's fine with Dyson. I'm not sure where his head is, but she knows where my heart is and that's all that matters." Bo replied.

"Awww… that's adorable." Kenzi replied, "YES! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Nice one Lewis!"

Bo smiled at her sister as she gave a cheer of her own. The sisters watched anxiously as point after point was played.

"You know, this is a really cool sport. I forgot how much fun it could be." Bo smiled.

"I remember playing at night after a day of surfing. It's sad to think of all of the things we've had to leave behind to pursue our careers." Kenzi replied.

"Do you regret it?" Bo asked, pondering the question herself.

"Hell no. This is great and all, but there's no rush like surfing for me."

Bo nodded, "Me too."

They were silent, watching Latvia score a point. Tamsin and Lauren came together in the middle, whispering to each other before both nodded and moved into position to receive the oncoming serve. Kenzi broke the silence, her eyes still on the court,

"So, did you get into any big surf yet?"

"Nah. I decided to wait until you got here. I just… I mean, my legs feel pretty good. I haven't used my walker for the past four days at all. I've needed the cane a bit when I get tired. My left leg still drags a bit, but that guy Mitch referred me to is good. He's using these little cups that he puts fire in or something. He's using a lot of massage that is actually more painful than it is soothing, but I'm just sucking it up because I'm getting better."

"That's good to hear. So… no big surf?" Kenzi was curious as to why her sister was waiting for her. Their friends would have been more than capable of making sure she was okay.

"I just… I wanted you here. I dunno, Kenz… I just… I'm scared, ya know?" Bo admitted quietly.

"Well, having me here isn't going to make much of a difference. Manny and the boys are more qualified in these waters than I am." Kenzi replied.

"I know… but… I mean, if anything happened… I'd want you to be here." Bo spoke honestly.

"Okay, well we won't be talking like that anymore. You're going to be fine, Bo. Having me here or not isn't going to keep you alive. You've got to get out there and battle like you always do."

Bo was silent, watching the match. She heard Kenzi's brief speech, but she didn't know how to respond. She didn't know what stopped her from going out with Manny yesterday. She knew she could handle bigger waves, but once they got there, she just froze. She had feigned dizziness, but the truth was that her dizzy spells had all but ceased unless he was on a boat.

"Well, I'm here now, so let's make a plan to do some easy waves tomorrow and then hit some bigger surf, okay? I have to keep this fine body in tune and you have one month to get ready for your next event."

Bo nodded, not wanting to acknowledge or deny her willingness to go out with her sister. She allowed the anxiety to be channeled into watching the match. Her silence seemed to work for now, as Kenzi all but dropped the subject in favor of cheering for Team USA. Bo was relieved to not have to talk about it… truth was, she would be happy to drop the subject for the rest of her life right now. She knew that wasn't possible, but for now, she'd take beach volleyball over surf talk.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bo and Kenzi waited for their friends outside of the tent where Lauren and Tamsin were getting their post-contest drug tests performed. When they finally emerged, Bo went immediately to her girlfriend, giving her hugs and congratulations while Kenzi did the same with Tamsin. They then switched places and made a plan for dinner at a local restaurant that was recommended by one of the USA Men's teams.

As they walked, they all talked animatedly about the match the two blondes had won while agreeing they were happy to have off tomorrow. It wasn't a particularly grueling match, but they'd been practicing hard the last two weeks. Lachlan had been driving them hard along with the other coaches right up until an hour before their match. The stress was clearly getting to the pair, so Bo and Kenzi hoped to help them forget about their sport for a while.

"So, what do you want to see?" Bo asked Lauren with a smile.

"First, a big huge steak. My body is craving protein." Lauren replied with a smile.

Tamsin laughed, "Did you see her whisper to me when that tall girl from Latvia crushed me with that mean overhead?"

"Spalding tattoo on the forehead, for double T… that girl was looking to totally rearrange your face." Kenzi quipped.

Lauren's looked confused, "Double T?"

Kenzi shrugged, "Keep up, Hotpants… her name is Tamsin Torrent… she's Double T!"

"Oh." Lauren nodded, feeling a little silly. She was just so tired, she wasn't thinking clearly.

"Anyway, after I got smashed in the face, my oh-so-concerned-teammate was thinking about her empty stomach rather than ask me if I was okay. That's when we made dinner plans."

Bo and Kenzi outright laughed as Lauren innocently defended,

"What? I was hungry?"

Bo wrapped an arm over Lauren's shoulder, who frowned, "Stop laughing at me. I'm hungry and it's not funny. I need food, then I need a nap and a massage… maybe not in that order, but my legs and back are absolutely killing me."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Come on, let's get you to the restaurant and get you fed." Bo smiled, trying hard to stifle the laugh the desperately wanted release at the look on her girlfriend's face, "You're adorable when you're hungry."

"No she's not. She's mean and selfish when she's hungry. My face will be one big bruise tomorrow and she could care less. Where is the love among partners?" Tamsin asked, "We've been best friends for years! I get not sympathy! I get no respect!"

Tamsin yelled, but Bo could see her laughing with Kenzi as they pushed through the door to the restaurant.

"I respect her." Lauren frowned.

"She's kidding, sweetie. You really do need food. Let's get you fed." Bo smiled, holding the door for the blonde.

They entered and were immediately escorted to a table near some other athletes. The four women sat down and were given menus, which they took with thanks. Lauren waved to the server,

"Can we have eight bottles of water?"

The waiter gave her a questioning look before Bo explained, "They've just finished a long match on the beach. They're both dehydrated."

"Ah, yes. I see." The waiter said, "Right away Miss."

Bo nodded, "Thank you."

Lauren put her head down on her crossed arms. Bo leaned towards her, "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel very well. I'm dehydrated and I'm out of fuel. I want to sleep, but I know I need to drink and eat first. I'm sorry, Bo. I don't think I'm going to be much fun today."

Bo looked up to see Tamsin in the same position. She shook her head and turned to Kenzi,

"Lachlan is an idiot. What the hell has he been doing to them?"

"I think I can answer that." Came a voice from over Bo's shoulder.

Tamsin and Lauren both raised their heads at the sound of the familiar voice. They looked up to see Misty and Casey smiling down at them. They each pulled a chair to either end of their table and sat down. Looking at Bo, Misty began,

"Well, we just got the low down on what's happening with Team USA. It appears that Lachlan placed a huge bet with some underground gambling ring that our first team would win the gold. After weeks of practice, he apparently is worried that he bet on the wrong team."

Kenzi shook her head, "So Lachlan has been running them into the ground to turn them into… well… this…" She pointed to the pair of Olympians, "… so that he could win a bet?"

Casey nodded, "It's a disgrace. We've reported him to the USOC, but until the investigation is complete, he'll remain on staff. The head coach of Team USA has agreed to one compromise as long as Lauren and Tamsin agree."

Lauren lifted her heavy head, as did Tamsin, "What?"

The waiter arrived with the tray of waters. Bo took four and gave them to Lauren while Kenzi handed four to Tamsin, but Misty shook her head,

"That will work during dinner, but after this, you need to take them to the med tent again. They need I.V. fluids. We've been covering the games for NBC News coverage, so were on the courts all week. We tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. We just thought he was a total idiot until we found out about the bet. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything about it until now or we would have."

Lauren frowned, "That's why the two of you brought us the cooler of water."

Tamsin nodded, running her fingers through her hair, "With just three words of wisdom, 'drink it all'."

Casey nodded, "We're not your coaches... we're not on the Team USA coaching staff. We're Press, that's it. Sorry, but it's all we could do."

Lauren shook her head, "It's not your fault." She looked up at Tamsin, "I can't believe this is happening. If we don't do as he says, he could kick us out and he knows it. We signed a Code of Conduct agreement and…"

Casey shook his head, "…And Lachlan signed a Code of Ethics contract. That said, the USOC and the Team USA Head Coach gave us an option for you… if you're willing."

Tamsin looked at Misty, then Casey, "Well?"

"They will keep Lachlan on the general coaching staff – they can't fire him unless they prove the case and they can't do that until they're back on U.S. soil since that's where the gambling ring is…"

"So… what do we do?" Lauren asked.

"You let us coach you." Misty said with a tight smile, "It's what they're offering as a compromise. Lachlan wouldn't be able to do anything with you unless we gave him consent."

"So, we take the two of you on as our official coaches and we're basically free of Lachlan?" Tamsin asked.

Casey smiled, "That's right…" he slid two papers across the table, "Sign these and we're all yours… and you're free of Lachlan."

Tamsin and Lauren looked at each other, and then allowed their eyes to travel over the documents. Kenzi looked at Bo and then back at the two women,

"What the hell are you two doing? Sign the damn papers! These two shrubs can't be any worse than Lachlan!" Kenzi dug in her purse and produced a pen, handing it to Tamsin, "You first, Double T… come on… sign."

Bo frowned, "Uh… Kenzi… these two… uh… shrubs… as you put it… are former gold medalists and world champions."

"Oops. My bad. They're golden shrubs." Kenzi shrugged, handing the pen to Lauren, "Sign. Then you eat and drink all of that water, then you pee… a lot… then you nap."

Casey pulled the papers from the two women, "No, they eat, drink two bottles of water, and then you guys hold on to these for them for later. Once you're finished here, you bring them to the med tent. We'll be waiting there with everything we need to get them fixed up. For the next forty eight hours, they lay low."

Bo frowned. She knew that Lauren had been hoping to get to some of the other competitions.

"I'm so sorry, Bo." Lauren began, but Bo placed a finger over her lips,

"I'm sure the news coverage will be great, Lauren. We'll just have to cuddle up in bed and watch the Olympics on TV."

Lauren's head fell heavily into her arms again, "Great. We're in Rio fucking de Janeiro for the Olympics and we're watching it on TV. Some Olympic experience this turned out to be. I'm gonna kick Lachlan's ass."

"No. You're going to stay as far away from Lachlan as you can." Casey warned.

"I'm just venting." Lauren said, "I know I can't actually hurt him… but damn I want to."

Kenzi laughed, "Look at Hotpants trying to be all tough."

Misty cocked her head at Kenzi, "Hotpants?"

Tamsin moaned from the pocket created by her folded arms, "She has a nice ass that Bo can't keep her eyes off of… hot pants."

Misty nodded, "I see."

"No, actually you don't… she'd actually have to stand up. The best way to see it is…"

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded, knowing her girlfriend didn't have the strength to stand up to herself.

The waiter arrived, "Ladies?" He noticed Casey had joined the table, "Sir? Are the two of you joining…"

Casey waved him off, "We're not staying much longer." He tossed two hundred dollars on the table, "Please get these two the biggest steaks you have, with some sort of potato or hardy vegetable and a big portion of dark green vegetables of some kind. Please tell the chef not to go to light on the salt. These two ladies can have whatever they'd like."

The waiter nodded looking at Bo and Kenzi, "Just get us the same. We'll give whatever we don't eat to these two pathetic excuses for athletes."

"Hey!" Tamsin turned her head to the side with a frown.

"Sorry Double T." Kenzi smiled.

"You're forgiven… until the next time you insult me."

"I'll try not to keep you waiting too long." Kenzi smiled as the waiter took their menus and walked away.

Misty put two hands on the table and stood, "Well, we'll see you ladies at the medical tent in what… say… two hours?"

Bo nodded, "We'll have them there."

Misty placed a soft hand on Bo's forearm, "I'm sorry you won't get to tour the Olympic Village."

Bo smiled, "We have time. Luckily, their competition is early in the games. Once they're finished playing, we'll be able to wander aimlessly."

Casey smiled, "And catch some of that Rio big surf, right?"

Kenzi smiled, "Damn straight!"

Bo was less than enthusiastic, "Sure."

That was enough to make Lauren turn her head and look up at her girlfriend. Bo looked at her and smiled, pushing a strand of hair from her face, but Lauren frowned,

"We'll talk… I know that look."

Bo simply nodded in reply before looking back at the departing guests, "Well, good luck, coaches. I suppose this is not exactly how you planned to spend your week."

"No, but we've played these two enough to know their strengths and their weaknesses." Casey replied.

Misty added, "And there is no way we're going to allow anyone to mess with Team USA Beach Volleyball. It means to much to both of us."

"Good for you." Bo smiled, "Thank you."

"No thanks necessary. Just make sure you get these two fed, watered and back to the med tent so we can get them on the road to recovery."

Bo nodded, "See you in a bit."

The pair said their goodbyes and headed towards the exit. Bo and Kenzi looked at each other, then the pair of exhausted players,

"Fucking Lachlan." Kenzi said.

Bo nodded, rubbing Lauren's back, "Kenz, if you want to go meet up with Manny…"

"No way, Bo-Bo. I sent him a text a few minutes ago and told him we were unavoidably detained. He's going to meet us at their match in two days against the Netherlands. They're hoping we'll go out with them after that."

"We'll see. Are you sure you don't want to…" Bo began,

"Hey… I came to support these two weaklings. I'm not running off and leaving you with this mess… I mean… look at them? They look like they went on a week-long bender with Señor Malbec." Kenzi watched as the waiter laid down a basket of bread sticks. Pulling one out, she took a bite and used it to point at the pair, "Look, he brings food and they're too whipped to even lift their heads to eat!" "Food?" Lauren asked, lifting her head.

Bo laughed, "Here, sweetie. Try a breadstick."

"Carbs! Oh yes! Carbs!" Lauren and Tamsin attacked the bread basket with gusto, taking a bite of the bread, then a sip of water, then more bread and so on. Bo and Kenzi could only laugh.

Finally, the food arrived and the group settled into quiet conversation about the new coaching staff, their altered plans to see the sights and tour the village, the predictions on the upcoming matches and the incredibly delicious food. When the waiter brought the change from their bill, Bo insisted he keep it, but instead, he brought bottles of water paid for by his tip.

"I couldn't take a tip this large, Miss. It wouldn't be right… and… well, your friends are dehydrated, so… here… please."

"Thank you." Bo replied.

"You're welcome." He said with a smile.

The young man turned to walk away, when Bo called out.

He came back to the table, "Yes?"

Bo looked at Lauren who nodded before she pulled two tickets from her back pocket,

"Here, will you take these please? We were supposed to go tonight, but she's on bed rest and I'm going to stay to keep an eye on her. They'll just go to waste if you don't take them…"

The young boy looked down at the tickets in Bo's hands, his eyes going wide, "But… these tickets… this is to the Brazil Football match tonight!"

"Yup."

Kenzi pulled out the tickets she had been holding for she and Tamsin, "Of course, if you take these tickets, it means you have to cheer for Team USA."

The young man frowned, "Uh… I mean…"

Kenzi laughed, "Dude, I'm just kidding. Don't you have humor in Rio? I mean, the guys I know here have humor, do you have humor?"

"Yes, of course I do… I just…" the boy blushed.

"Dude, I'm kidding again. Sheez, lighten up, son! We are grateful and want you to go have fun… you know… laugh a little?" Kenzi smiled.

Bo smiled, "It's okay, really. Just ignore her. Please, take the tickets and have a great time. I'm sure you can find three people who would love to go with you."

"Are you kidding? I'll be the most popular guy in the neighborhood." The young man smiled, "But I'll be taking my brother, my uncle and my grandfather. We never miss a match."

He turned to Kenzi, "I promise I won't boo Team USA, how's that?"

Kenzi crossed her arms over her chest, "And your man crew?"

"Them too. I'll make it a condition of taking them with me."

"That's perfect. Oh… and you have to call the game Soccer at least once… loudly so everyone can hear you!"

"Kenzi, don't embarrass him in front of his entire country."

"Fine… call it football… of course, I do have my San Francisco 49ers shirt with me. We could make him wear that?"

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded, turning to the boy, "No more conditions. Take the tickets, don't boo us… but please pity us if our Mens' team sucks. We're still babies in the sport."

The boy laughed, "I promise not to embarrass America any more than they embarrass themselves."

"Perfect!" Bo smiled.

The boy's face grew serious, "Really, I truly cannot thank you enough. There is no way we could have gotten these tickets. You really have no idea what this will mean to my family."

"No, thank you for accepting the gift. It would be sad to see four empty seats on the home team's stands at the game. The Rio Olympics should be packed full of Brazilians at every single event. It isn't every day that the Olympics come to town."

"Agreed. Thanks again. Maybe I'll come and cheer your friends on at a Team USA volleyball match."

"We'd love to see you. Here…" Bo took her napkin and his pen. She wrote the name of her hotel on the napkin and handed it to him, "Leave a note at the hotel if you're coming and they'll make sure you have seats. The venue is Copacabana Beach."

"I know." He smiled, "I know all of the venues for every event. I am a bit of an Olympics… what do you call it in America... a junkie?"

Bo laughed, "That's right… addicted to the Olympics. Kenzi and I used to watch the whole thing from sun up to sun down with my parents when we were kids."

"We do that at our house too! It's so exciting, isn't it?"

Bo loved how the young man's eyes glittered with excitement. She remembered seeing that excitement in Kenzi's eyes when she was really young.

"It is very exciting." Bo smiled as the four women stood to leave, "Well, we must be going. These ladies need their rest. Take care, be safe and have fun at the match."

"I will. Thank you!" The boy smiled waving the four tickets at his customers as he headed towards the kitchen.

Bo smiled, "Well, that's a feel good moment."

"You're a god woman." Lauren whispered, kissing Bo on the cheek, "Now please take me to the med tent? I'm really not feeling well, Bo."

"I'll second that." Tamsin said, leaning on Kenzi's shoulder.

Bo and Kenzi looked at each other, worried, "Let's get a move on Bo-Bo."

The brunette nodded and headed for the door, the sisters helping the two athletes through the exit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The walk back to the beach had been brutal. The sun was high and it was hot. They kept the two girls sipping water from the extra bottles Bo and Kenzi were lugging for them, but it didn't seem to be helping much. They'd tried to flag down a ride, but had no luck. When they finally arrived, the new coaches were waiting for them.

"Whoa, I thought you'd look better after sitting in an air conditioned restaurant, drinking water and getting some grub into you." Casey remarked.

"Long walk back. We couldn't hitch a ride. Everything is packed around here." Bo commented, helping Lauren onto the table that Misty pointed to.

"Welcome to Olympic life. I've never been to a games where it wasn't packed. Sometimes it makes you feel alive and sometimes it makes you feel exhausted."

"I vote for the latter right now." Tamsin moaned climbing onto the table. She suddenly gripped her calf and let out a scream before she went silent, holding her breath.

"CRAMP!" Misty yelled, a trainer moving to her side instantly and taking hold of the blonde's lower leg.

Flexing back her foot, he extended her leg and began to massage the offending muscle, causing Tamsin to scream out louder, "Try to relax, Tamsin."

"Yea, right!" She yelled, her brows knit together in anger for several moments before the cramp began to subside.

Meanwhile, Bo was watching as Lauren had an I.V. inserted into her arm and a bag of fluid hung on the pole next to her bed,

"What's in that… uh… Doctor Mansfield, is it?" She asked reading the name on the man's lab coat.

The man looked at Lauren, "She's my girlfriend Bo and that's her sister, Kenzi. It's okay to share."

He looked at Tamsin who nodded as well, "They're our people. The ONLY people we'll trust now other than our personal coaches. Shit."

Tamsin put the back of her hand over her eyes and bit her lip as the trainer continued to work on her legs.

He nodded and turned to Bo as he continued his initial assessment of the athlete, "Yes, I'm Doctor Mansfield, the Head Doctor of for Team USA. I was called in for this case by the USOC to determine the level of negligence on the part of their former coach."

"Thank you for being here, Doctor. Can you tell me what's wrong with them?" Bo asked, taking Lauren's free hand.

"Well, their Misty and Casey have gone over the workout and hydration schedule that they received from the USOC. What's actually wrong with them we can't conclusively know without drawing blood and we don't want to do that right now with the suspected level of dehydration."

Bo looked at him, still a bit confused. Kenzi spoke, "English, please?"

Lauren wanted to explain, but she was just too tired to get it out. She decided to play the good patient and allow Dr. Mansfield to explain.

"Well, for now, we are treating them for exercise-associated hyponatremia or EAH."

"Hypo-what now?" Kenzi and Bo asked in tandem.

The man smiled at Lauren who rolled her eyes and gave a weak smile, "As I'm sure Lauren would tell you if she wasn't so exhausted, we're treating them for EAH, a fluid-electrolyte disorder that is caused by a decrease in sodium levels or hyponatremia during or up to twenty-four hours after prolonged physical activity."

"So you're giving them what, water and sodium in that bag?" Kenzi asked.

"Basically. It's a hypertonic solution that we hope will correct their plasma sodium levels since trying to hydrate orally at this point will take too long to get them back on the court."

Bo stared at the bag, "There's nothing in there that can get them in trouble for doping or anything, right?"

She watched as Tamsin and Lauren's eyes went wide, but Misty and Casey quickly reassured the pair,

"Dr. Mansfield knows the rules. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize your hope for a medal. Casey and I have known him for our entire careers and trust him with our lives. You're in good hands… really." Misty smiled as Casey nodded in agreement.

Dr. Mansfield explained further, "Tamsin is already cramping, so we really don't have a choice but to take action. The reason athletes are brought to the site of the games two weeks early is to acclimate to the conditions. Our training center is in Colorado, but Tamsin and Lauren were smart to train in Hawaii. It's closer to this climate, though definitely cooler. The added heat is what they were to acclimate to, but their workouts were not assigned in the progression that would allow for that."

Bo summarized, "So they were asked to do too much too soon. They might as well have showed up on day one and played."

The doctor nodded, "And they had practices three times a day, with film and very few water breaks from what I read in the report. I have never seen an athlete in this condition in all my years with Team USA."

"So you think Lachlan's guilty?" Kenzi asked.

"I'm not permitted to comment on that, but… I will say…" He looked up at Misty and Casey, "I'm on their side."

Bo and Kenzi looked at each other and sighed. This whole situation sucked, but at least their friends had the right people in their corner now,

"So, nothing will show up in their pee, right?" Bo wanted reassurance that their medal chances wouldn't be compromised or worse yet, that a doping scandal wouldn't haunt them the rest of their lives as she'd seen with other athletes.

"This treatment is not used frequently because there are risks of which Lauren is well aware."

Lauren nodded, giving Bo's hand a squeeze.

"Risks?" Bo asked, looking down at Lauren. The blonde gave her a soft smile and spoke quietly,

"Rapid re-hydration outside the context of medical emergencies is not worth the risk because it can cause infection, bleeding, soft tissue infiltration and air embolism. It also bypasses the digestive process which could cause enzyme and hormone issues, something that has unknown impacts on athletic performance."

"So you don't even know what this will do to you?" Bo asked, panicked.

Lauren was too exhausted to reply, so she looked at Dr. Mansfield and nodded. He smiled and turned to Bo,

"Bo, if we don't do this, I cannot clear them to play. There is no way I can get them hydrated and cleared to play by morning after next. Do you see this little mechanism on this tube? It controls the rate at which fluids enter. I'm hydrating both of them slowly to allow their bodies to recognize the additional fluids. While we don't have enough time for oral hydration, we do have enough time for slow IV hydration."

"So the doping thing…"

"We are well within our rights. We are only permitted to use IV hydration in the event of a medical emergency. While you were feeding them, I was consulting with the doctors of the IOC and getting permission."

"What's the IOC?" Kenzi asked.

"The International Olympic Committee… well… their doctors." Dr. Mansfield clarified, "We are permitted to administer fifty milliliters every six hours for those deemed in emergency need for every sport except wrestling where weight management and hydration are actual factors of responsibility for the athletes."

"Glad I'm not a wrestler." Lauren mumbled, offering Bo another weak smile.

"I'm sure you'd kick ass if you were." She leaned down and kissed Lauren on the forehead, "I'm so sorry this is happening to you."

Lauren nodded and closed her eyes, "I'm so grateful you're here. I'm going to sleep now if that's okay."

"I'll be right here." Bo whispered.

"You and Kenzi should go see the sights." Lauren said, turning her head towards Kenzi, taking a peek at the younger sister.

"Not a chance, Hotpants. We're staying right here with our girls until you're ready to go back to your rooms." Kenzi assured.

"Thanks, Kenzi." Lauren mumbled before she sighed and fell into a deep sleep.

Bo laughed, "I'm not sure she'll remember any of that conversation."

Kenzi laughed as well, "Well, Tamsin's out, thank Poseidon."

"Poseidon?" Dr. Mansfield asked.

Casey laughed, "They're surfers… Poseidon is…"

"Got it… the Greek God of the Seas." Dr. Mansfield smiled in return, before his eyes suddenly went wide with recognition, "Oh my… you're… you're Bo Dennis! I've been following your case!"

He walked over to Bo and looked down at her legs, "You're walking! It's amazing! I'm… who took over your therapy?"

"Took over?" Bo asked, looking at Kenzi.

"Well, I live in California and my kids are surfing nuts. They are hoping my wife and I will give them permission to go on a field trip with their school to take lessons at Mavericks, but…"

"Let 'em." Kenzi interrupted.

"What?" Dr. Mansfield asked.

"Kenzi." Bo warned, "It's not your choice."

"No, it's not but if he doesn't let 'em go, they'll find a way to go themselves… unsupervised." She emphasized the word staring at her sister, "You and I both know I'm right, Bo."

Bo turned to the doctor, "She may have a point. Teenagers who think they're the next great surfers go there all the time and try to handle Mavericks, but it's not somewhere kids should go without a professional or local with them."

Dr. Mansfield nodded, "That's what my brother said. I played beach volleyball as a kid. He was the surfer. He's on their side, my wife is a New Yorker who knows nothing about the sport and is terrified every time they take their boards out."

"And their Dad?" Kenzi asked.

"Their Dad just wants them to be happy and live their dreams… albeit safely." He smiled. Bo nodded, "I can certainly understand that."

"So you think I should let them go?"

"It's really not my decision, Doctor. You should go there and see it for yourself, talk to the professionals your child will be working with and then make the decision." He nodded, "So, what about you?"

"Yea, about that. How do you know someone took over my therapy? I mean… how do you know about me at all? Surfing isn't exactly an Olympic sport."

"Yet." Kenzi emphasized.

Bo smiled, looking down at Lauren when she felt the blonde's hand twitch in her own. She used her other hand to trace light patterns up and down the blonde's forearm, hoping she would relax.

"Well, as Kenzi implied, surfing is going to be an Olympic sport. The medical team is already in the planning stages for how we are going to handle it. None of us are surfers, so we're starting to interview prospective doctors who understand the sport."

Bo smiled, looking down at Lauren, "Well, I might have to recommend my girlfriend."

Kenzi smiled as well, "Yea, she's falling in love with my sister and the sport. We finally got her up on a board a little over a month ago. We've all but banished the fear monster from the good Doctors' head."

Doctor Mansfield nodded, "I hope you don't mind my saying that it is a little… how do they say it here… loco?"

Bo laughed, "I've been called that by many of my friends at a local surf spot here."

"I saw some video of you… that's how I finally recognized you. Are you going to get back out there?"

Bo lowered her eyes to Lauren. She hated when people asked her that question. She really didn't know how to answer it, but naturally, Kenzi jumped right in,

"Of course she is! She's already been back in the water thanks to Mitch!"

Dr. Mansfield's eyes hesitated in leaving Bo's, noting her hesitation to answer, but he managed to turn his attention to Kenzi, "Mitch? Mitch Graham?"

"Yup." Kenzi nodded, before her face twisted, becoming suspicious, "Wait… how did you know Bo switched to a new therapist?"

"I'm on the board that investigates malpractice with regards to athletics. Your sister's case is one that I'm privy too, although I relinquished my duties to another doctor since my absence to be here would have held up the case. They are looking to make a swift decision considering the heinousness actions of the medical professionals involved."

Kenzi went to speak, but Doctor Mansfield put up a hand, "And before you ask, I am not permitted to comment further on the case, though I'm sure you are as distraught about what happened to your sister as you are about what has occurred with your two friends here."

Kenzi nodded, "You got that right."

She hated seeing Tamsin laying here like this. Her new friend was so full of life, spunk and rebellion… she had been looking forward to raising hell with her in Rio once they were done playing and had the gold medal securely in their grasp. Looking at her now was tough… she looked so small… so weak.

"Kenzi?" Bo called to her younger sister, "Doctor Mansfield asked you about your goals for surfing.

Shaking off her thoughts, Kenzi looked up at the doctor, "I'm going to break all of my sister's records, of course."

Bo laughed, "And she will… just as soon as I retire."

"You're retiring?" He asked.

"Not right now, but it's always on my mind." Bo replied.

"Well, you're in good hands with Mitch. He's under consideration for a position with the team for the next Olympics. Since he'll have experience rehabilitating a surfer, maybe we need to dig a little deeper with him."

"He's been great. I wouldn't be back on a board yet without him, I'm convinced." Bo smiled.

"So…. Could I trouble you two for an autograph? I mean… for my kids?"

Bo and Kenzi looked at each other, as the younger sibling pulled out her phone, "We'll do you one better… do your kids have Facebook?"

"My daughter does." He replied, opening up to his daughter's Facebook page and handing his phone to Kenzi, "My son isn't old enough… no social media until they're sixteen… my wife's rule. She works in school counseling and has seen how much cyber bullying goes on because of social media. She said the kids need to develop a filter before they should be 'free' to roam the web and comment on things people say or post."

"I hear you there. Bo and I spend most of our time trying to sort out the comment worth replying to and the ones that are just haters. Remember that girl Becky, Bo?"

Bo laughed, "Becky was this teenage girl who used the screen name smurfergirl14."

Kenzi explained to the confused doctor, "She loved the Smurfs and she loved to surf." "I see." He replied as Bo continued,

"She came to a competition and asked me for my autograph after I won, but her friend called her out while she was standing with me."

"Called her out?" He asked.

"It turns out that smurfergirl14 was one of those people posting hate mail on Bo's Twitter feed. Her friend told Bo while she was about to sign her autograph." Kenzi explained.

"So what did you do?" Doctor Mansfield asked, but Kenzi was the one who responded,

"She was the exemplary professional, as always. She knelt down in front of Becky and asked her to take her hand…"

 _Flashback… six months ago…_

" _Do you feel that, Becky?"_

" _Feel what?"_

" _My hand, my skin… I'm a real person… do you feel that?"_

" _Uh… yea."_

" _Well, real people, like you and me, we have feelings and those feelings can be hurt by things that people say whether you're twelve or twenty. It hurts my feelings that you would say mean things to me on Twitter as if I was some machine and then stand here and ask me for an autography that could possibly pay your college tuition if I win the championship and you sell it on EBay ten years from now."_

" _I didn't mean it."_

" _You see, now here's the problem with that statement, Becky. I don't really know if you're telling me the truth because you mean it or because you want me to sign this autograph right now. Do you understand?"_

" _I really am sorry."_

" _Well, how about this. I'm going to give you this blank piece of paper right now. The next time you see me, no matter where I am or what I'm doing, you walk right up to me and ask me again."_

" _But what if I never see you again?"_

" _You're a surfing fan, right? Do you really plan to never go to a surfing competition ever again?"_

" _No way!"_

" _That's what I thought. So, the next time you see me, ask and I'll let you know if I've decided to give you an autograph, okay? I need to think on this one. You bullied me online, Becky. I can't just give out my autographs to anyone, now can I?"_

 _Becky frowned, watching Bo sign her friend's autograph, "I guess not."_

" _And don't be mean to your friend because she called you out. She did the right thing. You can't very well do one thing and say another. That's lying and you don't ever want to be a bully or a liar… not if you want to be a surfer. In our sport, if people bully people into getting onto waves they're not ready for or lie about surfing conditions, people get hurt."_

 _Becky nodded as Bo stood to leave, "I'll see you around, Becky. And next time, if you've stopped being a hater, I'll give you that autograph, a picture and maybe a little something else."_

 _Becky's eyes went wide, "Really?"_

 _Bo nodded and walked away with her sister in tow, "Have I told you you're the coolest woman on the beach, Bo-Bo?"_

" _Nope, not until now. I always thought that was you."_

" _Nah… today it's you. I'll reclaim my title tomorrow." Kenzi smiled, smacking Bo on the ass._

 _Present Day…_

Kenzi hit post on her phone after finding the teenager's page, then turned the phone around and showed the doctor,

"Oh my goodness, she's going to be thrilled."

Kenzi finished with her own phone, "I posted it on each of our pages as well. Her friends are going to go bananas in about three… two… one… and there it is!"

She turned the phone around so Bo could see all of the likes and comments posting. Doctor Mansfield smiled,

"I'll never understand why 'likes' are so damn important to these kids. Hell, some of them have killed themselves trying to do things to get likes… but my daughter will definitely be happy about this. Thank you."

Bo and Kenzi nodded, "You're welcome."

"Well, I've got other athletes to check on. Your friends will need another fifteen minutes or so, then they need shade, air conditioning, sleep, water, fruit, veggies and more protein… then some carbs on game day."

"Got it, Doc." Kenzi replied.

"Is it okay for them to be alone in their room in the Olympic Village?"

"There are team doctors in the hotel, so they should be fine if they go back there, but it couldn't hurt for them to have someone with them around the clock. Your hotel might be more private. I could call the hotel doctor for you."

"That would be great, but we'll wait to see what they want to do when they wake up. I wouldn't want to predict where they'll feel more comfortable."

The doctor nodded, "I don't expect any of the complications Lauren mentioned, but... well…"

Bo smiled, "I know… that's why they call them complications. I heard that for last six months of my life."

Doctor Mansfield smiled, "I'm sure you have. For what it's worth, I really do hope to have a chance to see you surf some time soon. Your name is quite big in my house and they're starting to talk about your little sister here as well."

"She certainly is an up and coming force in the surfing world. I think she could be in the Championship next year." Bo beamed proudly at her little sister.

He looked at Kenzi, "Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks." Kenzi smiled, "I've got a great team behind me, so I've got everything I need… I just need to make it happen."

"I'm sure you will young lady. You've got spunk." The doctor smiled, offering a hand to Bo and then Kenzi, "It's been very nice meeting you. I'll check in on the girls in about fifteen minutes if I'm able. If not, Doctor Jacobsen will look in on them."

"Okay. Thank you again, Doctor Mansfield." Bo smiled.

"You're welcome Bo." He looked at her sister and nodded, "Kenzi."

"Bye, Doc." Kenzi said, pushing her hands into her back pockets as she looked down at Tamsin, "She looks so small, Bo."

The brunette moved over to her sister's side and put an arm around her shoulder, "She'll be okay, Kenz."

"Yea. I guess." Kenzi replied, unconvinced.

"You two have gotten pretty close in the past couple months, huh?" Bo asked.

"I dunno… I guess so, yes. She gets me and I like her snarky comebacks."

"She does keep pace with your quips." Bo smiled.

"Look… chairs." Kenzi pointed towards the Team USA folding chairs that were leaning up against the tent poles in bags.

"Do you think they'll miss two of those?" Bo asked.

Kenzi looked around, not seeing any in use, "Doesn't look like they're needed for anyone but you and me at the moment."

"Well then, I think they have our names on them." Bo smiled, handing one to Kenzi.

"How about Lachlan? It looks like he's going to lose his job. I hope Evony wasn't counting on alimony to support her when she gets fired from her job and loses her license."

Bo smirked, "I know, right? It certainly doesn't look like she'll be using surfing to replace her income."

Kenzi leaned back in the chair, her fingers absent-mindedly toying with the ends of Tamsin's hair that was hanging from the table,

"They're SO going to oust her from the WSL. I can't wait." Kenzi laughed.

"Yea, I just wonder when we can expect the retaliation." Bo replied.

"True." Kenzi thumbed her phone screen with the hand that wasn't twisting Tamsin's hair, "I think I have an idea about that one, though."

"Kenzi…" Bo warned, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking of calling the boys at Banzai Beach and asking them to check her out… see what she's up to."

"Is that all?" Bo asked.

"Scouts honor." Kenzi said, crossing her heart.

"Girl Scouts don't cross their hearts and besides, you were kicked out of Brownies."

"I know, but that's only because allowed to go back to graduate to Girl Scouts because of that silly little incident."

"You put a thumb tack on the troop leader's chair, Kenzi!"

"It was just a little one and she only sat on it for a second! You should have seen how fast she jumped up, Bo… and how high she jumped… it was truly epic. Kenzi at her best."

"You got kicked out… of _Brownies_!"

"But you didn't even get in! At least I can say I got in."

"I never signed up."

"You have no idea what you missed." Kenzi shrugged.

"You do realize you're playing with Tamsin's hair, right?" Bo asked.

"It's really silky." Kenzi replied.

"Oh really?" Bo smirked.

Kenzi realized in that moment what she was doing and quickly dropped the hair and pulled her hand away,

"These are really comfy chairs." She changed the subject.

Bo looked at her sister, curious, "Uh-huh. Comfy."

Kenzi looked up at the bag of liquid attached to her friend, blushing. What was wrong with her?

Bo laughed at her sister, wondering what was going on with her and the blonde. She laughed, chalking it up to some sort of common bond. Looking up at Lauren, she noticed her mumbling,

"No! Breathe… breathe, Bo!" Lauren's face was twisted in a fearful scowl as she cried out desperately.

The brunette stood and moved to her girlfriend's side. She'd thought the nightmares of the days she'd drowned had stopped for the blonde. She frowned, leaning down to place a kiss on Lauren's forehead before she whispered,

"I'm here, sweetie. I'm safe." She took Lauren's hand in her own and kissed the knuckles, "No need to worry."

She dragged the chair back over and sat by Lauren's side, holding on to her hand. She watched over the next few minutes, as the crease in the blonde's brow seemed to melt away. She hoped that the rest of Lauren's Olympic experience was better than what she'd been through so far.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tamsin and Lauren had opted for the private hotel rooms that Bo and Kenzi had gotten with their travel miles. Tamsin had requested sharing a room with Kenzi so that she didn't have to deal with Lauren whining about being away from Bo. Lauren had worried about not rooming with her partner since they were supposed to be bonding, but Tamsin assured her they had bonded plenty.

So, while Tamsin was getting settled in their room, Kenzi sat and talked to Bo and Lauren,

"So, I guess we're hanging here until tomorrow morning?"

Bo looked at Lauren who frowned, "I'm sorry, Kenzi. I feel like an idiot now. I'm a doctor for crying out loud. I should have questioned Lachlan as soon as he gave us the practice schedule two weeks ago. Tamsin and I thought it was overkill, but we at least figured there would be tapered workouts. The afternoon workouts were always the toughest… the hottest. How could I not have questioned him?"

"Because he's been driving you so hard for over a year now. He hasn't let up on you, Lewis. You learned to suck it up and do as you were told. He knew exactly what he was doing all along. I'm convinced of it. Dick." Tamsin said, crashing face first on the empty bed next to where Lauren and Bo were laying.

"Well, I think we should order room service and do a movie marathon… spoil you guys a little after the two weeks you've had." Kenzi suggested, running and jumping onto the bed next to Tamsin.

"Hey! Don't be so rough! My whole body hurts."

"Sorry Double T."

"It's okay Little K."

Bo smiled and whispered to Lauren, "They're adorable."

"What?" Lauren asked, putting her arm behind her head so she could see Bo better.

"I don't know… there's just… something."

"Bo, Tamsin's…"

"I know… so is Kenzi, but… I don't know."

Lauren nodded before the couple turned to Kenzi, "Let's order! I'm starved!"

"Kenzi, we just had lunch." Bo argued.

Tamsin protested, "I can eat. I can always eat. And can I have one of those bottles of water we got at the restaurant?"

Kenzi nodded, "I'll get it. They're in the fridge, eight in each room, which you two need to drink in the next forty-eight hours. Oh, and the Doc wants to see you tomorrow at noon for a physical. They're going to take blood out of you both."

"They're going to see if we've recovered enough to be cleared to play. Give me a bottle of water too, Kenz."

Bo could feel the worry coming off of Lauren in waves, "Hey, don't worry. We'll get you two back up to snuff."

Lauren leaned over and whispered to Bo, "I don't feel very good, Bo. I can't be the reason Tamsin doesn't play."

"You won't be, Lauren. I'm going to make sure of it." Bo smiled, "Give me that bottle. The Doc showed me a little trick."

She stood and moved across the room, "Tamsin, I need your bottle too."

The pair watched as Bo took their bottles of water and went over to the counter. She picked up two of the tall glasses and turned to Kenzi,

"Can you go get a bucket of ice, Kenz?" She held out the bucket.

"Right… it's at the end of the hall. Be right back."

"What are you doing, Bo?" Lauren asked.

"Well, full strength sports drinks have too much sugar. The Doc wants it diluted…"

"Of course, the level of electrolytes would be increased if you divide the volume into one part water and one part sports drink, giving us twice as many liters per volume in the end."

"If you mean I'm filling a glass half way with water and the rest of the way with sports drink then yes, that's what I'm doing." Bo rephrased, not sure what Lauren had said about volumes and electrolytes.

"Good idea." Lauren replied.

Kenzi came back in with the ice and placed a few cubes in each glass, then took the two glasses to her friends.

"Drink up, ladies."

She crashed back on the bed with Tamsin and picked up the menu, "Okay… so… for food… what does everybody want?"

"The Doc said they need fruit, veggies and protein. So, how about smoothies and some kind of meat?"

"A burger. Do they have burgers in Rio?" Tamsin asked.

"Let's see… they have picanha… and pork… lamb and wild boar?"

"Wild boar?" Tamsin asked.

"That's what it says. You better not eat that."

"Why not?" Tamsin asked.

"You'll get boar-ing… get it? Boar-ing." Kenzi laughed hysterically, making Tamsin laugh at how hard she was laughing at such a lame joke.

"Well, I'm not eating lamb. They're just too damn cute to be sacrificed, even for my empty belly."

"You're belly isn't empty, Tamsin." Lauren grumbled.

"Hey! You don't know my belly! And what's wrong with you anyway, Grumperella?" Tamsin shot back.

"I feel like shit!" Lauren said, gripping her head with both hands, "I have a headache."

Tamsin looked at Kenzi, "Let's go in our room so we can order the best of Brazil's luxury hotel room service so that Lewis can sleep."

Kenzi looked up at her sister, "It's fine, Kenz. Go on and feed your friend. I'll stay here with Lauren. Can you do me a favor and order her that smoothie, though? I'll get her some food later on."

Kenzi nodded, "You've got it, Bo." She looked at Tamsin who rolled off the bed and right onto the floor, "You okay?"

"A little dizzy. Sorry 'bout that." Tamsin said as Kenzi helped her to her feet. Once she was steady, she leaned down over Lauren and kissed her forehead, "See you soon, partner."

"You bet, T." Lauren replied, rolling onto her side.

Bo went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cool water, bringing it out for Lauren. She drew the blinds shut, blocking out the sun and then laid the rag across her girlfriend's head,

"Ahhh… that feels good." Lauren smiled.

Bo sat down in the chair next to the bed and watched her girlfriend adjust the pillow under her head.

"Why are you so far away?" Lauren asked.

"I want you to be cool and sleep, sweetie." Bo replied.

"I'll sleep better if you're lying next to me."

"My body heat will just make you warmer." Bo replied.

"I don't care, Bo. Please? I need you near me… I'm… I just…"

Bo climbed into the bed and faced her girlfriend, taking her hand into her own and kissing the back, "I'm right here, Lauren."

"Hold me, Bo. I want so much for you to just hold me." Lauren asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hey… none of that, now. You're okay. Two days from now you're going to be back on that court and playing your heart out. We're just going to have to be really careful for the rest of the tournament. You'll only go out at night, play during the day. Once your week of play is over, then we'll enjoy the sites of Rio. I'll take you to my surf spots and you can meet my friends Manny, Miguel and Enzo… well, Enzo may not be back but hopefully you'll get to meet him before we leave."

"Bo, I feel so foolish. You and Kenzi are trapped here with us because neither of us could see that we were being played… quite literally. I mean, we're professionals for crying out loud! We should have listened to our bodies!"

"How did you get this far, Lauren?"

"I started to feel bad a couple of days ago, but I just started drinking lots of water. I was worried about food poisoning, so I switched to bottled water and had Tamsin do the same. I didn't know what it was when it continued… I thought I was drinking enough, trusting that Lachlan wouldn't have been shortening our water breaks. I just thought I was just so tired or so sick that the breaks just felt shorter and the workouts just felt longer. I decided it was mind over matter… I mean… that's what he said. I've been so determined to prove him wrong, that I just kept accepting the challenge. Then, about halfway through today's match, I told Tamsin I was hungry. By the end of the match, I was dizzy and chilled."

"And chills are a sign of heat exhaustion." Bo said, knowing those symptoms from attending and working at summer camps in California when she was young.

Lauren nodded, "I have a really bad headache."

"That's the dehydration, Lauren. Drink, then you'll sleep and repeat. Every time you wake up, I promise you'll feel better. Okay?"

"Okay." Lauren replied, "I love you, Bo. I'm so relieved you're here."

"I'm not going anywhere, Lauren."

"If you want to go surf with your friends…"

"Next week, Lauren. I'm fine… and my training can work as long as I do my exercises every day. I'll have to go to my therapy appointment in the morning, but I scheduled them for daily at six o'clock so I would be able to eat breakfast with you if you wanted me to. Let's just focus on you right now, okay?"

"I just don't want you to lose ground in your training because of my stupidity." Lauren said.

"I know, baby. I'm fine. Drink… sleep… repeat."

Lauren smiled, downing the rest of the bottle. Bo took the empty, screwed on the lid and tossed it on the other bed. Lauren snuggled into her chest and within minutes was sound asleep, the feel of Bo's gentle touch comforting her.

"I love you, Lauren." Bo whispered as she felt her girlfriend relax into her embrace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lauren opened her eyes to find Bo was no longer in front of her. She leaned back expecting to find her on the other side, but she was gone. Sitting up, she realized she was alone in the room. She suddenly felt her full bladder and ran for the bathroom trying desperately to hold it in. She got to the commode and sighed at the sensation of release. She stood, flushed and looked in the mirror as she washed her hands.

"Geez, Lauren you look like shit. Is it any wonder Bo ran away."

She dried her hands and went in search of a toothbrush from her suitcase, but when she looked down, she saw a note on the counter,

" _Good Morning, Sleepyhead! I had to go to my PT appointment. I had room service bring up an extra toothbrush and toothpaste. There's soap, shampoo and conditioner in the shower. I'm sure you're ready to wash off the day you had yesterday. There is a smoothie and a bowl of fruit in the refrigerator. There's also a little bit left from my dinner last night. It may not look super appetizing, but it's really good for you and I actually really liked it. Just zap it in the microwave for a few minutes. I've ordered you room service breakfast to be delivered at eight a.m., when I plan to call to be sure you're awake if I'm not back yet. See you soon! Hugs and kissed, Bo."_

Lauren smiled as her fingers traced the toothbrush box laid carefully on the counter next to the box of toothpaste, a washcloth and a thick, cotton towel. She looked at the shower and realized there was a Jacuzzi tub,

"You are just what the doctor ordered." She smiled at the warm bath.

Turning on the water, she bent down to make sure it was not too hot and not too cold. She went to turn away when she saw lavender and vanilla bath oil on the rim of the tub,

"Mmmm… Bo's favorite… it will be like having her here with me." She smiled, pouring the oil into the bath.

She walked out into the room and pulled the smoothie from the refrigerator, then noticed two more behind that one. She saw a note on top of the fridge. Opening it, she read,

" _Lauren, you're supposed to have fruits AND veggies, so I got you four… two of each. You're the doctor, but I'm thinking you should start with the fruit one since it will help get your sugar levels up so you have energy to stay awake for a while. Plus, it has_ _Açaí in it, which is one of those super foods. You can be super girl tomorrow!_ _Remember to drink one of the bottles of water as well, and then see if you can down my leftovers from dinner before breakfast comes. We've got to get some calories back in you. I'll see you soon, baby. Bo xoxo."_

Lauren pulled the almost bluish pink smoothie from the fridge and went back to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and then stripped off her dirty clothes, dropping them on the floor. She put her smoothie on the shelf above the tub and slid into the water, closing her eyes with a sigh. She instantly enjoyed the sensation of the water jets on her back and legs. Grabbing her smoothie from the shelf, she leaned back into a relaxed position and began to sip from the straw. With a smile on her face, she spoke to the empty room,

"Now this is an Olympic experience I could get used to." She smiled, turning to her phone and opening her music app. She turned on her relaxation playlist and slid back under the water with a sigh.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lauren hadn't realized what time it was when she had gotten into the Jacuzzi tub. She heard the door open and her eyes went wide with worry. Had Bo left the door unlocked? It couldn't be Bo, could it? What time was it? Surely it was very early in the morning, right? There's not way she had slept until almost eight o'clock.

"Lauren?"

The blonde relaxed hearing her girlfriend's voice, but remained confused over the time. Did she skip therapy? Bo entered the room, carrying a tray,

"Hey. I ran into the room service guy on the way in. You look comfy…" Bo smiled, "… and deliciously naked."

"And you look like you should join me. You're sweaty." Lauren grinned, taking a sip of her smoothie, her tongue dwelling on the straw just before she closed her lips to swallow.

Bo crossed her legs, pushing down her libido. The Doctor had told her Lauren needed rest. This was no time for her to get horny.

"He worked me hard since I didn't surf yesterday. I'll put this out in the room and join you. Do you want a bottle of water yet?"

"I just got in here a few minutes ago and am still working on my first smoothie. You may not like the temperature. It's a little chilly."

"Chilly sounds perfect right now. It's hot out already. We're staying in today, so don't get any ideas if you feel better."

"I do feel much better." She called to Bo who left the room to deposit the tray, "The food sounds fantastic."

"I hope so. We can heat it up in the microwave." Bo said, stripping down and climbing into the tub behind her girlfriend, "I brought you a bottle of water anyway… and one for me."

She opened the bottle and took a long slip, "Wow, I didn't realize how thirsty I was."

"Oh, don't make that mistake." Lauren warned with a chuckle.

"Someone sounds like she's in better spirits." Bo whispered.

"I feel so much better." Lauren replied, leaning her head back against Bo's chest.

"I'm so glad to hear that. You really passed out yesterday."

"Did I really sleep since yesterday at three o'clock?" Lauren asked.

"You actually did get up to pee twice. The first time you made me come with you because you didn't want me to be alone." Bo laughed.

"I didn't want you to be alone and yet I wanted you to listen to me pee?" Lauren asked.

"Apparently." Bo replied with a chuckle.

"I don't remember getting up at all. It's like yesterday didn't happen once we left the restaurant. It's an odd feeling."

Bo smiled, "All that matters now is that you feel better today. We have another twenty-four hours to get you ready for tomorrow's game against the Netherlands."

Lauren nodded, "Well, I guess I better drink up then."

"Yup. You have a massage at nine a.m."

"A massage?" Lauren asked.

"Yes. Doc Mansfield is sending someone over." Bo replied.

"What about Tamsin?"

"Kenzi took her over to the medical tent last night. They gave her another treatment of IV fluids because she was still cramping. She went back for a massage at seven this morning and then she and Kenzi were going to eat in the dining room downstairs. I think she was getting a little stir crazy."

"Yea, Tamsin gets nervous during tournaments, so she likes to move around a lot. Any other time, she could sit on a couch all day long and not move."

"Wow. She and Kenzi are like sisters from another mister." Bo quipped.

"I'm starting to realize that as well." Lauren replied, finishing the bottom of her smoothie with a long slurping sound.

"Water?" Bo asked, offering her a bottle.

"No, you brought that in for you." Lauren shook her head.

"Actually, I brought this one in for myself. This one is for you. I was pretty sure you would be ready for it before you got out of the tub."

"It feels so good in here. I don't want to get out."

"I'm so glad Kenzi splurged on our rooms. We have so many miles and the deals we get all over the world are really great. We usually spend most of our time at tournaments at the beach, so we don't often splurge like this on a top rated hotel."

"Well, your girlfriend is certainly happy you did. I have a fridge, microwave and a great-tasting smoothie."

"I'm glad you are satisfied." Bo replied, feeling Lauren fingers tracing up and down her calves.

"Let's switch places. I want to wash your hair." Lauren smiled.

"Really?" Bo asked.

"Sure. Do you not like people to mess with your hair?" Lauren asked.

"Baby, you can mess with whatever you want. I will never deny you your urges." Bo replied.

"Well, in that case…" Lauren raised her eyebrows seductively, but Bo cut her off,

"Except that… I mean… right now. The Doctor said rest and we both know sex is one of the most strenuous exercises known to man. I promise you that once you have finished, we will make very good use of our five-star hotel room bed."

Lauren kissed Bo's lips softly, "Mmmm… and shower… (kiss)… and tub… (kiss)… and that counter… (kiss)… and the chair… (kiss)… and the balcony…"

Bo pulled away, "The balcony? Are you trying to get us arrested in a foreign country?"

"What? We can be quiet and do it when the sun goes down."

"You are bad, Doctor Lewis." Bo smiled, kissing her girlfriend.

"You like me when I'm bad, Bo Dennis, surfer girl extraordinaire."

Bo smiled, sliding to replace Lauren when the blonde stood and moved behind her. She gripped all of the thick brunette hair and pulled Bo gently back so her hair was completely submerged, and then sat her back up. Bo handed her the shampoo over her shoulder, which Lauren took and soon worked her into a good lather.

"So how was your workout?" Lauren asked.

Bo moaned at the sensation of Lauren's fingers massaging her scalp, "Mmmm… it was hard, but I was able to do ten two-minute wall sits. My quads are back and my legs feel pretty strong. I have to admit that after our walk to and from the restaurant I was a little tired, but I recovered pretty well after sitting for an hour while you were hooked up and then evaluated."

"I'm glad to hear that, Bo. Have you made any progress on your core? I know you said that was bothering you while you were surfing." Lauren asked as she rinsed the soap from Bo's hair, the silky feeling making her want to continue to run her fingers through the dark locks.

"Yea, it just makes me feel a little off balance somehow. It's getting better, but I think it's just going to take another week or two."

"Well, please don't let me stop you from getting your workouts in."

"I won't, baby. I know once you're off bed rest, things are going to get busy for you again." Bo expressed her understanding of Lauren's schedule so the blonde would know she didn't expect anything more than what she could give.

"Thank you for being so flexible." Lauren replied.

"I know you would do it for me if the roles were reversed." Bo got chills as Lauren ran the bar of soap up and down her back.

"Yes I would… lift?" Lauren asked, tapping her girlfriend's bicep. Bo complied allowing the blonde to slide the soap back and forth along the deep curve of her underarm before rubbing it back and forth along her sides, moving it around her body until she reached her stomach.

"Lauren…" Bo said her name as a whisper when she felt the blonde's hands slide around to her chest, one hand lifting each breast while the other washed beneath, then over and around the heavy, firm mounds of flesh.

Lauren knew she was being bad, but she just couldn't resist touching Bo. She allowed her thumbs to move back and forth across the hardened nipples, before dipping the soap down the center of her abdomen to the downy patch of hair that floated in the water beneath her hand.

The blonde pulled Bo back to lay against her chest, her head landing in the curve of her neck,

"Lauren, the Doctor said…"

"He said I couldn't have sex… he didn't say anything about you." Lauren whispered, "Let me give you your release, baby. I know you need it. I saw it in your eyes when you walked into the room."

She put the soap up on the shelf and then dipped her fingers down between the brunette's legs, her left hand sliding up between her legs, digits parting thick folds to find her core wet with her essence, her right hand repeated the action, then the left, then the right until finally, she entered her, a surge streaking straight to Lauren's core at the sound of her name spoken breathlessly into her ear.

She turned her head to face Bo's and captured her lips in a fierce kiss as her other hand moved to add to her pleasure. Bo reached behind her back and slipped her fingers between Lauren's legs, "Please, Bo."

The blonde pulled back, seeing the blush on the brunette's face, her eyes dark with need, her mouth agape as her breathing rate increased until finally, a look of pure bliss fell across her beautiful features. With eyes locked on the blondes, Bo's breathing ceased and, quite unexpectedly, Lauren's world stopped as she felt her own orgasm rip through her at the sight of her girlfriend coming literally right before her eyes. As they came down from the peak of their pleasure, Lauren leaned in and kissed Bo's lips softly, pulling away only enough to slide her lips up, down and around her girlfriend's lips, their breath shared as their eyes remained fixed on each other.

Bo finally smiled, "Wow. That was…"

"Beautiful." Lauren answered, "You're beautiful when you come for me, baby."

"So are you. I'm sorry… please don't tell Doctor Mansfield on me." Bo looked guilty.

"I promise I'll only tell if we lose the gold medal because I was too tired to play." Lauren teased.

"Well, if you make it to the gold medal round, then I think it will be because I gave you a great orgasm."

"It is a great motivator. If I win, I get orgasms?" Lauren laughed.

"If that's the motivation you need, I am more than happy to provide." Bo replied, kissing her girlfriend gently.

"Are you ready to get out of the tub? It's getting pretty cold now."

"I'm glad to hear you're actually cold. Your skin was burning up most of last night."

"Yea, I'm surprised the IV fluids didn't do more." Lauren said.

"I'm not since Tamsin had to go in for another treatment."

Lauren nodded, releasing her girlfriend so she could clean up and then get out of the tub before she followed suit. The two shared touches and kisses as they dried each other off and pulled on the thick cotton hotel robes. They moved out into the room where Lauren excitedly went right for the food tray and one of the green smoothies Bo had gotten for her.

"What's in this one?" Lauren asked, taking a sip while Bo took the plate from her hand and placed it in the microwave.

"I went to the hotel doctor and asked him what foods would be best in a smoothie for someone who was dehydrated. He had helped several athletes with the same problem, so he called room service for me and ordered it himself. Long story short, I have no idea but it tastes good."

"It probably has Kiwi fruit in it. It's green and sweet, so it takes much of the bitterness out of vegetables like spinach and kale that are also probably in the mix."

Bo nodded, pulling her girlfriend's plate from the microwave, "This breakfast is actually called The American."

"Two eggs, hashed browns, pancakes and a side of bacon… sounds pretty American to me." Lauren replied, "I mean, it's really two breakfasts in one, but it's all familiar."

Bo nodded, taking a bite of a piece of Lauren's bacon, "And it's good, too. But you should really try this stuff I had for dinner last night."

Lauren took a peek at the bowl her girlfriend pulled from the microwave, "What is it?"

"Okay, so it's called Feijoada and it's got black beans, sausage, pork… and then they serve rice, kale and this other stuff that we didn't recognize on the side, but Kenzi just mixed it all together. Here, taste."

Bo held up a spoonful to her girlfriend who smelled it, then licked it, then finally took the bite into her mouth. Bo waited anxiously to see her reaction which was finally a smile and a nod,

"Good. I'll eat some of that on the side with my breakfast and smoothie."

"Good girl. That's what I wanted to hear… a healthy appetite after about fourteen hours of sleep."

"Fourteen?"

"I got back just before eight, Lauren. You've been asleep since three o'clock yesterday. Other than your two little nighttime bathroom adventures, you didn't move." Bo lowered her eyes, causing Lauren to worry.

"Bo?"

"I was worried. I… I hope you don't mind, but… I was worried, so I called Doctor Mansfield last night. He came right over and check you out."

"He was here?" Lauren's eyes went wide.

"I wasn't sure you were alive! I mean… I knew you were alive because you were breathing, but we couldn't wake you up and I was afraid you were in a coma or something. He said I did the right thing by calling him. He said that since he could rouse you, it wasn't a coma, just exhaustion."

"Did he pull me?"

"What?"

"Did he pull me from the games?" Lauren's eyes were wide with panic.

"No, no, sweetie." Bo reassured her girlfriend, "I told you, you have an appointment at noon today in the med tent. So eat your breakfast. Your massage will be here soon, then you have a few more hours to drink and relax before we have to go, okay?"

Lauren sighed, "I'm sorry for snapping. I just…"

"It's okay. I'm sorry for bringing him here without your consent, but…"

"It's okay, Bo. You're not a doctor. I totally understand. I would have been worried if I'd been awake to know what was happening to me. You did the right thing. Come on now, sit and eat with me. I won't be able to eat all of this."

Lauren smiled, handing Bo the piece of bacon from her plate, "I'll trade you a piece of bacon for a piece of sausage?"

"Okay." Bo said, making the trade.

Lauren put down her fork and sighed, "I love you, Bo."

"I love you, Lauren." Bo smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Medical Tent, Noon_

"Well, ladies, your blood work looks good. We were particularly concerned about hydration levels, but this shows they have recovered significantly, "The doctor said, flipping through their charts, before he continued, "You will both likely be feeling a little slugglish today and tomorrow, but Casey and Misty are confident you should be able to play the match and play safely if you play smart. They're going to be meeting with you about how to minimize your water and caloric expenditures while maximizing your scoring opportunities later today."

"Today?" Tamsin groaned, laying back on the cot and throwing her hands over her eyes, rubbing her face.

"Yes, today… now, if that's okay with your escorts." Casey looked at Bo and Kenzi. Bo sighed, not really wanting Lauren to go anywhere but back to bed, but she knew her girlfriend needed to get up and moving today if she was going to play a match tomorrow.

"Sure. We'll find something to do." Bo replied while her sister nodded in agreement.

Lauren looked up at Bo, "Maybe you guys could go have some recreational fun with the locals on surfboards?"

"That would be fun, Bo-Bo. Let's go hit some junior waves. We'll have a distance contest." Kenzi said, giving Bo a high five.

"What's a distance contest?" Lauren asked.

"It's something our parents used to do with us when we were kids. You try to ride a wave all the way to shore without stepping off the board until the board beaches."

"Oh." Lauren replied, "Sounds like fun."

"Yup. We'll get you and Tamsin out there after your medal ceremony." Kenzi smiled.

"Short stack is very confident in our ability to win the gold." Tamsin explained to her partner, "It's all she's talked about since we got up today."

"She's not the only one who's confident. Sure, you had a little set back, but a little dehydration doesn't have to mean the end of your medal run. Personally, I think any medal at this point will say an awful lot about your character and fortitude." Bo said to the pair.

"Translation, she's still expecting gold." Kenzi said, nudging her sister.

"Fine, that's a little bit… well… a lotta bit… true." Bo laughed, earning a slap from Lauren.

"Go! Surf! Allow the Olympians time to be Olympic." Lauren said, waving the two away as she sat up from the cot.

"We will do as you command as long as you remember to take plenty of water breaks." Bo wagged her finger at the pair, her eyes focused on Lauren.

"Don't worry about that, Bo. Their coaches have that covered for sure." Casey assured, "Can you come back for them between four and five this evening? We want to make sure they get plenty of time for another big dinner and a lot of sleep."

Bo nodded, "Sure thing, Coach. Do you want them in the Olympic Village tonight?" Casey shook his head, "Nah. I mean… it's up to them, but Lachlan is staying there again, so I'm guessing they may not want to stay there."

"What!?" Bo and Kenzi said in unison, their eyes wide.

"Yea, I know. The IOC won't pass judgment until the USOC does a full investigation and submits a report. Until then, the room is paid for, as are his accommodations. I guess they have other concerns from their point of view." Casey explained.

"So are you saying the rooms that were paid for by Tamsin and Lauren's sponsors are okay vacant?" Bo asked, "Sorry, but in surfing, the sponsors would expect reimbursement."

Casey nodded, "Well, that's for the USOC and the IOC to worry about, isn't it? It won't reflect poorly on these two at all. They're just doing what they're told to do. We're telling them it would be a good idea to stay away from Lachlan. If they choose to come back to the village to be with the team, that's fine as well."

Lauren and Tamsin shared a glance before Tamsin spoke, "I'm up for another night or two in the hotel. I want to have the air conditioning, plenty of food and water as well as a comfy bed at my disposal until I'm sure I feel normal again. Lauren?"

"I agree with Tamsin… if it's not too much trouble for Bo and Kenzi." Lauren added, not wanting to assume anything.

"It's no problem. We are happy to play host to Team USA." Kenzi replied quickly, causing Bo and Lauren to snicker at the young girl's enthusiasm.

She noticed that everyone was staring at her and blushed, "What? I just want what's best for Tamsin… and Lauren." She added the doctor as almost an afterthought, leaving the couple to laugh again.

"Okay then, we'll let you get to it. Is Misty coming?" Bo asked, curious.

"She's going to meet us over there. She had a spot to do for the network. The two of us are sort of juggling two jobs here while they're waiting for the new commentators to come in to replace us."

"It's fine, Casey. We understand. We are just grateful that the two of you figured out our situation and stepped up to support us."

"Hey, we bleed red, white and blue. Of course we're there for you."

Tamsin smiled, "Well, thanks anyway."

"Okay then, let's get going. The Netherlands isn't going to give you the match just because you've been sick."

"Well, Kari and Lynn are friends of ours. We know their game and we know they play hard as hell. They may be a relatively new pairing, but they're both strong players who have been finding their rhythm as a team…" Lauren said matter-of-factly, "…and we may have a ton of fun together off the court or at beach bonfires, but when it comes to competition, they'll take advantage of any weakness in any opponent, friends or not. If they know we've been out of commission, they'll use that in their strategy."

Casey nodded, "And so will we. As Doc Mansfield told you, we have a strategy for you to converse water and shorten the match. Don't go letting your friends get into your head with what you know they'll do. Just stay focused on what we need to do. Our strategy is the only one that matters right now."

He sighed, looking between the two players, "We need you two to trust us, okay?"

The two shared a glance and then nodded, "You have so much experience in the sport… believe me when I tell you we have nothing but mad respect for the two of you. Where you lead, Lauren and I will follow." Tamsin said as Lauren nodded with her.

Casey smiled, "Okay then, let's head over to the courts and meet up with Misty."

He turned to gather his belongings leaving the four alone. Bo was the first to speak,

"Okay ladies, we'll go do our thing while you do yours. We'll meet you back at the courts between four and five."

Lauren nodded, "Be safe, Bo. Kenzi, please don't let her do more than she can. She can't afford an injury at this point. Let's keep her on track to be back on the circuit in a month."

Kenzi nodded, "That's the plan."

"Okay, see you soon." Bo said, leaning in and giving Lauren a soft kiss on the lips.

"See you soon, Bo." Lauren replied.

The two turned to see Tamsin and Kenzi side by side, talking privately. When they parted, they stepped apart, and then halfway back towards each other, then exchanged awkward arm punches and nervous laughs.

Bo laughed, "Yup… definitely something going on there."

"Are you going to ask?" Lauren whispered to Bo.

"Nope. Kenzi will talk to me when she's ready… which probably won't be much longer. If there is something going on, she'll be asking me the birds and the bees questions all over again."

"You gave her the birds and the bees talk?"

"Oh yea. She would never have handled that talk with my parents. She didn't even let my mom explain her period to her when she first got it." Bo laughed.

"So… just curious… why would she need that talk again?" Lauren asked.

"Uh… I gave her the straight talk… she is probably already thinking she has no idea what to do with a woman." Bo laughed watching Kenzi talking to Doctor Mansfield.

"So… she's never been with a woman?"

"Nope." Bo replied.

"Oh. Well, Tamsin has some experience in that department, but really… she's always been more into guys. This should be interesting."

"Yea… let's just hope it's not a flame-on with an early crash and burn. It would be awkward for us to have your best friend and my sister at dinner together, post relationship disaster."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure they both keep perspective." Lauren reasoned.

"Okay… however in the world one does that." Bo was skeptical, "I just want to make sure Kenzi isn't just sewing her curious oats. I don't want her to hurt Tamsin."

"Likewise." Lauren replied, "Okay… I've got to get going."

"Have fun… okay? Don't forget… this is all about playing a game that you love." Bo reminded.

Lauren thought to herself for a moment, then smiled, "You know, that's probably the best advice I've heard in years. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's a little lesson I learned after drowning." Bo replied.

Lauren shook her head and waved to her girlfriend before yanking Tamsin away from Kenzi. Bo watched the pair leave as Kenzi moved to her side,

"Okay, sis. Let's go find us some boards and waves."

Bo smiled, "Let's do it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She's holding' back, Kenz. What's up with her? She's different." Manny asked as he and Kenzi sat with their toes buried in the sand on the beach.

"She's in love, she's in physical therapy and… well… she died." Kenzi said, her eyes traveling down to where she was brushing some sand from her bare thigh before she refocused on her sister finally up on a wave.

"Died?" Manny asked, sitting up to look back at his friend.

"She didn't tell you." Kenzi made the statement more to convince herself that after a week with these guys, her sister had disclosed nothing to them.

"Well… obviously she didn't die, die. She drowned and had to be brought back. It took about five minutes."

"Shit, Kenz. I had no idea. Why didn't she tell us?" Manny asked.

"Dunno. Doesn't want you to see her as weak or afraid?" Kenzi guessed, but she was pretty sure that was the case.

"I'd never think Bo was weak. She rips it up with the best of 'em and she can sure as hell kick my ass… and all the guys here at the point."

Kenzi laughed, "Yea, you guys have battled many times."

"I've learned to watch her from afar rather than try to match her." Manny laughed. "So… is she… I don't know… better?"

"Her girlfriend has been good for her head. I don't know if she'd be up on a board yet if it wasn't for her." Kenzi replied.

"She told us she was seeing someone named Lauren who was playing beach volleyball in the games. That's really hype."

"Yea, they haven't had an easy time yet. We'll see how they do in their next match."

"They lost already?" Manny asked.

"Nah, just a little good old-fashioned Team USA drama. She and her partner, Tamsin, are at practice now. We're heading over to have dinner with them later."

Manny nodded, "That was a good ride, eh?"

"Not bad. She's not attacking the wave like she usually does, you're right about that."

"Well, now that I know what she's been through, I'm not surprised she's surfing the way she is, Kenzi." Manny admitted, watching Bo and Miguel paddle out for another set.

"Can you help her?" Kenzi asked, holding her breath as she waited hopefully for a positive response.

Manny watched his friend paddle, laughing with his brother, "Well, you can definitely see moments of the old Bo when she's out there… I mean… out there with all of us. It's when she's up on a wave that she just looks… different… like she's thinking or searching for something."

"Shit. You're right." Kenzi said, sitting up, "Look… see how she's looking around her?"

Manny watched for a few moments before nodding in agreement, "You're right. It's like she's looking for sharks or something."

"Not sharks… Evony." Kenzi sighed.

"Evony? The bitch from hell who got kicked off the Women's circuit?"

"One and the same." Kenzi said, standing up and offering Manny a hand up. He took the offered hand and allowed the raven-haired girl to help him to his feet. Brushing himself off, he began to follow her up the shore,

"Where are we going?" Manny asked.

"To run blocker for our girl. Gather the boys, Manny. I've got an idea for how to fix our girl's head."

Kenzi zipped up her springsuit, picked up her board and looked back at Manny, "See you out there in five?"

Manny smiled, putting his phone to his ear, "I'll see you in two." He winked, placing a finger over his free ear to block the sound of the ocean.

Kenzi smiled at her old friend, eyeing him with great appreciation, before turning towards the water. Pushing off through the breakwater, she began to paddle as she watched Bo with their Brazilian friends. They'd all met at a competition bonfire on the beach about two years after their parents had died. Enzo had challenge the pair to night surf with them. Kenzi had been afraid to try, but Bo being Bo had jumped at the chance. After catching her first wave, she'd pulled Kenzi into the water with her and the rest, as they say, is history.

Each year, several times a year, they would all get together whether there was a competition or not. They were like the brothers the girls had never had and they were always pushing them to try things their team wasn't willing to allow them to do. It's how Bo had landed her first 360 air years ago.

"Hey, Kenz! I thought you were done?"

The younger sister smiled as she paddled up next to her sister, sitting up to straddle her board. It made Kenzi's heart swell to see a smile on Bo's face that actually reached her eyes… one that wasn't put there by Lauren for a change. Not that those smiles were bad, but she knew Bo hadn't been this happy about surfing since the accident… maybe even longer.

"Yea, well I was, but then Manny and I were watching and… well… we noticed something." Kenzi eyed Miguel, now aware that he didn't know most of what Bo had been through.

"It's okay, Kenzi. I told them." Bo replied.

"You did?" Kenzi asked.

Bo nodded, "And I'm going to tell Manny just as soon as he gets out here." Bo nodded her head towards the man who was paddling towards them.

Kenzi mumbled, "I told him."

"Huh?" Bo asked.

Kenzi looked at her sister, "I told him, okay? I didn't know you hadn't told them. He was talking about you being different and I told him!" Kenzi's arms were held out to her sides, her finger stretching out as she spoke, "I'm sorry!"

Bo laughed, "It's okay, Kenz. We can just call it one last time I have to tell the story of my death."

"You lived. Stop calling it your death." Kenzi lowered her eyes, "And stop looking around. Evony isn't here, Bo… no one is here… nothing is going to happen to you."

"What?" Bo asked, not understanding what Kenzi was getting at.

"Manny was right. You don't even realize you're doing it. You're looking around out here… he thought you were looking for sharks, but I know they only person you're actually looking for out here is Evony. You think she's going to come out here and take you down for good. You've let her get into your head and now you can't relax and do what you do best."

"What are you talking about? You're making it sound like I'm paranoid or something." Bo said, looking over her shoulder.

"There… what are you looking for behind you?" Kenzi smirked.

"What?"

"You heard me, now answer my question."

Bo looked behind her, "A wave." She blurted out.

Manny and Kenzi looked at each other and then back at Bo, their lips twisted and heads cocked to the side, "Really? Is that all you got?" Kenzi asked.

Bo sighed, "Fine! I'm afraid! I'm afraid! Is that what you all want to hear? The great Bo Dennis is terrified of big water because she's afraid of what's under it! A rock, a reef… and yes… Evony! You know she's not going to stop until she has her revenge, Kenzi! She'll go for me, she'll go for you because you're my sister, she'll go after Vex, Dyson, Tamsin… and when she's done, she'll come after Lauren! Hell, we don't even know for sure that she isn't the one behind what Lachlan did to the two of them!"

Kenzi sighed, "Bo, she isn't here! You have to stop living in fear of what she may or may not do!"

"How do you know she isn't here, Kenzi? She has no reason to be in the states right now! She has no job and no family there! She has four reasons to be here! You, Tamsin, Lauren and me!"

"Bo, she's not allowed to leave the country! She has the lawsuit at the hospital and the one with the World Surf League that requires she remain in her home country. She's not here!"

The brunette sighed, her eyes going to the KB logo on her board. She continued to stare at the spot until she saw a large hand move across her own,

"Bo?"

She looked up into the kind eyes of her friend Manny… his sun-scorched, dark skin glistening with droplets of sea water, the long tightly curled locks of hair, framing his face dripping with small beads of moisture that down his shoulders. He gave her a sad smile,

"Bo, do you want to surf?"

"What?" Bo asked.

He smiled, "I'm asking you the easiest question there is for someone who grew up the way you did, Bo. Do you want to surf? Do you love it? Is it still a part of you?"

"I-I… I dunno."

He took Bo's hand and pulled her head into his chest. She relaxed against him instantly, as tears began to fall. She was so confused and she didn't know how to get back to where she used to be.

"Bo, look at me." Manny pulled back, but Bo held on tight, refusing to look up.

He urged her again, "Bo. Please… look at me."

She pulled away, eyes down, "Please?" He asked again.

She slowly raised her eyes to meet her friends, "What do you remember about surfing?"

She thought for a moment, "I remember when I loved it… I remember feeling the water and the turns and how happy I was… but that was a long time ago and I don't know how to go back there."

"Bo, we can never go back, my friend. Life is about moving forward… hell, even surfing is about moving forward. We always have to move forward. You know how I always used to tell you that you couldn't surf to win for your parents… that you had to surf to win for what was here and now… for what was in the future for you and your little sister?"

Bo nodded as he continued, "It was about moving forward, not back. Your parents laid the groundwork for you and your sister. They made you the young women you were when they died. Since then, you have moved forward. One step at a time, you have become the woman you are today… a great woman, Bo… a woman capable of so much more than you've already achieved. But you can't stop now. You have to have to faith in yourself and the people around you… that we are not going to let you get hurt again."

Bo eyes filled with tears, "I don't have any faith left in me, Manny. I thought after Dad died, that we'd be okay with Mom, but then she died. I thought we'd be okay alone, but then the system took Kenzi from me because I couldn't provide for her. When I finally dropped out of school and got a job, they gave her back only for me to realize that I was never going to have enough money to keep her in school. I couldn't afford an apartment, so I moved her into a shit hole of a home and fed her Spaghettio's for a year while dragging her to surf competitions with me so I could make some money on the side. I…"

"Stop! Don't do this, Bo! I love my life… I love my life with you… my life as a surfer and as we speak, our shit hole is being renovated into a new home as well as a new business. You are so far stuck in the past all worried about what you didn't give me that you can't even see what you have given me!"

"What? What have I given you, Kenzi? You haven't graduated college, you don't have a steady job and you're in you're a twenty-something who has lived in a shack for most of your life!"

"Hey! Walls are overrated! Besides, I am going back to school! I'm registered for online courses in the fall."

"You should be going back full time! It's what I promised…"

"Stop! You promised Mom I'd get a college degree. Well, there are options on how you do that these days. There are no options when it comes to the longevity of my surfing career, which, I might add, is what I truly love and want to do for a 'job' right now! Do not talk about it like because it's my job, I'm some sort of third-class citizen! Being somebody doesn't mean you have to be a doctor or an engineer, Bo!"

"She's right about that, Bo." It was Miguel who agreed, "I could live like a king if I wanted to. I'm a multi-frigging millionaire, sis. I don't need a job… hell, I'll probably never need a job. I don't need a big house, a lot of clothes or a fancy car. I just need my board, a wave and good people who want to do great things for the world."

"My dad would call that lazy." Bo replied, quietly mumbling to the logo on her board. Manny laughed, "You know what? I think it's time for a field trip. What do you think, bro?"

Miguel smiled, "I agree, bro. Let's get a few more waves in and then we'll take the Dennis sisters for a little tour of lazy town… unless you're too afraid of the big bad Evony getting to you through twenty-five of your bros from the point?"

Bo looked up, her eyes angry, until she scanned the area behind her friend and saw all of the guys from the point. Her mouth hung open as they all looked at her, smiling. "Y-you… you all came here? For me?" Bo asked.

Manny's cousin, Rico laughed, "Of course we did, Bo. We can't very well have the little girl we raised to be a champion get her ass kicked at the finals this year. We had to come and set you right."

Bo nodded, looking at the swell coming behind her, feeling the water as it flowed beneath her, raising her up and then laying her down as it passed. She sat feeling the ebb and flow of each wave until finally, she sighed a great sigh. Looking at Kenzi, she gave her a nod, "It's time."

"Full steam ahead, Bo-Bo. No looking back." Kenzi replied, with a hint of a question in her voice.

Bo smiled, "No looking back."

Bo turned to Manny, "Let's go big."

He asked, "Are you sure?"

"Go big or go home?" Bo replied.

Manny smiled, "Okay, let's paddle back to the cars, load up and move to where the real fun can be had."

Bo smiled, laying down on her board and paddling past her sister with a grin from ear to ear. It made Kenzi feel good to see her sister willing to give this a try.

Kenzi nodded, watching her sister paddle away from her, "Bo?"

"Yea, Kenz?"

"I don't want to bring you down now that you're all kinds of fired up, but… uh… your legs and your head… they're good, right? I mean… if we move to the big stuff… you can handle it? Lauren would break my ass if anything happened to you. I promised her I wouldn't let you do anything stupid."

Bo laughed, "Stupid is as stupid does, Kenz."

Manny laughed, "Oh no, the real Bo Dennis is back! Quoting Forrest Gump and shit… the girl is in it to win it!"

Kenzi shook her head, "What the hell does that mean anyway?"

Bo laughed and began to paddle away, followed by Manny and Miguel. Finally, Rico moved up next to Kenzi,

"Actually, we studied it in my American Literature class. It's a version of the fourteenth century saying 'handsome is as handsome does'… at least… I think it's that century. I could be off a few hundred years. Anyway, it basically means that stupid isn't how a person looks or talks, it's about how a person acts. In other words, you shouldn't judge a person by how they appear, but what they do. Let's just wait and see how Bo does. If she crashes and burns, then we know she was stupid."

Rico turned and paddled away, leaving Kenzi dumbfounded, "Not only does the guy take an American Lit course in college, but he also quotes _Top Gun_. I'm living in the Twilight Zone."

Jesus paddled by, "And you're quoting T.V. shows… just in case you thought you weren't just like your sister and friends."

Kenzi watched her friend glide by, shaking her head, "I swear I'm the only sane one in the bunch."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tamsin and Lauren walked from the court over to the water table where they were each handed a bottle and two bananas,

"One now and one tonight, ladies." The trainer said with a smile.

"Got it." Tamsin said with a wink and a smile, turning to walk away, but the trainer stopped her,

"That's not all, ladies…" She said, handing them two bottles of sports drinks, "… you know the drill, right?"

Lauren nodded, "Dilute by half with the water and down all four by tomorrow. Thanks."

Tamsin groaned, "I swear I'm gonna float away before tomorrow. If you find me out in the middle of the ocean, just grab the string I'm sure I will have attached so you can pull me in like a floatation device."

"Speaking of the ocean, I have a text from Bo. She wants us to catch a cab to… uh… well, she sent us GPS coordinates to…"

Tamsin looked at the phone, "The ocean?"

"Her text says Grumari? Have you ever heard of it?" Lauren asked.

"Nope." Tamsin said.

"You up for going?" Lauren asked.

"Well, since they cleared us to be outside today, I'm up for beach walking." Tamsin shrugged.

"They cleared us to _sit_ outside, not walk. I believe Doctor Mansfield's exact words were…"

"I know, I know… you can sit your ass in a beach chair, but under no circumstances are you to engage in any activity beyond the practice your coaches have had with you… kill joys."

Lauren laughed.

"What? It's not funny! I'm losing my mind being this still. If I don't get back to normal soon, you could find yourself playing with a statue tomorrow."

Lauren laughed again, "Okay, well let's go move your ass to some form of transportation so we can get to this beach." She wagged her cell phone in front of Tamsin before placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her towards the street.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, why are we here instead of Postinho?" Kenzi asked, "I was really hoping to surf there some time before the Oi Rio Pro next month.

Manny nodded to Kenzi, "I know and that's why we're here. You wanted to surf where the Pro is happening, right?"

"Yea, but…"

Manny shook his head, "I know, I know… but what you don't know is that a big ass storm hit us in early May and it eroded a good chunk of our most famous beaches including Bo's favorite…"

Bo's eyes went wide, "It hit Ilha dos Lobos?"

Manny nodded, "Yup. It's okay but they're rebuilding the beach right now. Plus, I thought you might not be ready for tow-in surfing."

Bo nodded, "That would probably be sort of stupid."

"And this isn't?" Kenzi asked, pointing out to sea, "What is this place? It hardly looks like the site for a major surf competition."

"This is Grumari. We're about forty-five minutes west of Postinho. Gorgeous, isn't it?" Miguel inhaled deeply, smiling as his eyes scanned the horizon.

Bo smiled, doing the same, "It's beautiful… completely natural and untouched by the crowds. It would be awesome to have a surf competition here. Get rid of the commercialism and take it back to its roots."

Kenzi laughed, "Dream on, Bo-Bo. Without that commercialism, you and I don't get paid."

Bo nodded with a sigh, knowing her sister was right. She listened as Miguel continued,

"Anyway, like it or not, Grumari is the newly elected site for the Oi Rio Pro, Kenzi. It's got a gorgeous beach and the nature preserve over there just adds to the beauty. There's a punchy beach break that supplies plenty of ramps and tubes out there. It has a consistent waveform with a deeper trench and channel than Postinho so it holds a bigger swell from every direction. I think you're gonna love it."

Manny nodded, pointing to the waves forming before them, "Check it out."

The group looked out to see a nice tube forming.

Bo smiled, "Let's do this."

Kenzi gripped her sister's arm, "You're sure?"

Bo looked back out to the waves, before turning back to her sister, "I am."

She gave Kenzi a soft kiss on the cheek and went back towards the car to get her gear.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 _THIRTY MINUTES LATER…_

"Thanks for the lift." Lauren smiled, paying the driver, "You're sure this is the place, right?"

"This is Grumari." The driver replied.

"What is this place?" Tamsin asked.

"Well, it's part nature preserve and part surf spot. It's actually going to be the place they have some major surfing competition next month. Sorry, I'm not much into surfing. Riding the waves of nature seems a little loco to me."

Lauren nodded, "I can understand why you would say that."

"Do you want me to wait, ladies?" the driver asked.

"No, we're supposed to be meeting friends here."

"Suit yourself. Here's my card if you need a ride."

"Thank you." Lauren nodded, taking the car, "Have a nice day."

"You too and good luck in your game tomorrow. I'll be cheering for Team USA all the way… I mean… until you play Brazil, of course."

Lauren smiled, "Of course. I would never expect you to cheer against your own team. We are not offended."

The man smiled and waved as Lauren closed the door. He pulled away, leaving the two standing alone.

Tamsin shrugged, "Well, let's head over the dune and check this place out. Bo and Kenzi must be around here somewhere, right?"

"I hope so. I'd hate to make him come back to pick us up after sending him away." Lauren replied, a little frustrated with her girlfriend.

Although the two had been given another treatment today, Lauren still felt a little tired. She didn't want to walk around too much so hoped that Bo wasn't far. She had thought she would be staying put and heading to dinner before back to the hotel to rest, but now, here she was walking around. The place was beautiful, sure, but why were they here?

She trailed behind Tamsin who moved over the crest of the dune in front of her. She hadn't expected her to stop so suddenly, so she ran right into her,

"Lewis!" Tamsin yelled as she fell forward over the dune with Lauren landing on top of her.

"Sorry." Lauren said, rolling off her partner, "Why in the world did you stop?"

Tamsin pointed out towards the water, "Look."

Lauren got to her feet, wiping the sand off before looking up to see Kenzi riding a huge wave, her board kicking left and right before she cut back and did a flip off the back side of the wave.

"Oh. My. God." Lauren said, swallowing hard.

"Wooohoooo! That's my girl! Ride it Kenz!" Tamsin yelled, her hands extended over her head, motioning a rock star pose.

They watched as Bo paddled into the next wave, "Oh God… Tamsin… she's…"

Lauren gripped Tamsin's arm, tightly. The blonde wrapped an arm around her partner's shoulder,

"She's doing what she loves. Look at her, Lewis… she's amazing." Tamsin tightened her grip around her partner, trying to will the strength to be supportive into her friend, "Cheer for her, Lauren… don't fear for her."

Lauren listened to Tamsin's words, allowing them to settle into her mind, then her heart, "Cheer for her… I can do that… I can… can't I?"

"She cheers for you, Lauren." Tamsin replied.

"Yea, but when was the last time a volleyball player drowned?" Lauren asked, biting her nails as she watched Bo disappear into a tube, "Where is she?"

"She's okay, Lauren… Kenzi told me about being inside a tube like that… she said it's calm, quiet and peaceful… right now, your girl is having quite the Zen moment, apparently."

Lauren held her breath, waiting for Bo to emerge. When she finally did, she exhaled, "Oh, thank God." She turned to Tamsin, "If she wants Zen, couldn't she just meditate?"

Tamsin laughed, "Lewis, I swear. Do you love the girl or not?"

Lauren watched as a smiling Bo picked up her board and paddled back out towards her friends, oblivious to her presence,

"I love her so damn much, Tamsin. I just… I don't want to lose her." Lauren replied.

The blonde nodded, "I believe it was the band .38 Special who advised us to _'hold on loosely, but don't let go… if you cling to tight girl, you're gonna lose control'_ , right?" Lauren nodded and continued, "And I think they also said _'you're baby needs someone to believe in and a whole lot of space to breathe in'_. I guess I need to listen to more musicians."

"Or at least take their advice." Tamsin replied, "Come on, let's go down to the water's edge and watch, okay?"

"Okay, but I swear if she gives me any reason to call on Doctor Lewis, I'm going to kick her ass." Lauren said, trudging along behind Tamsin.

"You mean spank her ass." Tamsin quipped over her shoulder.

"Ha. Ha." Lauren replied, "She could at least not have me struggling over sand dunes on my weak legs."

"Quit whining, Lewis. We're almost there." Tamsin replied.

Lauren immediately silenced her complaints, her eyes taking in the sight of Bo up on another wave. She watched as she cut back and forth across the top of the wave before sliding down the steep face. She looked like she was really in her element and though she couldn't see her face clearly, she would swear Bo was smiling. She sat down next to Tamsin and watched as she did a quick cut back and sailed up and off the wave, performing a tail grab of her surfboard before she disappeared from view behind the large breaker.

All Lauren could see was the large group of men behind the wave with their arms extended over their heads cheering for the brunette.

"Who are all of those men?"

Tamsin shrugged, "Hey, I got here when you did, remember? I know what you know."

"Sorry."

Tamsin sighed, "No, I'm sorry. I know you're worried, but… well… do you think you could just sit here and watch them surf? You know, like they're all just contestants in a huge surfing competition?"

"I know nothing about surfing. I mean… how do you win? It all seems very subjective to me. Is the winner just the one who looks coolest or hottest on the board? I mean, if so… Bo wins, come on shore, collect your trophy and let's go to dinner."

Tamsin laughed, "Okay… surfing 101 is it, Lewis."

"What?"

"Well, maybe if you knew what you were looking for, you could… I don't know… keep track of what you think the scores should be. That might distract you if you were trying to determine if she was winning or not. It's just like what she does when we're playing, right? Did you see her biting her nails at our first match?"

"Actually, all I saw was the blurry players on the other side of the net while I was trying to stay conscious."

Tamsin nodded, "Well, your girl was hanging on every point from the times I peeked over at her. She was biting her nails and cheering like crazy… well… Kenzi might have been the loudest voice in the stadium, but… well… let's talk about the points."

"Okay. Well, first there are five judging criteria. They look at commitment and degree of difficulty."

"Well, no one is more committed than Bo."

"No… not that kind of commitment. We mean commitment to the wave… not giving up once you decide to paddle in."

"Oh."

"Then there is innovative and progressive maneuvers, combination of major maneuvers, variety of maneuvers then finally speed, power and flow."

She paused, watching as Kenzi caught a wave, "See? Kenzi's got amazing speed, but Bo definitely has her in power and flow. Bo has longer lines but I suspect Kenzi's going to get better at that as she improves."

"Okay, so how do they rate those? I mean, it still seems really subjective."

"Right, so there are five judges who score each wave on a scale of one to ten. They drop the high and low scores, and then average the three remaining scores to get a score for each wave."

"How many waves does she get to ride in a competition?" Lauren asked.

"There isn't any limit on the number of waves that are scored, they can ride as many as they want in one-on-one heats, but only two highest wave scores count. In all the prelim heats, there's a fifteen-wave maximum, they still score only the top two. It used to be three, but they dropped it to two to push the surfers to attempt bigger scores and, I suspect to weed out the weaker surfers so they didn't cut into the tide times where the best waves were available. Anyway, the two top scores added together give you a heat score. Gradually, the pack is thinned out until you get to the finals where a winner eventually has the highest score."

"It sounds complicated." Lauren replied, watching as a longhaired man took a wave, "And I still wouldn't know who is the best one out there."

"You get used to it after you watch for a while and have a lot of surfers to compare everyone too. It's sort of how you and I can tell a pro player from an amateur. Most amateurs don't understand why they don't make pro until they go up against them in a match. The sharper, harder, quicker shots, the smaller target and placement of shots. It's not a huge difference, but it does make the difference in the win."

"I get it." Lauren replied with a nod as another long-haired man moved onto a new wave.

Tamsin recognized him immediately, "That's their friend Manny. I met him when Kenzi and I went out for breakfast yesterday. Very cool dude and a super good surfer, but his brother Miguel is amazing. He was at the top of the surf world for a while. He's retiring after this year. Manny retired about ten years ago."

Lauren simply nodded, "So… you and Kenzi… what's going on there?"

The doctor gave a soft elbow to her friend who blushed and grew silent. Tamsin was never silent, so Lauren at least knew there was something between the two. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Lauren giving Tamsin space to decide if and how to answer her friend. Finally, the blonde spoke,

"Well, you know I swing both ways, but… well… Kenzi's never been with a woman, so… I mean… she's afraid… she admitted she's attracted, but she's afraid. I don't want to start anything she can't finish, you know?"

"You want to protect your heart." Lauren said quietly.

Tamsin laughed, "Kinda hard when you've sort of given it away already."

"I'm sorry, Tamsin." Lauren sighed.

"Yea, well I can't think about that right now. We've got a medal to focus on. I need to stay in the game. Whatever happens with Kenzi happens. You can't control the things that are out of your control, right?"

Lauren laughed, "Focus on the things you can control and let the rest up to the fates, I guess."

Tamsin nodded as they watched Bo come in on a massive wave. Lauren's hand once again gripped Tamsin's arm as she watched her girlfriend slide down a massive wall of water. She gasped when she saw her lurch forward, but shook her head when she saw her somehow regain her balance and circle back up the wall then down, disappearing into a tube.

"Tamsin, it's so big…"

"It's so cool." Tamsin replied, mesmerized by the surfer, "I mean, I knew she was a pro and I knew she was good, but seeing this in person. Lauren, you just don't get it… your girl is a freaking genius on a surfboard."

Lauren relaxed as she saw Bo emerge from the tube, riding back up the flat wall of water and back across the top of the wave. Her body moved smoothly, effortlessly… she was beautiful and the blonde found herself lost in her movement. It was almost like she could feel what Bo was feeling, the speed across the wave, the up and down motion provided by the force of nature beneath her feet,

"Beautiful." She whispered so softly, it was like a prayer.

Bo rode the wave into the shore where she jumped from the board and fell to her knees in the surf. The breakers hit her hard from behind and rolled her over,

"BO!" Lauren yelled, struggling to her feet, but Tamsin was way ahead of her and into the water, lifting Bo up.

"Whoa." Bo said, throwing an arm over Tamsin's shoulder, "Thanks."

"What was that, champ?" Tamsin asked.

"Apparently gravity isn't my friend after riding hard for an hour." Bo replied, a smile plastered on her face as she worked hard to breathe.

"Nothing stupid! You promised nothing stupid!" Lauren stood in front of the surfer, her eyes wide with fear.

Bo laughed, "Hey. I'm okay. My legs just feel a little like jelly from riding so hard. I guess I overdid it a little for one day considering the conditions."

Lauren crossed her arms over her chest, torn about how to feel as Bo and Tamsin walked to the sand behind her. She stood watching as the surfers came in one by one, finally finding herself face to face with Kenzi.

"Hey, Doc! Thanks for coming out. How'd we do? Exciting enough for you?" Kenzi asked. A nod was all the blonde could muster through the gritted teeth hidden behind her crooked smile.

"Doc?" Kenzi asked, noting Lauren's silence, "You're shaking. You okay?"

Lauren nodded again, her eyes filling with tears.

"Lauren. Talk to me." Kenzi said, turning her back to the beach and standing next to the doctor.

"I panicked. She fell down in shallow water and got knocked over by a wave. Tamsin ran in and pulled her up. I couldn't make my legs move. I… I can't lose her, Kenzi. I can't go through that again."

"Hey. She's fine. Before that last wave she admitted her legs were spent. She shouldn't have done one more… she broke our rule. We never do one mores, since it always ends badly. She insisted she needed to get to shore and that she would go easy, but I guess that wave was just too irresistible for her."

Lauren shook her head, the tears falling freely, "I want to be what's irresistible for her. I want her to want desperately to come back to me every day. I don't want her to choose some stupid wave over me!"

Kenzi nodded, "I'm sorry you feel that way. You saw her out there, Lauren. She was happy."

"I could make her happy!"

"But she wouldn't be whole. If she told you she didn't want you to be a doctor and save lives anymore, would you agree? Would you give that up for her? Think about it, Doc."

Kenzi turned and walked away, leaving Lauren standing in the water, shivering. Lauren wiped her tears, one cheek at a time. She didn't have to think about it. She would give up being a doctor in a minute for Bo if it meant having her in her life, wouldn't she? In truth, she really wasn't sure. When she thought of the picture hanging in her locker… the desperate efforts she'd made to save lives day in and day out… could she walk away from that? It's all she'd ever known… all she'd ever wanted to do… to be.

She felt a jacket come over her shoulders, "Hey you." Bo whispered in her ear.

"Hey." She said, wiping her tears away before turning to face her girlfriend.

"What's wrong?" Bo frowned, seeing the redness in her girlfriend's eyes.

"Nothing, it's just… the wind… a little salt water in my eyes."

Bo shook her head, wiping a tear from her girlfriend's chin, "We don't lie to each other, Lauren. You're upset… because I got tipped over by a wave in the shallows?"

How was she supposed to respond? Did she even know why she was crying? There were so many thoughts ripping through her mind and way too many emotions.

"Lauren? Talk to me, baby." Bo's voice was soft and sincere, but Lauren could see an newfound energy in the eyes of her girlfriend. It's as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"You had fun today. I mean… you looked like you were having the time of your life out there." Lauren said quietly.

"It was a very good day. Manny and the guys helped me move forward rather than staying stuck in the past. I don't know why, but once I took the first wave, it was like… I don't know… everything just clicked. I mean… I think I rode better today than I did in my last competition. I was only thinking about my future… about how things are looking up, you know?"

"Yea?" Lauren asked.

"Well, I think they are… I mean… I'm getting stronger, I'm back on the big waves, you're in the Olympics and feeling better and we're together… in Rio… watching each other realize our dreams. Pretty cool, eh?" Bo asked, her smile bright and wide.

Lauren gave her a weak smile, "Pretty cool." She couldn't say anything else. She didn't want to see that smile vanish from the beautiful face before her. She had never seen her girlfriend look this happy… ever.

"Why doesn't that sound very convincing to me? What's wrong, baby?"

"Nothing, Bo. I'm just tired." Lauren said, her fingers gripping the jacket and pulling it around her, "It's getting a little cold."

"The guys are going to build a fire on the beach and cook. Manny promised he would provide plenty of meat and carbs for you and Tamsin. I want you to meet all of my friends… you know, have some down time to relax and probably listen to their embarrassing stories about the Dennis sisters? Would that be okay or do you need to go back and lay down?"

Lauren could see the hopeful look in her girlfriend's eyes, "I… uh… well, I guess I… whatever you want." Lauren finished with a sigh and a shake of her head. She wanted to go back… why didn't she just say so? Should she have to? Did Bo remember that she and Tamsin had a match in the morning?

"Are you sure?" Bo asked.

"I really can't stay long, Bo. I mean… we were supposed to…"

Bo cut her off, "I know and I promise I'll get you back if you get tired. Let's get you over by the fire. I want you warm and sitting. Tamsin said you guys have a cooler of fluids you're supposed to be drinking, so lets get you on that."

Lauren's shoulders sank as she thought to herself, 'If I get tired? Has she really forgotten yesterday that quickly? Is she not looking at me?'

Regardless, Lauren allowed Bo to help her to the beach. She didn't have the strength to argue. She took a seat in one of the beach chairs Miguel had started putting out. Tamsin came to sit next to her, plopping the cooler of diluted sports drinks between them. She opened the top and pulled out the first one marked with an 'L' and handed it to her partner before taking one of the bottles labeled 'T'. Lauren looked up to see the man looking down at her,

"Hey, Lauren. I'm Miguel. That's my older brother Manny and that's Enzo. We're the brothers Rodriguez, adopted siblings of the sisters Dennis. It is very nice to meet the woman who has stolen Bo's heart. I'm glad someone has finally made an honest woman out of her."

Lauren smiled, politely shaking the man's offered hand, "It's nice to meet you, Miguel." She returned the wave sent her way by Manny and Enzo.

"That's Nico, our cousin and you'll meet all of the other guys that are wandering around. They all surf the point with us… it's a sort of brotherhood that Bo and Kenzi somehow found themselves a part of when they came here just after their parents died."

Lauren smiled and nodded, drinking from the bottle. She hadn't been focused on the need to drink since they'd left the court. She needed to remember that tomorrow was a competition day for them. They were supposed to review their game plan twice before bedtime, coach's orders. They needed some time to get in sync after spending yesterday in a med tent instead of playing together. Leaning over to Tamsin, she whispered,

"You haven't forgotten we have a game tomorrow, have you?"

Tamsin replied, "Nope. We're going to eat and run no matter what the Dennis sisters have planned. It's getting late and we have something else we need to focus on besides party time. I'm only doing this because Kenzi begged."

Lauren looked back at the fire, nodding quietly. Tamsin placed a hand on Lauren's arm,

"I'm serious, Lo. He made some sort of stir-fry that's loaded with protein and carbs that he just has to heat up in the fire. It sounds like a good meal for us. So I'm thinking a bowl of that and we're out. We have to review our game plan and get to bed early. Right now, we drink up and eat while staying as relaxed as possible… same as we'd be doing back in our room."

"I'm glad we're on the same page, only I don't know how much resting we'll be doing. It looks like we're expected to be a bit social." Lauren smiled, relieved that her partner wasn't so caught up in Kenzi that she'd forgotten why they were here.

Tamsin interrupted her thoughts, "I guess that's true. Maybe we should just leave now. Are you worried? Do you want to leave now? We could take the bowls to-go and heat them in the microwave or just get something back in the village."

"I don't want to be rude, Tamsin, but to be honest, I don't like that we're here and not back at the hotel or our room focusing on our game tomorrow. We can't afford a loss at this stage."

Tamsin nodded, "I agree, Lauren… I just didn't want to be the party poopers, but you're right… Bo and Kenzi both know why we're here. We didn't make our priorities a secret and they know we aren't at our best physically. I'm with you if you want to go now. We can eat back at the village and sleep there if you want. I could care less if Lachlan's there. I'm not sleeping with him. I'm your partner in this… where you go, I'll follow… no matter what my heart may be screaming, my priority is still that medal podium with you by my side. You have that driver's card. We could call for the ride."

Lauren nodded, "You know what, I think I'll do that. He won't get here for about a half hour anyway. By then, we'll probably have eaten or be close to eating. If he's closer and we go before we eat, that's fine too. At least we came and watched them surf. They have to be happy with that part, right? After all, it's something that wasn't in our promised game plan at all today. Being here was never supposed to happen. I refuse to feel guilty about leaving… I'm a little upset that they had us come here. I'd hope that Bo and Kenzi would understand our need to eat and run considering they're the ones who pulled us from our schedule."

Tamsin could tell her partner was more than a little upset. She was doing that twitchy thing her mouth and her hands were curled into fists and crossed over her chest. Tamsin tried to reassure her,

"I'm sure they would and if they don't, well that's on them. They've known we came here with one goal in mind. We have to take care of our priority. This is like a vacation for them. We can't get caught up in that until after we're finished playing. Make the call, Lauren. We need to make the right choice here."

Lauren pulled out her phone and the business card, making the call. She didn't notice that Bo was watching from across the fire as she talked to a group of her friends with Kenzi. She slowly excused herself from the conversation and made her way around the fire, coming to sit in the space between Miguel and Lauren's chairs.

She sat staring at the fire for a moment as Lauren finished her call and then asked, "Is everything okay, sweetie?"

Lauren didn't see Bo approach, so was surprised by the sound of her voice, "Everything's fine, Bo. Your friends seem great and the fire is nice."

Bo sensed a 'but' coming and sure enough, it did…

"But you have to remember that Tamsin and I are here for the Olympics. We had a scare yesterday and we're still recovering. We need to get back, do a review of our game plan for tomorrow, go through our pre-game routine while we finish our hydration routine so we get the final clearance to play in the morning and sleep… we need a good night's sleep. We have a mandatory breakfast at the Team USA dining hall in the morning with the full coaching staff… which Lachlan will be present for just to make things extra stressful… so we need to be up, ready and on time. Our match is early, Bo."

Bo felt like an ass, "I'm so sorry, Lauren. I just… I guess I got caught up in the day. I had so much fun and I haven't seen these guys for so long. I wanted you to meet them and thought you might like to relax on the beach for dinner. I didn't think… well… they're family and I've known them most of my life and…"

Lauren cut her off. The longer she was here, the more upset she became that Bo made plans for her and Tamsin without asking on them. It was an important night during her competition and Bo knew that. Her reply was short and probably a little abrupt with an angsty undertone,

"… Much longer than you've known me, I know. Kenzi already made sure to be sure I knew how much more important they are than me."

Bo went to speak, but Lauren shook her head, "Look, I get it, Bo. It's okay. We were going to stay and just do the 'eat and run' thing, but I just called the driver who brought us here earlier. He gave me his card just in case we needed a ride back and well… he's actually in the area and can actually get us now. He will be here any minute."

"You're leaving?" Bo asked, surprised. She hadn't thought Lauren would actually rush off like this.

Lauren gave a light chuckle of disbelief, "Did you not hear me, Bo? I know this is all a mini-vacation for you, but I'm here to attempt to win a gold medal. A goal I've had all of my life. If you can't understand and support that, then I'm sorry but staying here is not in my best interest. Coming here rather than going back to the hotel and lying down as we'd planned was not in my best interest. I don't know what happened to the plan we had made when you were so worried about me this morning, but let me recap for you…."

Lauren was on a roll, her cheeks flushed red with anger, though her voice remained calm and firm,

"…my legs are weak, I'm still not fully hydrated which means they could pull me from competition for health reasons. That is not an option since I've got the match of my life in the morning which, I must apparently remind you, is a match in which another person is relying on me to do my part… a person who has the same goal, the same dream and has worked to achieve for the same amount of time. I'm not in an individual sport, so I don't have the luxury of making selfish decisions with regards to preparation. I'm part of a team… I have a partner in this goal… a partner who has known me a lot longer than I've known you. I owe her my full dedication to this match as promised. I thought you knew all of that."

Lauren knew it was wrong to throw Bo's words back at her, but when the brunette had said she had known Manny and Miguel most of her life, it had sounded like she was saying they were more important than the reason they were actually in Rio right now… more important than her girlfriend.

Lauren stood and abruptly, looking at the younger brother, "Thank you, Miguel. But I'm afraid that Tamsin and I have got to go get ready for a match tomorrow morning. Our ride is just over that dune waiting. Thank you for the invitation. Maybe we can make it some other time."

Lauren smiled politely and walked away, giving a weak smile and wave to Kenzi, Manny and Nico who were all looking her way. She marched up and over the dune, leaving a stunned Bo sitting there speechless.

Tamsin just smirked and shook her head, standing up to follow her partner, "Miguel, Manny, Nico… thank you all. Bo, Kenzi… I guess we'll see you around."

"Around?" Bo asked, causing Tamsin to turn back to face her,

"I'm not sure where we're going right now, Bo. Lauren's right about one thing. When we left this morning, we had a plan… the four of us… had a plan… no offense, boys but we're here to compete in the Olympics, not watch you guys surf. I'm not sure how much they've told you, but our training was sabotaged and Team USA is not healthy right now."

Tamsin took a breath, trying to calm the anger that was slowly growing towards the sisters as she came closer and closer to the realization of what they'd been asked to sacrifice so the sisters could hang with their friends. If Kenzi really gave a shit about her, she would have been courtside five minute early. She felt her chest tighten, but pushed down the emotions. This was no time to deal with relationship drama. Love had waited this long… it would wait longer… maybe much, much longer.

She looked up at the group of men, "Look, we finished practice under direct orders to go eat and then rest. Instead, we came here and found ourselves on the dinner end of a tailgate, four hours short of the rest plan our team doctors, trainers and coaches had planned for us. There are a lot of people putting their time and effort into helping us win. We owe them."

She shook her head, "This is my fault. I'm the one that said okay to coming against Lauren's better judgment because at the time, I felt pretty good. Now, we have yet to have eaten our post-practice snack or our dinner that should have happened thirty minutes ago. That said, we're going to get to sleep later than we'd planned so we can get the calories we've been asked to consume. In short, I let my partner down by insisting we come here. We should have texted Bo back and said we couldn't come, but I knew that Lauren wanted to see Bo and I wanted to see…"

Tamsin ran her hands through her hair, moving her glance from Kenzi back to Bo,

"Whatever. I screwed up. We should have stayed in the village and stayed focused on our schedule."

She looked up at the ocean, "Bo, if you can't support Lauren's dream for this one week and possibly one additional week if we make the finals… what does that say about your respect for what she needs in her life? How can you expect her to support yours for another year?"

Tamsin shook her head and walked away, giving a glance to Kenzi as she passed her by. Kenzi tried to stop her, but Tamsin pulled her arm away, turning to look at her, "Look… no offense, but you owe me nothing. Stay here. Hang with your friends and your sister. You didn't come here to support my Olympic dream. You planned to follow Bo here for her girlfriend before you and I even realized… well… what we realized about us. So really… no strings, no obligations, Kenzi. I've gotta go do my thing. I've worked my whole life for this. I have to avoid distractions that aren't focused on what I'm focused on."

"I'm a distraction?" Kenzi asked, her eyes holding hurt that she knew she had no right to display. If she wasn't going to go all-in with Tamsin, did she really have any right to be hurt by her comments?

"Like I said, Kenzi… it's not personal. I can't be here… you are a distraction, like it or not. You're pulling my focus… it's… emotional and confusing for me and that's not good right now. I just… I have to go."

They all watched as Tamsin walked away. Manny slowly moved to the chair vacated by Lauren and looked over at Bo who was watching them leave. Kenzi sighed, looking around at the group. They had a plan this morning and she'd allowed herself to be caught up in her world. Allowing Tamsin's words to penetrate her mind, she realized she'd been selfish. She turned to Bo,

"Sorry, sis. I pulled your focus onto surfing when I know you came here for your girl. Maybe you should go…"

Bo cut her off, shaking her head, "I don't think she'd let me right now, Kenzi."

"I'm sorry, too Bo. Me and the boys, we were so excited to have you two here again… then the teacher in me kicked in and I wanted to see you back in big water… I'm sorry I pulled you away from the reason you came."

Bo shook her head again, "It's not your fault, guys. This is on me. I screwed up. I was supposed to stick to puddle jumpers today. I agreed nothing stupid. My legs feel like jelly right now. I'm not cleared for big water. I took stupid risks… sure, it worked out and I'm still alive, but it was an unnecessary risk. I don't have to surf for another month and a half. She's right. We're here for the Olympics. It's not a vacation. It's not surfing prep. It's not a competition. I'm supposed to be here for my girlfriend, not myself. It was selfish!"

Kenzi slipped into the chair beside Manny where Tamsin had been sitting, "Did she tell you why she was crying?"

"I knew it! I knew she was crying! She told me it was the wind and salt water." Bo said, standing up and pacing in front of Manny and Miguel.

"You scared her when you went under in the shallows. I think she wants you to quit surfing for her."

Bo turned to her sister, "She said that?"

Kenzi shook her head, "No, but that's what she meant."

"What did she say, Kenzi? Exactly!" Bo demanded. She knew how Kenzi could be and she didn't want her translation. She still didn't know Lauren well enough to translate her words. Bo had learned that the blonde was seldom able to talk about her feelings when it came to her fears about surfing.

Kenzi went on to explain the conversation that she had with Lauren verbatim while Manny and Miguel listened. Finally, Miguel laughed,

"She sounds just like my wife Sarah."

Bo laughed, "You know, come to think of it, you're right. So what do I do?"

"Give her time, Bo. She'll sort it out in her head."

"Look, I know you… we… screwed up here, but you're not actually going to quit surfing for her, are you?" Kenzi asked.

Bo looked at Miguel and returned his smile, "You're damn right I will… if it comes to that."

"What?!" Kenzi shot out of her seat, "You cannot give up your dream for some chick!"

Bo's eyes flew towards her sister, "I will make my own decisions about what I will and won't do where Lauren is concerned. You are my sister and I love you to the moon and back, but Lauren is my life, Kenzi. She is everything I've ever hoped to have in a partner and if I had to give up surfing so that she wouldn't have to experience the fear and anxiety of losing me again, I would do it in a heartbeat. There are more important things in my life than riding waves in big water. Being forced into puddle jumpers these last weeks has reminded me that I didn't start surfing for money."

"But do you think she would give up being a doctor?" Kenzi asked.

"I would never ask her to do that." Bo replied emphatically.

"How is that fair? Love is a two way street, right? Sacrifice on both sides… compromise… how is that an equal relationship?"

"Because being a doctor is her career, Kenzi. It's a part of who she is."

Kenzi snapped back, "And that's what surfing is for you!"

Bo shook her head, "No, it's not, Kenzi. Surfing is a paycheck, yes. It's a competition… it's a goal… one that I will or will not achieve, but it's not my career. Engineering is my career. Finding the perfect way to ride a wave is my true love… KB Boards… that's what's a part of me… my career dream. You used to know that."

Bo sighed, placing a hand on her sister's arm, "Kenzi, teaching a future generation of surfers to love the water… to love the ocean and not fear it like I've been trying to do with Lauren… that's my real passion. It's funny… I told Lauren that I needed to be here with all of you today because I've known you my whole life. How is it that I've known you all of your life and you don't know my passion and my life goal, Kenzi?"

"But you… it's always been you and me out there, fighting waves… it's…" Kenzi stopped, unsure of what else to say.

Manny jumped in, "I think I can help you, Kenzi. Miguel and I had always ridden waves together. I was his brother first, but his teacher and mentor when it came to the ocean. The same could be said for you and your sister. I loved surfing, but as I got older, I wanted more… I realized there was more. I knew there had to be something more important than searching for the next best wave. That's where Bo is in her life and frankly, Miguel is there now too. He and Sarah want to start having kids and he needs to be alive for them. Sure there are plenty of people out there who keep surfing the big waves once they have kids, but Miguel and I aren't up for taking that chance."

Manny squeezed Bo's hand, "I love teaching at my school. I've made enough money surfing on the pro circuit that I don't need a job with a huge salary and Miguel is in the same situation. We can all only wish for you as much success for your surfing career that you will be able to work in a job you love rather than to work in a job for money."

Kenzi looked at Bo, "You really don't want to surf for a living?"

Bo smiled, "I'm surprised you have to ask that question. Think back, little sis. When did I start surfing for money?"

Kenzi took a moment before she finally remembered, "When you dropped out of school and they came to take me from you."

"Surfing was a means to an end, Kenzi. Sure, I love it, but making boards is my dream. Owning that surf shop is always on my mind."

"And here I thought that was your big retirement plan… something to fall back on."

Bo laughed, "If anything, surfing was my fallback plan."

Kenzi nodded, "Should we go after them?"

Bo shook her head, "I'll talk to Lauren in a couple hours to say goodnight. I'll find out if they're staying at the hotel, but it sounded like they were going back to the village."

She watched as Manny and Miguel stood and placed the pots in the coals of the fire to heat up the dinner. She leaned over and spoke quietly to Kenzi,

"I think you need to give Tamsin a little space, Kenzi. You don't know what you want and I think it's ripping up her gut a bit. Please respect the reason they're here. There's nothing worse for an athlete than love-life problems during a competition. If you're going to be around, let her know that you are fully dedicated to supporting her Olympic dream. You two can deal with whatever this is between you after that. I'm going to do the same with Lauren. I won't be surfing again until after she's finished playing. This is her dream… her time… her choices. From now on, I'm following her lead. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be around them."

Kenzi nodded, sitting back in the chair. She wished she could move full speed ahead with Tamsin, but the truth was, she has no idea what she was feeling.

Bo turned to Manny, "So, I guess we have some time. You were going to show us this 'lazy-town' you were talking about?"

"Come on, let's take a little ride." Manny smiled.

Kenzi and Miguel stood, following Bo and Manny to his truck. It was obvious to the brothers that their friends were going to be a bit distracted tonight, but they hoped they could give the girls a few laughs before sending them back to the games.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Getting out of the truck, Bo and Kenzi took in the site of a small village on the back bay not far from the point. They followed the brothers into a building at the center of the colorful row of small cottages, curious as to what this was. It was quiet and no one appeared to be here.

"What is this place?" Bo asked Manny.

"This, my dear friend, is what you so politely referred to as me being lazy. It's my business… well… my school, actually."

"Your school?" Kenzi asked.

Miguel smiled, "It's our investment. The cottages are homes that house instructors and students. They observe a strict schedule, so right now they are inside their homes, studying with their tutors."

"Tutors?"

"This is my version of an orphanage. The kids get structure, supervision, exposure to the outdoors and all of the usual subjects any child in Brazil would get. Their day is flipped upside down, though. They learn water and beach sports by day, they learn about healthy living and training after they play, then they eat and then they have classes. After classes they have their evening meal and then they have an hour of free time before they go to bed."

They walked through what appeared to be a surf shop and out through the back door where there were several garages,

"These are storage units for all of the school's supplies. One is water sports equipment, one is beach sports equipment, one is books and classroom supplies and the other is personal items… toilet paper, toothpaste, etc."

"Wow. What kind of boards do you have?" Bo asked.

Manny and Miguel looked at each other and smiled before Miguel said, "They're logo free boards made by a friend of ours."

Bo knew exactly what boards they were talking about, "You're using my prototypes?"

Manny nodded, "The kids love them, the instructors love them… when you get your store up and running, we want to be your first order."

Bo's smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes, "I love you guys! I'll give you a huge discount, I promise!"

"Damn, I thought we'd get some freebies from her, Bro." Miguel teased as he winked at his brother.

"I guess we're just not high enough on the list of Bo Dennis' people."

Bo laughed, "You guys know you're at the top. Believe me, when I say discount, I'm talking I'll make them for free. I just need you to pay for materials."

Manny placed a light hand on Bo's shoulder, "Absolutely not. We want to pay full price, Bo. We are going to get your boards noticed. We want extra to sell in our store. You noticed the empty board racks in there, right?"

Kenzi nodded, "I did!"

They walked together back out onto the beach by the bay, "So why the bay?" Bo asked. "Small water for beginner surfers. We take the more advanced ones out by boat. You can do a lot more on the bay. This is a self-sustaining village, Bo. The kids fish a lot and they have a garden of their own. We buy very little food. The kids are truly learning how to be self-sufficient and resilient. Plus, there's a lot less chance of the entire place being wiped out by a storm back here."

"True." Bo nodded, "It's amazing, guys. I'm so impressed."

"Well, we hope this will inspire you to go beyond just a surf shop. Kenzi could have been one of these kids, ya know?" Miguel asked.

Bo nodded, "That thought occurred to me the minute you said orphanage. If this place had been available to us, I know it would have been a good place for her to be until she turned eighteen."

Kenzi nodded, "I would have loved this place… no offense to the shack, Bo."

Bo laughed, "I would have been living on a boat if you were in a place like this."

The four walked a bit before Manny suggested they head back for their meal. Getting into the truck, Bo looked back and smiled at the small village. Maybe some day, she would be able to realize her vision… and maybe it would be something like this… maybe she would add a hospital, if Lauren ever spoke to her again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Goodnight, Bo-Bo." Kenzi said as she swiped her entry card in the hotel room door.

"Goodnight, Kenz. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Bo replied, holding her breath as she entered the room.

She walked to the bed, checking for any sight of Lauren. When she didn't see her, she turned on the light, frowning at the absence of the one person she had hoped to see… hold. She couldn't blame her for not staying here tonight. She wished that Kenzi had told her what she had said so she could have said something… done something differently.

"You screwed up, Bo. Face the facts. You were an idiot. You got all caught up in your own shit and lost focus on why you came here. She feels like you don't care, she feels unimportant and your decision to nurture your own sport instead of hers is the reason." Bo stood scolding herself in the mirror before she looked down at her phone. She didn't want to wake her with a ring, so she decided to text her instead. At least that sound was just a single ping. If Lauren were awake, she'd hear it. If she was asleep, it shouldn't wake her.

It took her four tries before she finally sent a text… a lame text…

 _B: 'Hey… you asleep yet?'_

She waited for a minute. When a reply didn't come, she decided to get ready for bed. She showered and brushed her teeth before changing into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She grabbed her phone, plugged it in and plopped it on the nightstand before setting her alarm for her six o'clock therapy session. She lay back on the pillow just as her phone pinged.

 _L: Just got into bed._

Bo shrugged, understanding that the reply would be short. Lauren had probably stared at it for five minutes trying to decide if Bo deserved a reply at all.

 _B: I don't want to keep you up, but I wanted to say three things if you don't mind._

 _L: Okay…_

 _B: First, I'm sorry for losing focus on why I came here. I promise that whether you speak to me or not for the rest of the games, I'll be here for whatever you need… just ask._

There was a long pause before a new text arrived,

 _L: Second?_

Wow, she wasn't pulling any punches.

 _B: Second, I wanted to tell you that I love you and that if you ever asked me to, I would do whatever it took to help you feel safe and loved. I took chances today that I wasn't physically ready for. It won't happen again. I don't want you to be afraid of life with me._

She waited, a little longer this time before the reply arrived.

 _L: And the last thing you wanted to say?_

Bo sighed. She had hoped that Lauren would have said something in reply other than just ask for the next item on her list.

 _B: I wanted to say goodnight and that I hope you have a good sleep, good dreams and an incredible game tomorrow. I just want you to know I'm in your corner… I'm sorry if you think I left it for a few hours… I'm back and I'll be there for you for every single play of the match, cheering you on._

 _L: Thank you, Bo. Goodnight._

Bo sat staring at the message. It was cold… she could feel Lauren pulling away with every message. She wanted to text her again… she wanted to know if they would be all right, but she knew that would be selfish. Lauren needed to focus on her volleyball. She didn't have time for drama in their relationship.

She rolled over, placing all of her trust in their relationship and placed her phone back on the nightstand, taking a moment to plug it in to the charger once again. She lay back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, thinking of the night that she and Lauren stared at the sky. She rolled over and gripped her phone. Pausing for a moment, she picked it up…

 _B: Just in case you can't sleep, I'm imagining the stars on my ceiling… the same stars we saw the night that we laid under the stars wrapped in each other. I think I'll take that memory to sleep with me tonight. It was one of the best nights of my life._

Bo hit send and placed the phone back on the table. She rolled onto her side, staring at the black screen. Several minutes later, it lit up. She rolled over and picked it up, looking at the text from Lauren,

 _L: Sleep isn't coming easy, so I appreciate your suggestion._

Bo sighed at the sterile text, but another came,

 _L: Stars always relax me… that night… being in your arms, I was relaxed._

Well, that was better. Another text came…

 _L: I'll dream of sleeping under the stars with you, Bo. Goodnight._

 _B: I'll be right there with you. Goodnight, Lauren. xo_

Bo smiled as she placed her phone on the nightstand again. She closed her eyes and imagined lying on the grass outside of Lauren's house with the blonde in her arms, beneath a sky full of stars. Closing her eyes, it didn't take long until she was sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Changing Currents

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and PM's. I appreciate all of the support… it keeps me writing. Got an interesting guest comment… quitting the story because Bo said she would quit surfing for Lauren. Hmmm…**_

 _ **Well, this is a short one compared to my usual chapters, but it just seemed the best place to stop. Happy Memorial Day to those in the states… may you remember your loved ones fondly and with a lighter heart than when they left you.**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 5: Changing Currents**_

"I'm sorry, ma'am but the stadium isn't open yet."

Bo sighed, "I can see that, but I really need to sit down, sir. Do you have a place that I can sit?"

"No ma'am. All of the seating is inside the stadium. You'll have to walk back to the Olympic Village."

"Now, you see… that's not an option. As you can see, I'm not getting around so well right now and my legs are very tired today." Bo waved her cane, her face pleading with the young man.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. For security reasons, I cannot let you in."

"Security reasons? Do you think I'm 007 and this cane is really a weapon? Do you think I'm carrying a device that could do harm to others somewhere in this T-shirt or maybe in my shorts? You know, there's not a lot of room for anything that I wasn't born with."

The man eyed Bo's form, his eyes landing on her perfectly displayed breasts, "Uh… no… I mean… I…"

"Look, buddy. Do you know anything about surfing?" Kenzi asked, tired of this back and forth. Bo had woken up with cramps in her legs. After an hour of physical therapy and about twenty lectures from Mitch over the phone, she was finally walking, but with the assistance of a cane.

"Of course. Most of the country surfs."

"Well, I think that's probably an exaggeration, but do you know anything about the woman's circuit?"

"Sure. I follow all of the top surfers in the WSL."

"Cool. Then maybe you recognize this woman… and if you do… maybe you can understand her desire to get into the stadium early… unnoticed… considering she's using a cane and there's already enough speculation about her condition?"

The man's eyes went wide as Kenzi pulled Bo's sunglasses off of her face, "Santa Maria e todos os santos! É Bo Dennis! Você navegar como uma mulher possuída pelos deuses do mar!"

"Say what now?" The two asked in unison.

"I'm sorry. I just... you're Bo Dennis!"

"Yes, I am. What was all of that you said?" Bo asked.

"I said that you surf like a woman possessed by the Gods of the Sea. I'm a huge fan… but… well… I mean… the cane… are you okay? Will you surf again?"

Bo nodded, "I will. I actually went out yesterday with some old friends who live here, but I overdid it."

"My buddy Rafael said he thought he saw you at Grumari yesterday. Is it true?"

Bo smiled, "It is, but I won't be back there again any time soon. I was supposed to stick to the shallows as part of my physical therapy and I didn't listen. Today, I'm really paying the price. In all seriousness uh… sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Sorry, I'm Matheus."

Bo smiled, "Hi. I'm really hurting here. Is there any way you could let me in to sit down? Here are our tickets. I swear I'm not trying to hurt anyone or get a better seat… we already have great seats. I just can't stand much longer. If you say no, then I'm going to have to sit right here on the ground because there's no way I'm going to be able to walk anywhere else."

Matheus smiled, "Of course. Give me a second. We have wheelchairs made specifically for the sand."

"No, no… really… I don't want… I mean… look… I don't want people to see me in this condition. I don't want people to start rumors about me returning to the circuit… it fuels the other surfers, you know?"

"Ahhh, I see. Of course. Well then… go on in. It was nice meeting you."

"Thank you so much Matheus. Take care."

They gave the young boy a parting smile before heading into the stadium. Once seated, Bo and Kenzi started looking over the program. They wanted to check out the competition.

"Maybe you should do more stretching, Bo. Once the crowd is in here, you're going to be stuck sitting on these metal bleachers. You're going to have trouble getting up."

Bo frowned, "I'm probably going to have trouble getting up anyway, Kenz. Everything hurts. My back, shoulders, ribs, quads, hamstrings, calves… hell, even my feet hurt."

"I tried to remind you about sticking to puddle jumpers but…"

"I know, I know… don't remind me. I should have stuck to the easy stuff. We were having fun, I never would have called Team USA to come to us, Lauren might still be talking to me and Tamsin might still be talking to you… well… maybe not."

"I know, I know!" Kenzi said, waving her hands over her head.

"Kenz, what are you going to do about her?"

"I don't know! Geez! I've been as straight as an arrow my whole entire life! I have no idea what I'm doing and she can't really expect me to do a complete one-eighty in a couple weeks. I just… I really like spending time with her, Bo."

"But?" Bo asked, sliding onto the ground to do some stretching. She was really stiff and Kenzi was probably right about how she was going to feel after the match. While she had regained her love or surfing big water and overcome a big mental hurdle, she was paying a much bigger price than she'd anticipated. At least her new trainer had arranged an appointment for her tonight for some electric stim, heat and massage tonight.

"But when I start to think about taking that step into something physical, I just…"

"Get grossed out?" Bo asked.

"Surprisingly, no… but I am totally terrified about going there." Kenzi replied.

"Well, have you guys kissed?" Bo asked.

"No. She's been totally understanding about everything. She said she doesn't want to pressure me into anything… that if anything is going to happen between us, she wants me to be sure. She said I'm the kind of girl she could fall in love with way too easily, so she doesn't want to take a step towards that unless I'm sure I could go there. Imagine that. She said she could fall in love with me."

Bo smiled, "Well, it sounds to me like she doesn't want to take a chance on losing your friendship by becoming your experiment."

Kenzi nodded, "But what if the reason I'm not into chicks is because I just haven't met the right one? I mean… you and me… we were raised not to label things. There was never a gay, straight, dumb, smart or anything else. Mom and Dad always said…"

"We are what we are and there is no label for that, girls. Humans are too complex for labels. The minute you slap one on one of us, you'll have to peel it off and peeling things off is hurtful."

Bo gave her best imitation of their Dad's voice. Once she finished quoting him, she and Kenzi burst into laughter.

"I really miss them… ya know?" Kenzi said, her eyes tearing up a bit.

Bo nodded, "I know, Kenz. I miss them too. What do you think Mom would tell you to do?"

Kenzi lowered her eyes to the sand below, "She would tell me to wait… to take my time… that I shouldn't rush into something that I'm blind to."

Bo smiled, "I always loved when she said that. 'Bo, if you're blind, step back. If you can see your way to the end, go forward full tilt until you…"

Kenzi joined her sister, "… set your hair on fire!"

The pair laughed and laughed, with Bo trying to add, "Remember the time she borrowed that wig from her friend and actually set it on fire?"

"Ohmagod! We panicked and through a bucket of water over her head! We didn't know it wasn't her real hair!" Kenzi added.

"It was that woman… what was her name?" Bo asked.

"Janet. She was a stuntman."

"Stuntwoman." Bo corrected, "Remember how mad she got at Dad for calling her a stuntman?"

"She totally did." Kenzi replied, "You were totally crushing on her though."

"You do not have to remind me about my crush, believe me. I think Janet is when I knew I was gay."

Kenzi shook her head, taking a swig of water from her travel cup, "Un-uh… that was Miss Carmella, your P.E. teacher."

"Oh my… you're right. She was hot!"

Kenzi laughed out loud at her friend, "You were always staring at her ass."

"She had a nice ass, what can I say?" Bo replied, shrugging.

"You always were an ass girl."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Bo wasn't sure if Kenzi was insulting her or not.

"Relax! I meant every girl you've ever bedded or dated has had a nice ass… and Hotpants has the best one ever. Why do you think I gave her that nickname?"

Bo closed her eyes and sighed, "Well, you're right about that."

"I may not be able to make a decision about Tamsin, but objectively speaking, I can say she has a very nice ass." Kenzi smiled.

"Not as nice as Lauren's." Bo replied, "Wait… I thought you and Tamsin hadn't…"

"We haven't, but did you see her in her Team USA bikini bottoms?" Kenzi asked.

"Actually, I didn't. I was too busy staring at Lauren's." Bo laughed.

"You got it bad." Kenzi replied.

"I got it good." Bo smiled, but then she remembered how mad Lauren had been last night. To be honest, she had no idea where they stood. Sure, the last text she had gotten from her had been good… at least she thought it was.

"Hey? Where'd you go?" Kenzi interrupted, watching her sister sit still, her elbows on the inside of her knees mid-stretch.

"Sorry. I just… Lauren was just so mad at me. I hope I didn't screw things up too badly. I don't know what happened. I mean… two days ago, I was the devoted girlfriend who Lauren could count on for anything she needed to help her get that medal. Yesterday, I turned into some self-centered moron who was on vacation with a woman who became an after-thought."

"That's not true, Bo. You were talking about Lauren all day. That's why Manny and Miguel had you call Team USA and have them meet us at Grumari." Kenzi replied.

Bo shook her head, "I never should have agreed to go there to begin with, Kenz. We were supposed to come back here, pick up the girls, take them to dinner, go back to the hotel and let them sleep."

"I know, but we didn't. We screwed up and now they're pissed. All we can do now is move forward in whatever way they'll let us do it." Kenzi replied, "Lauren is not going to turn you away completely, Bo. But for me, I'll be lucky if Tamsin looks at me."

"So you do feel something for her?" Bo asked.

"It wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't. I just don't want to hurt her, Bo. She's a great person. A really, really great person and we have so much in common. I just… I just don't know if I can go… there."

Bo nodded, "I get it, Kenz. I really do. I think it's a lot like what happened for me with Dyson. I really liked the guy and he was always there for me. He helped us and was a part of our little surfing family. But whenever it was time for anything physical, well, to tell you the truth, I would usually just lay there and pray for it to be over."

"Wow. You wouldn't have known from the screams coming from your bedroom." Kenzi replied.

"What? You've never faked it?" Bo asked.

"Of course! Haven't we all?" Kenzi asked.

"Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I certainly did… until now." Bo said sadly, "If Lauren doesn't forgive me, I don't know what I'll do, Kenz. My heart hurts so badly at the thought of it. I feel nauseous at the thought of seeing the disappointment on her face when I see her today, yet I can't imagine not seeing her at the same time."

Kenzi sighed, "Bo, Lauren says she loves you. If she really does, she'll forgive you. It's what couples do."

"And I'm sure Tamsin will forgive you, too." Bo replied.

"Well, we're not a couple, so that's not necessarily true. You heard her when she left… I think she gave up on me."

"I think we both just have to wait and see. Right now, we should do what we promised. Be here, support and cheer for them. After the match, we see what happens. If they call us through security, then we go see them. If not, then we go eat lunch and then keep our phones charged in case they call."

Kenzi nodded, "You're right. What time is your massage?"

"Three o'clock, but it's flexible. All I have to do is call to change it. I may need to go earlier, Kenz. I'm really hurting here."

"We screwed up Bo-Bo." Kenzi replied.

Bo could only nod as she watched a few people enter the stadium, "I guess they're letting people in."

"Where are the players? I thought they would be here warming up before the crowd started coming in."

"It's still two hours before the match. If it's anything like surfing, they're being interviewed right now by a thousand media outlets, angry that their focus is being pulled so close to game time."

"Amen to that, sista. I could have kicked Val's ass at the last event. She had me doing product placement drops for a half hour before I went off." Kenzi explained.

"Well, just remember that every time you dropped a name or showed a logo, you added to the college fund."

Kenzi scowled, "I'd much rather be adding to the training fund. I want more time on the water, Bo. I'm so close to making the cut for next year. I just have to make sure I place in the top three at my level."

Bo smiled, "Well, from the last three events I watched, you're sure to do that, Kenzi."

"I guess." Kenzi replied, "I just need to get out there more."

"Kenz, you're welcome to go surf with Manny and the guys today. Please don't feel like you have to follow me around." Bo insisted.

"Are you sure?" Kenzi asked.

"Kenz, I know you have to train and just because I can't train today doesn't mean you shouldn't. It will give you and Tamsin a chance to have some space from each other. Who knows, maybe some alone time will help you make some decisions about what you want."

"I know I don't want to hurt her and I know I don't want to be the reason she isn't focused on playing."

Kenzi hung her head, her hands dropping below her legs to draw lines in the soft white sand.

"You're thinking about going home, aren't you?" Bo asked.

"You know me well. Actually, I was just thinking about going and staying with the guys for a while. You know, train here all week and give Tamsin her space. If you wanted to come and surf with us, you could just call. If you needed me, I'd be just down the road. We could still fly home together. I'd just be conveniently out of the way, yet conveniently nearby."

Bo nodded, watching as the players from the Netherlands received random applause from the orange shirts in the sparse crowd,

"It's your call, Kenzi. I'll support you no matter what you decide." Bo replied.

"I think I'm going to do it. I mean, if they want me to come to lunch afterwards, I'll do that. If not, I won't." Kenzi decided.

"Well, I'm going to stay at the hotel and be there for Lauren whenever she needs me. I'm not going to offer anything other than the fact that she can call me whenever she wants me to be there or needs me to do something for her. I don't want Tamsin to feel like a third wheel because I'm always around."

"Thanks." Kenzi gave a sad smile, "I know that's for my benefit."

"Any time, sis." Bo reached over and grabbed her sister's hand beneath the sand, "You know I'm always gonna look out for you."

"You've always got my back… even when I don't deserve it." Kenzi frowned, "Bo, about yesterday… the way I talked about Lauren and her intentions… I was outta line and…"

Bo held up her hand, "You were out of line, Kenz but your apology means everything. Thanks, but it's behind us. Just please remember that we're both growing up and things are going to change. We've always allowed each other the chance to make our own choices and you have to promise me you'll continue to give me that. If I get my heart broken, it's mine to deal with. If it works out, you're going to have to accept that Lauren is in my life. Can you do that?"

"I can, Bo… all of it… because I know when it's my turn that you'll do the same for me."

Bo slid up onto the front row of the bleachers next to her sister, pushing the bottom of her cane into the sand, allowing the handle to rest over her right shoulder. She picked at the label on the middle of the cane until she felt Kenzi nudge her,

"There they are." Kenzi whispered, almost afraid to say it out loud.

Bo looked up to see the two putting their bags down. Their faces were the picture of concentration. She heaved a sigh of relief that they didn't look nervous or unprepared. Maybe their trip to the beach hadn't had much of an impact on their preparation. If they lost this match because of her, Bo would never forgive herself.

She looked up to see Casey and Misty take a seat in the front row of the stands on the other side. Lauren had explained to her that there are no courtside coaches. It's up to the players to handle their strategy, motivation and adjustments throughout the three set match.

The pair stood off court along the sideline, stretching their shoulders and talking while they did so. They then moved onto the court and began setting the ball back and forth to each other, adding a dig here and there. Finally, they moved towards the net, giving their opponents each a hug and some friendly conversation before parting ways to begin warming up their serves across the net.

"So they really know them, huh?" Kenzi asked.

"The blonde girl went to college with them. She was a year behind, but they've known her for quite a while." Bo had noticed the hug between Lauren and the blonde at the net. It had seemed to linger for a bit longer than it did for Tamsin.

"What's going on in that overactive brain of yours, Bo-Bo?"

"I dunno. I just think that maybe there was something more between Lauren and her old teammate."

"Now I think that's just your imagination running wild because Lauren's mad at you."

Bo watched as Lauren's smile beamed when the girl called something the brunette couldn't understand across the net.

"Wow, I haven't seen Lauren smile like that since she got here."

"Thanks, Kenz." Bo mumbled, her face contorting into a scowl.

"What? I'm just sayin'."

"Well, stop sayin'. Just… watch the match."

"It hasn't started yet."

"Fine, then don't watch the match, but please don't tell me about Lauren's smile brought on by something her probably ex said. Don't remind me that she's gorgeous and she has volleyball and some sort of history in common with my girlfriend who may very well be questioning if everything between us happened too fast."

Kenzi looked at her sister, "Say what?"

"Nothing." Bo mumbled, digging the end of her cane deeper into the sand, her eyes down.

"Whoa your imagination there, Bo-Bo. You need to just chill." Kenzi slapped her sister's leg.

"It hurts." Bo replied.

"It only hurts if you let your imagination believe that Lauren is suddenly attracted to a woman she hasn't seen."

"I meant my leg hurts. Don't hit it."

"Oh. Sorry." Kenzi replied, rolling her eyes, "Do you want to leave?"

"No, Kenzi."

"Why not? We can watch it on T.V. in the hotel room. She'll never know you weren't here. She hasn't even looked for you. Last match, she looked over here at least a few times by now."

"Not helping, Kenzi." But Bo knew her sister was right. Lauren hadn't even given so much as a glance at the bleachers. She knew their tickets were for the front row of the bleachers because of Bo's lack of mobility. Maybe Lauren had decided that she was a distraction too."

The pair sat in silence watching the warm up. Finally, the official blew her whistle and the two teams moved to the sideline. There was a coin toss, followed by some discussion before the players moved to their benches. They each drank some water, toweled off and then headed to their side of the court.

Bo watched as Lauren received a ball from the line judge, "I guess they won the toss and chose to serve first."

Kenzi nodded, her eyes on Tamsin. Like Lauren, the other blonde hadn't even glanced towards the sideline. She watched as the pair moved in unison throughout point after point, applauding when they won one, biting their nails and shaking her leg when they lost one.

The first game was a close one with Kenzi asking Bo a lot of questions. Finally, the brunette looked at her sister,

"Kenzi, can I watch the match please?"

"Sure, but can't you help me understand it while you're watching?" Kenzi asked, "Sorry, but this is all new to me and it's making me nervous not knowing.

"I'm new to this too, Kenz. Look, they play two games to twenty-one. If one team wins both games, the match is over. If they split, they play a third game to fifteen. They have to win by two points."

"Play until when?" Kenzi asked.

"Until whenever. There's no end score until a team is ahead by two. Once that happens, that team wins."

"You mean we could be here through lunch?" Kenzi asked.

"I doubt it, Kenz. They're supposed to win this match." Bo replied.

"Well then why is this first game so close? The scoreboard says twenty to eighteen. If the Netherlands scores on this point, they have to go to that win by two thing, right?"

"Not if we win point first. A point is awarded on every serve. It's called rally scoring."

"Oh, I know that one. It's how we play on the beach. It makes the games go faster. It's always good for me since my serve sucks." Kenzi smiled.

Bo gave a light chuckle before turning her attention back to the court. The Netherlands had won two points to their one, so the score was now twenty-one, twenty. She watched as Tamsin moved back behind the service line, "If they win this point, it's game over and we move to the next one."

Kenzi wanted to yell something encouraging to the blonde, but she thought better of it and kept her mouth shut. She held her breath as Tamsin moved a few steps and tossed the ball into the air, leaping up and slamming the ball across the net. She didn't even watch where the ball went, she just watched as the blonde raised her hands in victory over her head before moving to Lauren and giving her a high five with her right hand and a low five with her left before they shared a double fist bump.

"I taught them that." Kenzi smiled.

"I remember, Kenz. You gave them a whole tutorial over dinner at the shack about why a psych up handshake was necessary in team sports." Bo laughed.

"What? It's true. All the team sports do it." Kenzi insisted.

"And how would you know that? You've never played a team sport in your life."

"That's not true! I've played all kinds of team sports on the beach." Kenzi argued.

"Fine, Kenzi. Let's watch."

The pair watched as the second game began, the two teams trading places for the lead until Team USA gained the advantage for three straight points at twenty-three, twenty-two. Bo watched as Lauren moved back behind the service line. The blonde watched as Tamsin displayed two fingers behind her back, then gave her a nod. Lauren approached her serve, her body fully elevating to reach the tossed ball, before she slammed the ball across the net.

The two moved with their opponents as they passed the ball, once, twice and then drove a hard ball down the line that Tamsin dove to put into play. She was quickly back on her feet when Lauren set her up, driving the ball down hard to their opponents. The pair in orange, passed twice again before hitting the ball down hard at Lauren, forcing her to her knees as she passed the ball to Tamsin.

As if in slow motion, Bo heard Tamsin call out 'Lew' before she passed the ball high across the left side of the net to Lauren's strong side. The blonde's approach to the ball was perfectly timed as she elevated, her arm pulled back and, in one powerful blow, blasted the ball down the line directly into the face of her former college teammate.

"OH! SIX PACK!" Bo heard a man yell from behind her.

"FACIAL!" Another man called out.

Tamsin and Lauren embraced, before moving to the net. They stood there waiting, hands on their hips, the sweat dripping down the small of both women's backs as they watched the trainer tend to their former teammate. When they could finally get a glimpse of the girl, they saw blood draining from her nose as she gripped her forehead, her partner kneeling next to her.

An official moved to the net to talk to the pair, his hand coming to rest behind Lauren's shoulder as she ducked beneath the net with Tamsin in tow and moved towards the other players.

A crowd gathered around the downed player leaving Bo and Kenzi at a loss for what was happening. The crowd was silent when Kenzi finally spoke,

"What's happening, Bo?"

"I don't know. I just know that the blonde from the orange team had a bloody nose."

"Maybe she asked Lauren to play doctor with her." Kenzi quipped, egging Bo into another jealous fit.

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded, "The girl is hurt!"

"Yea and you're probably thinking it serves her right for flirting with your girl."

"That is not true!" Bo snapped, although somewhere deep inside, she knew that what Kenzi was saying was probably true but she wasn't about to take a moral inventory in that moment to find out.

About five minutes later, the woman was being loaded onto a stretcher with Tamsin and Lauren shaking her partner's hand before she hopped onto the small ATV that would take the blonde to be checked out.

Tamsin and Lauren moved over to the benches as the official finally announced the end score of the match. The crowd chanted,

"U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A…"

Lauren and Tamsin waved their hands to the crowd, turning in a circle to acknowledge all of their support. Bo's shoulders slumped when she noticed the two women did not glance their way the entire time.

"It's okay, Bo. They'll come over." Kenzi said, hopeful, but Bo could only slump further when she watched the two head off the court without looking back, heading immediately into the tunnel that led to where they would cooperate with the mandatory post-match drug test.

Bo stood, wobbling before she fell back onto the bench, her legs locked up. She tried to extend them from a seated position, but they weren't cooperating.

"Bo?"

"Don't worry about it, Kenzi. I'm just going to stretch a bit. I'll be able to walk eventually. I'm just stiff."

"Okay." Kenzi sat back down next to her sister.

"You can go, Kenz. You don't have to wait for me. Go catch up with Manny and the guys."

"Hell no. I'm not leaving you while you can't walk, Bo."

"Really, Kenz. This could take a while. I'm such an idiot." Bo mumbled.

"You're not an idiot." Kenzi replied.

"If I hadn't gone surfing, Lauren would have at least glanced at me. If I hadn't gone surfing, I would be able to walk over to the tent and let her know I'm here for her… say congratulations… something. But no, I had to blow her plans yesterday and now I'm paying the price. This is life paying me back for screwing her over."

"Bo, that's not what's happening. You overdid it. That's all."

"Whatever." Bo sighed, continuing to stretch.

A man approached the pair from behind, "Excuse me, are you Bo Dennis?"

Bo looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun, "Yes?"

"Hi. My name is Peter Watson. I'm a friend of your physical therapist's… Mitch?"

"Oh, yea. Hi."

"Well, I'm here working for Team USA and saw you, so thought I'd say hi. We all told Mitch we would look out for you while you were here, so… well, here I am… looking out for you."

Kenzi interjected, knowing Bo would probably send him away, "Well, you're just in time, Pete. I'm Kenzi, little sister to the Bo-ster. She surfed big water yesterday for quite a while. Mitch would've been proud as hell that she overcame her fear and got her full mojo back, but he would also be screaming a blue streak at her for doing it. She's sore, stiff and scheduled for a treatment later today, but right now, she can't seem to get off these bleachers."

Pete smiled, "I can help you… if you'll let me."

Bo sighed, "Thanks, that would be great. I'm having a hard time stretching myself."

"Well, lay down on the sand there and let's see what we can do to get you out of here before the next match begins."

"Thanks." Bo said, moving to the sand. She would let this guy stretch her if it meant there was a chance she could catch up to Lauren for a moment of face-to-face conversation. If not, she would head back to the hotel and send her a text. Regardless of what happened next, right now Bo knew only one thing… this sucked.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kenzi entered the darkened hotel room of her sister, placing bags of take-out on the table. She had called the older Dennis about an hour earlier to learn that she had yet to see Lauren since their game this morning. The brunette had sent the blonde a text to let her know she would be in her room before and after her two scheduled physical therapy appointments today if she needed anything.

"Bo?"

"In here, Kenz." The brunette called from the bathroom.

Kenzi cracked open the door, her eyes closed, "I don't need to see your lady bits! Your food is here."

Bo chuckled at her sister's eyes squeezed shut tightly, her lips wrinkled into a pucker as she spoke,

"Kenz, you've seen me naked plenty of times. Besides, I'm covered in bubbles."

"Oh." Kenzi popped her eyes open and walked into the room. She made herself comfortable on the wide bench that snaked around the curve of the luxurious spa tub, stretching her legs out, crossing them at the feet.

"How was the surf?"

"It was pretty wicked out there today. A bad rip current the first hour, so we had to wait. Once we got in, the waves were all over twelve feet… it was good practice."

"So you went to the big water. I wasn't sure what you guys were gonna do." Bo said, placing a bookmark in her book before placing it down on the tub's edge.

"Reading your smut novel again?" Kenzi asked.

"Actually, I'm getting a head start on the Marketing class I'm taking in the fall. I can't wait for the class when our store is opening up when we get home from Rio."

"About that… are we getting inventory from other brands or is this gonna be a straight shot about our brand?" Kenzi asked.

"I'm not sure. I was actually thinking about that while I was reading. Now don't get your panties in a twist, but we very well could, in some way, be bound by our contracts to sell some of the brands that are our collective sponsors."

"What? How can they force us to sell their brands?" Kenzi asked.

"I said don't get your panties in a twist."

Kenzi stood, straightened her pants and sat back down, "There. Untwisted. Now, explain."

"Well, you have to remember that I haven't actually taken the class, but this book…" She picked up the other book that was now under her Marketing class book, "… is contract law. We're going to need to talk to Val, but I have a feeling that in writing, everything associated with 'us' is part of our brand, including our store."

"Wait… so do you mean our store would be part of our physical bodies?"

"We are required to promote their products for anything related to our sport, Kenzi. I think as long as we are both competing and accepting their money, we'll have to sell, or at least display, the brands of our sponsors. I think we can still sell our own, but it will have to be alongside theirs."

"That's not fair! It's like they own us, Bo!" Kenzi replied, visibly upset.

"Well, when you think about it, they sort of do, sis. The money we get from our sponsors pays for our flights, meals and other living expenses when we travel. We don't own any clothing without a logo on it."

"I don't like being owned." Kenzi sighed.

"Well, you could go independent." Bo suggested the alternative, though she knew it wasn't something Kenzi could afford unless she lived off of their savings.

"We do have a great chunk of change in those boxes… well… now in the bank."

"So you want to pay for your career with our parents career earnings? With our career earnings?"

"Sure. If we invest the money, we'd never have to work again." Kenzi suggested.

"And how would we afford the store?" Bo asked.

"We wouldn't need the store, Bo. We could sit back in our millionaire mansion while our money did the work for us… haven't you heard of Warren Buffet?"

"So you want to take our parents' hard earned money and just gamble with it for the rest of our lives… just live on surfing, take out and beer… bum around on the beach with no goals and no sense of purpose?"

"Sounds great to me!" Kenzi said, flippantly.

Bo shook her head as she frowned with disapproval, "I can't live that way. You can take half of the money and go live wherever you want and do whatever you want if that's who you want to be. Personally, I need a purpose… a goal… I need to contribute to society, Kenz. Living like a nomad is not a life I want to live."

"Wow. Getting old has taken all the fun out of you." Kenzi quipped.

Bo frowned, "I'm sorry you feel that way, but in case you forgot, I had to grown up a lot faster than you. I didn't have the luxury of college parties and no responsibilities like you did."

As soon as the word passed her lips, Bo regretted them, "I'm sorry, Kenz."

Kenzi sighed, "No, you're right, Bo. You didn't ask to be forced to drop out of college and take care of a kid sister who came with a college tuition bill and an incredible lust for vodka. Do you think I'm not fully aware that had it not been for me, you would already have that surf shop down at the beach… that your boards would be a world-wide brand by now?"

The younger raven-haired girl sat up, kicking her sister's cane away from the edge of the tub,

"You never would have gotten into competitive surfing and you never would have had that stupid accident! I know you never wanted to surf competitively! I know, I know, I know! It's all my fault!"

Kenzi stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door. Bo went to stand, reaching for her cane, but it was now on the other side of the large bathroom. Sighing, she slowly rolled over, moving to her knees so she could stand with the help of the faucets when she heard the hotel room door slam.

She sat back into the tub, "FUCK!"

She crossed her arms over her knees and laid her head down against them. Four days ago, she had so much hope, but now she was filled with a sense of hopelessness she hadn't felt since her parents died.

 _ **FLASHBACK…**_

" _No! No! Not Mom too, Bo! It's not possible! No God is that cruel! He wouldn't do that to us, right? It's a mistake! That's what it is! It's a mistake! Right? You just need to get back on the plane and go back to the hospital. You'll see. She's still alive! She was just sleeping or you had a bad dream or something. She's not dead! She's alive! We're not alone! We're not alone!"_

 _Bo moved from the dorm room doorway, to catch her little sister as she collapsed to her knees. Pulling her head to her chest, she held her sibling as she felt her break, the sobs racking her small frame as Bo tightened her hold._

" _I'm so sorry, Kenzi. I'm so sorry." Bo whispered, knowing this was not the last her sister would cry. Her only concern is what would happen when she informed her that she was going to have to drop out of school because they were broke… that she would have to move to a remote island so they could dodge the youth services that would surely come for her since she barely had two pennies to rub together._

 _Bo had deliberated on the flight here, trying to decide if maybe Kenzi would be better off in foster care. She really had no idea what to do, but right here and now, she couldn't imagine not seeing her little sister. Being at separate colleges had been hard enough._

 _Hours later, after Kenzi had calmed, Bo shared the news about their financial situation, informing her little sister that she would have to drop out of school for now until they could figure out their finances. Kenzi exploded in anger saying she wouldn't lose her friends after losing her parents._

 _ **Present Day…**_

That was the last time Kenzi had slammed a door on Bo. Her little sister hadn't spoken to her the entire flight home and maintained her silence for three weeks after they had buried her Mom. It was surfing that had brought them back from the abyss… maybe it was surfing that could do that again now. The problem was, right now her legs were killing her from the abuse she'd put her body through the day before.

"Stupid!" She said, rubbing her quads, "You should have known better, Bo. You got yourself all caught up in the surfing world again and lost focus. You were remanded to the shallows, but took up with the deep."

She slowly climbed out of the tub, moving gingerly with every step trying to avoid the occasional cramp that would have her gripping a muscle or two. She wondered if her nerves would ever recover and allow her freedom of movement. Sighing, she pulled on the thick cotton hotel robe. She sidestepped to the mirror, holding onto the countertop as she moved. Using a hand towel, she wiped the mirror and stared into it at her reflection,

"What do you want, Bo? Who are you? Do you even know anymore?" She shook her head, looking down at her cane on the floor. She leaned down to pick it up, but her hamstring, screamed in anger forcing her to grip it quickly.

"Dammit!" She screamed, leaning down to stretch the offending muscle. Breathing in and out deeply, she finally felt the muscle relax. She reached up onto the counter for her cosmetic bag and pulled out some ibuprofen. Popping three into her mouth, she leaned down to the faucet and chased the pills with a few gulps of water.

She looked up into the mirror again, wiping the tears that had trickled from the corner of her eyes,

"Serves you right, Dennis. You're paying the price for your own stupidity." She picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste, "You could have been with Lauren all day, laying in bed with her and watching a movie, but instead you chose to go against your therapists advice."

She finished with her teeth, rinsed and left the bathroom. She sighed, remembering she hadn't eaten before brushing her teeth,

"Oh well." She sighed, "A little take out and a movie on my own."

She opened the bag, gripping the carton from some fancy restaurant Kenzi had made reservations for tonight. Opening the container, she spoke to the food,

"Hello little scallops. You were supposed to be shared by my girlfriend and me… that is, if I even have a girlfriend anymore. A very important chef at a very important restaurant in the beautiful city of Rio made you especially for us. It was supposed to be splurge dinner for four arranged by my little sister, but she went with these three big guys that are our dear friends here in Rio. Actually, you may have seen them surfing over your head before you met your demise and ended up in my dinner carton."

Bo laughed at herself as she took a bite of the extravagant food. She and Kenzi would never dare allow themselves such a luxury at home but as she savored the burst of flavors from the first bite, she wondered why she had always been so tight with the money once she knew it was there. She looked at the menu in the bag,

"Mmmm… L'Etoile. I guess you're French maybe? You don't really taste French… I mean… not that I know how French would taste since I've never had it in my life… although there was this one girl…" Bo chuckled, "Forget it. I'm a one-woman woman now. There isn't a woman in the world who could hold a candle to Lauren… and I know that for sure because I've traveled from coast to coast…" She took another bite and spoke to the next scallop in the box as she chewed, "quite literally, you see…" she chewed quickly and swallowed wanting to get out the rest of her sentence, "… so I am quite sure."

She picked up her phone and looked to see if maybe a text or call had come while she was in the tub, but frowned when she saw no notifications. She shrugged and continued her conversation with her food,

"You know, I really love surfing but over the last few years, everyone else has been deciding… well… everything for me. Dyson chooses the waves I get dropped into, Val chooses the boards I use, Kenzi chooses the clothes I wear, Vex chooses who I see and what I do while they all constantly tell me what my goals are and why I want to achieve them."

She swallowed another bite of her dinner, and then picked up another scallop. She held it up and looked at it for a moment,

"You know, I really miss when life was simple. When my parents were alive, surfing was about being one with the water. It was about the scenery, and the feel of the water and the energy around you while you were on a wave. I think everyone thinks my accident is somehow taking my love of surfing away… or that it's Lauren that's taking it away… or somehow making me give it up because she fears it. But the truth is, I've been wanting to walk away for a long time. I don't think Kenzi understands."

Bo swallowed the scallop and chewed, looking out at the view of the coastline, "She asked me if I would quit surfing for Lauren. I told her I would. I tried to explain, but I think it all came out wrong. I wouldn't quit just because she's afraid of it. I would quit because it's what I've wanted for a long time. I started chasing this trophy for money to get Kenzi back into school… to make enough money for the business I've wanted since I built my first board."

She sighed, "But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in everyone else's dream for me and made it my own. Sometime during all of those hours that I laid in that hospital bed, I remembered that winning a World Championship wasn't for the reasons I'd come to think it was… I don't want to win it for the money anymore… we have enough now. I don't want to win it for my own ego, that's for sure… a big hunk of metal doesn't mean anything to me… I mean… sure it would be nice to be crowned 'the best' for a season, but there's always going to be a better rider… always."

Bo stood and walked to the window, "What I've learned is that I'm trying to win because it's what everyone else has become so invested in… Kenzi, Vex, Dyson, Val and now even Hale. My team has put in so much time that I feel obligated to win it. Is that the right reason to chase a dream?"

Taking the last bite from the carton, she looked at the single scallop, "Thank you for listening. This was the best talk I've had in a really long time."

She popped the morsel in her mouth and then tossed the carton in the trash before putting the dessert in the refrigerator. It was too late for any more food. She just wanted to brush her teeth once again before closing her eyes and sleeping. She had physical therapy in the morning and just wanted to close her eyes and let her body… and mind… heal.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Dr. Lauren Lewis." Lauren answered the phone. The lobby desk had called up to the room to ask if she would take a late night call from a Dr. Fitzpatrick McCorrigan.

"Dr. Lewis! I'm so sorry to bother you so late, but I just wanted to check in and let you know that the entire pediatric ward watched your match today. They cheered for Team USA and were so happy you won."

"Why thank you so much, Dr. McCorrigan. I'm glad the game aired in the states. I wasn't so sure the early round matches would air, especially since we aren't the top favorite."

"Well, the kids are cheering you on anyway. Everyone loves an underdog, haven't you heard?"

Lauren laughed, "I have heard that. Thank you, Doctor."

"You are welcome." Trick replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence, which Lauren finally decided to fill, "So… there must be another reason you've called so late. Is something wrong?"

Lauren heard a heavy sigh through the phone before the Chief finally spoke, "I called because I needed to tell you that Evony and Kristy made bail. Well, charges were pressed for malpractice in your girlfriend's case and they were taken into custody. Evony's husband… well… almost ex-husband or already ex-husband… posted bail."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with me?" Lauren asked.

"She's angry, Lauren. They're both very angry." He sighed again, "The detectives on their case called me and… well… Lauren you should know… and Bo should know… they took a flight to Rio. We think they're already there, Lauren."

The blonde sighed, looking at Tamsin who came out of the bathroom, squeezing the moisture from her hair with a towel. She put her phone on speaker and placed it on the table,

"I'm sorry, Dr. McCorrigan, can you say that again?" Lauren asked.

"I said…"

Lauren watched Tamsin's expression as her Chief repeated the news. Her face dropped and she ran to the closet, pulling on jeans and a T-shirt. Lauren, for her part, stayed where she was and calmly replied to the doctor,

"Thank you for the heads up, Trick. Lachlan has already caused us some trouble here. He has been removed as our coaches. I'll call our Head Coach now. He will likely notify the USOC who will notify the Head of Security for the games."

She listened as Trick replied, "Great, Lauren. Are Bo and her sister staying with you in the Olympic Village?"

Lauren's throat tensed, "They're not."

"Well, you'd better get word to them. I think that she is their primary target. Keep in mind that Evony also has a surfing vendetta against Bo, and Kristy is not too fond of having her affections rejected."

Lauren nodded, "Right. I'll hang up now, Doctor McCorrigan. I'd like to get on the phone with my coaches."

"Of course. Stay safe, Lauren. The Rio police have been notified, but they could be anywhere right now."

"Yes, sir."

Lauren hung up the phone and looked at Tamsin, "Where are you going? It's after midnight, Tamsin. I thought we agreed that nothing would draw our focus… nothing."

Tamsin turned towards her partner, "Are you kidding me right now? Evony could be going after Kenzi and Bo right now."

Lauren stood and walked to her friend, "Tamsin, relax. Let's call Casey and get him on this first. Then you can call the girls and give them a heads up."

Tamsin sighed as she watched Lauren pick up the phone. She watched as she spoke to Casey, relaying all of the information that had been given her. Giving in to Lauren's request that they stay put, she sat down on the end of the bed and kicked off her sandals. Her legs dangling off the bed, she laid back and stared at the ceiling, her mind reeling with the possibilities of what Evony and Kristy might be doing.

"Okay then. You can call the girls now." Lauren said, laying back on the bed after hanging up the phone.

Tamsin looked surprised, "You don't want to call? I mean… Bo is your girlfriend."

"We promised each other, Tamsin… nothing will split our focus this week. I said no contact and I meant it. I'll fix things with Bo after we're through this week."

"If there's anything left to fix." Tamsin mumbled.

"What?"

"You're not worried?" Tamsin asked.

"Of course I'm worried, but Casey said he would handle it." Lauren said, her voice wavering a bit.

"You should call her and warn her yourself, Lauren. It's the right thing to do if you truly love her."

"Yea, well the right thing to do yesterday was to meet us like she said she would… to put my dream before her own." Lauren replied.

"Really? Her dreams get put on hold because your dream happening? Any good relationship involves compromise, Lauren. I had all night to think about it and I think that's exactly what Bo was doing when she invited us. We sat for the ride to the beach, we sat on the beach, we sat by the fire which was warm… we were all set for a meal that would have been good for our match today… but you decided you were too tired to stay."

"I was!" Lauren defended.

"Lauren, you could have fallen asleep in Bo's arms on the beach and she wouldn't have cared. Sure, we needed to get back here, but we ended up going to the dining hall and talking to those athletes from England before we came back. What was the difference between what we did there and what we would have done at the beach with Bo and her old friends?"

Lauren sighed, knowing Tamsin was right.

"Lauren?"

"What? I know, I know, okay? You're right! I'm wrong! I was mad because she was surfing the big waves, okay? I was afraid and it made me angry the more I thought of her taking those chances. She's not fully healed! When Mitch called me to ask me what the hell she was doing in the big water, I knew she was struggling today. It was a bad decision and it probably set back her recovery, not to mention she could have been killed out there!"

"Let it go, Lewis." Tamsin warned.

"I can't!"

"You can or you will lose her, Lewis! She's not going to die out there. She is experienced and she is skilled."

"She is weak and her skills are not up to par without all of her muscles in a fully functional state." Lauren argued.

"That's her call, Lewis."

"No, Tamsin. It's her physical therapist's call and she ignored his instructions. It was foolish and she could have been seriously injured! How would I have played if something had happened to her? Did she think of that?"

"And how would you play if Evony and Kristy were in her room right now doing God knows what to her?"

Lauren shuddered at the thought, but remained stiff. Tamsin slapped her legs, "Geez, Lewis! At least call Kenzi!"

The blonde nodded and stood, calling the younger Dennis' room. It rang and rang and rang before Lauren started to bite the nails of her free hand,

"Shit. She's not answering." Lauren replied before hanging up the phone and calling Bo's room, "Answer… please answer…"

She waited and waited until finally on the fifth ring…

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered.

"Bo?"

"Uh… huh… what? Lauren? Is that you?" Bo sat up, confused as she switched the phone to her other ear and pushed her hair back over her head.

"Oh, thank God. I thought… I mean… I called Kenzi's room and she didn't answer…"

"You called Kenzi? Why would you call Kenzi? Lauren, about yesterday… I really am sorry that I…"

"Bo, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Evony and Kristy were arrested, but they made bail, but then they skipped bail and… well… they got on a flight…"

Bo didn't need to hear the rest. She already knew. She'd been sensing it since yesterday, so finished for Lauren "… to Rio."

"How did you know?" Lauren asked.

"I just… I don't know, really. Well, yesterday when I was out with the gang, I kept having this feeling that Evony was going to show up… Kenzi saw me looking around for her while everyone else was catching waves. She finally realized that I was afraid of a repeat occurrence of what happened when I got… hurt. She called me out on it. That's how I ended up surfing the big waves. I had to prove to her… or maybe myself… that Evony wasn't lurking in every corner or beneath every wave."

There was silence, which Bo didn't know what to do with so she continued, "As it turns out, I guess she just may be. Are you and Tamsin safe?"

"We're fine, Bo." Lauren said as a security officer arrived at their door. He was speaking to Tamsin for a moment before he walked in and checked the window locks. He smiled at Lauren who nodded his way before he whispered something to Tamsin and closed the door.

Lauren watched as the other blonde locked the door and stripped down before pulling her PJ's back on.

"Lauren? Lauren?"

She heard Bo calling her name, "Yes, Bo. Sorry, security just came in to check on us. We're fine. We told Casey and he was going to take care of things. I'm not sure if they can do anything for you and Kenzi since you aren't on the team, but Dr. Fitzpatrick said that the Rio police have been notified."

Bo was silent for a moment before she finally admitted, "Kenzi and I had a bit of an argument earlier and she left. You said you called her room and she didn't answer?"

"I let it ring about seven times." Lauren acknowledged.

"I have to go then. I'm going to go check her room and call her cell. If those don't work, I'm going to call Manny and the boys. They all know Evony and… well… hopefully she went to one of them and not off on her own."

"I'm so sorry, Bo."

"It's not your fault, Lauren. This is my shit. You just get some sleep so you're good to play."

"Bo, playing doesn't matter if you and Kenzi aren't safe." Lauren said, finally realizing how stubborn she had been and how right Tamsin was to have her call.

"Of course it does, Lauren. Kenzi and I would never forgive ourselves if we were the reason you lost a match. You just worry about your dream and the Dennis sisters will take care of each other like we have for years."

"Please be careful, Bo."

"I will Lauren." She said, quietly, "And Lauren?"

"Yes?"

"You guys played great today. Congratulations. You looked much stronger… both of you did."

"Thanks, Bo… and thanks for being there."

Bo nodded, "Not that you noticed, you were so focused… but you're welcome."

There was silence as each thought about what to say before they hung up. Lauren felt guilty for not having acknowledged Bo and Kenzi's presence but she and Tamsin had agreed that the stands were off limits. They were a distraction… or so they'd thought… but in reality, after the match, Lauren had realized that the entire match she'd wanted to make Bo proud. She knew she was watching. It wasn't just her dream anymore. It was also about doing what she thought Bo wanted her to do. Win a medal. It was as if her hopes and dreams had doubled in force.

"I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you, Bo. It was wrong of me. I was wrong the other night… I was so angry at you for not supporting my dream that I forgot that our relationship is supposed to be about compromise as well as support. Staying with you and your friends for another hour wouldn't have affected my play… to tell you the truth, I didn't sleep all that well because I didn't have your arms wrapped around me."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Lauren. I shouldn't have surprised you with alternate plans. This time is about your dream and I got caught up in a moment of having to prove something to Kenzi and myself. Now I'm paying the price for my stupidity."

"I know. Mitch called me." Lauren admitted.

Bo sighed, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that."

"He has a vested interest in you, Bo. He's worked a lot of hours to get you where you are. He just wants to make sure you stay on track."

"I know and I want to make sure you stay on track. So… I'm going to let you go for now so you can sleep. I really want to go find Kenzi."

"Bo, please get a police officer if you're going out after Kenzi. They've been told to watch for Evony and they know you're the one she's after… and me… and possibly Tamsin and Kenzi."

"Don't worry, Lauren. It will keep you awake. Just sleep now, okay? I'll be fine." Bo insisted as she moved her legs to hang off the bed one at a time.

"Okay. Goodnight, Bo."

"Goodnight, Lauren."

"Bo?"

"Yes?"

"Will you text me in the morning so I know you got back okay?" Lauren asked quietly.

Bo smiled into the phone, "You really do care."

"Of course I do, Bo. I was just… I was afraid… and mad… and stubborn."

"Mmmm… all the things I love about you." Bo laughed.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Lauren replied.

"I'll text you in the morning from my physical therapy appointment."

"Thank you." Lauren said sincerely.

"Goodnight, Lauren."

"Goodnight, Bo."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was four in the morning when Bo heard a knock on the door. She stood from the chair she'd been sleeping in off and on since getting in touch with Manny. Looking through the peephole, she saw two of the brothers and their cousin and unlocked the door, letting them in.

She immediately noticed Kenzi thrown over Manny's shoulder, "Oh God, is she…"

"Three sheets to the wind, plastered, crocked, hammered, hooched up, juiced, loaded, drunk and any other name you'd like to call your little sister when she's been on a vodka binge… yes."

Bo pointed to the door that led to Kenzi's adjoining room, "In there." She turned to Miguel, "So where did you find her?"

"She was on the beach where we had dinner last night. She made a fire of her own and lit into a case of Vodka."

"How did you find her?" Bo asked.

"Well, when we couldn't find her in any of the bars she's visited since you got here, we started going to liquor stores. Miguel knows a guy who owns one of them and it so happens that she bought the case there, then mentioned something about drowning her sorrows along the shores of Rio. We figured that was the closest and most familiar place so went there first and… well… you saw what we found." Nico explained.

"Thanks you guys… so much." Bo said with all the sincerity she could muster.

"You bet, Bo. Have you got our tickets for tomorrow?" Miguel asked.

"Yup. Here you go." Bo handed the guys three tickets.

Nico asked, "Are you sure you don't want to use these?"

"Nah… I'm not a big fan of soccer and I know you guys love it, so you go and enjoy the game. I still have three sets left for USA games if you decide you want to go see them play those games." Bo offered.

"What are you going to go watch?" Manny asked, walking back into the room.

"Lauren and Tamsin's games. Besides that, I've got physical therapy three times a day."

"Bo, you can't seriously come to the Olympic games with tickets that your manager got for you for free and not go to any other events. Aren't you supposed to be getting face time? Besides, it's the Olympics!" Nico reminded his friend.

The brunette remained quiet, before explaining, "I'm sort of waiting for Lauren. I'll make sure to show my face around town so Val gets the pictures she needs to meet the promotions agreement for the coming exhibition of surfing at the next Olympics. I've got three weeks and… well… I just want to be available to Lauren while she's still playing."

Manny shook his head, "Do you really think she expects you to sit in this hotel room all day and wait for her to finish practice or a match?"

Bo didn't know the answer to that question, "Honestly, after the other night, I really don't know."

"Well, I suggest you find out." Manny replied, "If she's going to shut you out, there's no reason you should be stuck in this room waiting for her. Sure, you screwed up, but everyone does. Forgive, forget and move on is the key… if she's gonna hold a grudge… well… that doesn't seem like a healthy relationship. I mean… look… it's your life, your relationship and your call… I'm just callin' it like I see it."

Bo nodded, but didn't reply, lost in her thoughts.

"We're gonna go Bo, but… well…" Miguel took his hat off and scratched his head before pulling it back on, "We have some people watching out for you and Kenzi… and Team USA as well. If Evony tries to mess with you guys, they'll learn not to mess with Rio."

"Miguel, I…"

The middle brother waved her off, "You're not asking and I'm not telling. What you don't know can't hurt you, so let's leave it at that."

Bo smirked, "You know I hate that."

"Yea, well as long as you don't hate us we can live with that. We can't live with anything happening to our girls, so our brand of security stays in place." Manny replied.

"Okay, okay." Bo said, following the three men as they walked to the door. After saying their goodnights, Bo closed the door, turned the lock and leaned back against the door. After several moments, she smiled at her earlier conversation with Lauren. She looked at the refrigerator,

"Hey my little scallop friends, Lauren called. She was worried about me. So, maybe she still loves me after all." Bo smiled before walking to her bed and snuggling in. Despite Evony and Kristy being in Rio, she had a feeling she would sleep better tonight than she did the night before.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **A Week Later… Copacabana Beach Volleyball Arena**_

Bo and Kenzi sat in their usual seats with the two brothers and their cousin behind them, watching Lauren and Tamsin warm up. They talked amongst themselves about the competition, sizing up Team USA's chances from what they observed. They also began talking about dinner plans since the two players would have a weekend off if they were to win this match.

For her part, Bo was a bit distracted during their pre-match conversation in the stands. She had yet to see Lauren since that night by the fire, but the blonde had called her every day since Evony's arrival. Lauren's line of conversation was pretty much kept making sure Bo was safe, giving her security updates on the as yet still free offenders and talking about the coming game. When she did ask if Bo had surfed, the brunette could answer honestly that she'd only been going to physical therapy sessions until recently when she'd surfed the whitewater shallows with her physical therapist, working on balance and coordination drills.

Bo had found that the drills the PT was doing with her had been working her core and legs in ways she'd never been worked before. She actually felt stronger and more stable than her workouts with the personal trainer she'd used for more than five years. She'd already called Val to see if she could switch over to this guy or someone with a higher level of certification than a personal trainer. She had dropped by the Team USA medical tent to tell Doctor Mansfield about the therapist and what he was doing for her. He said he would look into bringing him on board for the surfing team in the next Olympics.

While Bo had no plans to surf in the next Olympics, she'd hoped that her sister would qualify. She hoped that she could give her the best opportunity to be successful against the international field that was sure to be very competitive. Bo was getting old for the sport, especially to go another four years, but Kenzi's age would make her a perfect candidate for 2020.

Bo's attention was pulled back to the court by the sound of the referee's whistle. She looked up to see that Lauren had just sent her last practice serve over the net. She watched as the blonde walked back to the baseline to retrieve the extra ball and looked over her shoulder to where Bo was sitting. Lauren gave her a wink and a small smile, before turning away and jogging to the net.

Bo's heart soared at the simple act by the blonde causing her to chant with the rest of the crowd, "U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A…" Kenzi and the guys joined in, with the Dennis girls laughing at the Brazilian natives waving American flags for their friends.

"Isn't waving those flags going to get you thrown in jail as traitors?" Kenzi asked.

"Nah… only if you guys were playing Brazil right now. And just so you know, if they are playing Brazil in the finals, we'll be sitting over there." Manny pointed across the sand to the opponents' stands.

"But we'll buy you dinner after you lose to us." Miguel added.

The two Dennis girls just shook their heads, turning their attention to the sound of the announcer, Bo's eyes glued to Lauren and Tamsin as they approached the net. Their opponents definitely had a height advantage, but she knew that Tamsin's vertical jump would likely compensate for much of that advantage on blocks.

The match was back and forth, as expected. They were in the last game of pool play and this match would determine their seeding going into the quarterfinals. The USA's first team had entered into play last week very strong, but their pool was filled with tough teams. Going into today's games, they had lost two close matches against China and Cuba, so their chances of qualifying had slipped. They needed a win today to place in the top four in their pool.

Tamsin and Lauren were guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinal as long as they finished today's game, but a first place finish in their pool would likely put them against Italy in pool play rather than Cuba or Brazil, the opponents they were most concerned about.

So far, the pair was undefeated in pool play, but the team across the net right now was Japan and they were not going down without a fight. If they lost this match, they were eliminated from the tournament, so Bo was sure the USA coaches had expected a tough match.

"Side out, side out!" Bo heard the coaches call to the players.

Kenzi asked, "What does side out mean?"

Bo didn't take her eyes from the court, but leaned towards Kenzi, "I'm not exactly sure. Lauren told me it's a something they used to say before rally scoring… something to do with who's serving. She said now when their coaches yell that, it means they need the ball back and they're looking for a kill."

"Who are they killing?" Kenzi asked, her face deadly serious.

"They're not actually killing anyone, nob. A kill is an overhead hit."

"Oh, you mean like when Hotpants smashes the ball at the other player's face and breaks their nose?"

"She didn't mean to do that, Kenzi, but yes."

"Break her nose, Hotpants!" Kenzi screamed.

"KENZI!" Bo yelled, pulling her sister back into the bleachers.

"What? We want them to win, right?"

"Shhh. Just sit down and be quiet." Bo scolded.

"What did I do?" Kenzi asked. She turned to the guys, "What did I do."

None of them could answer because they were all laughing hysterically, but they all soon pointed to the court, turning Kenzi's attention back to the serve.

Japan served the ball hard and deep to Lauren who passed the ball to Tamsin… set, the crowd rising to their feet as Lauren approached the ball… hit… return. Everyone heaved a collective sigh when the hit missed its target. The ball moved back and forth across the net, Tamsin and Lauren battling for each ball holding off Japan's desired win until a hard hit came at Lauren down the line. She dove, getting one hand beneath the ball and up to Tamsin who managed to set a high set, allowing Lauren time to get up and approach the ball.

The whole thing happened in slow motion as Lauren went airborne, sand flying off her body, her follow-through hard and precise as the ball landed right on the line in the sand, the opposing player diving, coming up with only a face-full of sand.

"Score! Service to the Americans!"

The crowd cheered as Tamsin and Lauren met in the middle of the court. The pair spoke for a moment before Lauren took the ball from her partner. Tamsin spoke again and Lauren only nodded before turning towards the endline. Tamsin gave her bottom a slap for motivation before turning and facing the net.

Bo watched as Lauren took her time, her face the picture of concentration as she looked up to see the fingers Tamsin displayed on her back… a single middle finger. Kenzi laughed,

"Hey, look… Tamsin is giving Hotpants the finger!"

"Shhh… no she's not… that's their 'fuck you' play." Bo replied in a whisper to Kenzi, "And I love our brothers, but please don't give their secrets away just in case they have to play Brazil."

Kenzi whispered back, "Fine, but what's the 'fuck you' play?"

Bo chuckled, "Normally the plays tell the server who to serve to and what type of block they're using, but the middle finger is special. It's when Lauren imagines that the ball is Evony's head when she serves."

"And what happens?" Kenzi asked.

"Watch." Bo said as she saw Lauren take her steps, toss and hit the ball.

"Ace! Serve and advantage Team USA. Match point." The announcer called.

"Whoa. Hotpants must really hate Evony." Kenzi replied.

"Years of taking her abuse in the E.R…. she probably has an even bigger grudge against Evony than we do, but Lauren being Lauren, she's always just taken it. That is how she dealt with her all of these years."

"Nice." Kenzi replied with a smile, "So did they win?"

Bo shook her head, "Not yet. That puts them up by one point. They have to win by two."

"That's stupid. They're already past 21 points, why win by two? They're ahead."

"Kenzi."

"I know, I know… shush. But they should totally do the fuck you play again."

"They'll be expecting it on match point."

"All the more reason to do it." Kenzi replied, "They know that Tamsin and Lauren know they'll expect it, so they should do it."

"What?" Bo asked, confused by her little sister.

"The old double fake out!" Kenzi said as if it was the easiest thing in the world to understand.

The crowd cheered as the ball was served, drawing Bo's attention back to the court, "Shit. I missed the serve."

"The only thing that matters now is where the ball lands." Kenzi replied.

"True." Bo replied as she watched the four women working the court. This match was going a lot longer than the pair had hoped, but they had three days to recover after this one. Still, the heat was surely taking its toll on the pair who had been forced to live in hydration debt most of last week because of Lachlan.

In that moment, Bo realized she hadn't even been looking around for Evony. She felt as if the walls were closing in, her ears seemingly silence to the frenzy happening in the Team USA stands as she looked across the sand and saw two women in broad-brimmed hats…

"Evony." She whispered.

"Bo! What's wrong with you? They won! Come on, get up! They won! Cheer! It's awesome!" Kenzi said, pulling at her sister, but Bo didn't budge.

Kenzi leaned down, tilting her head so she could see Bo's face, "Bo? You look like you've seen a ghost. BO!" Kenzi shook her sister whose face had grown pale.

"Evony." Bo whispered again.

Kenzi's face filled with panic as she followed Bo's line of sight. She saw the two women walking away from Tamsin and Lauren's bench, "Shit!"

Kenzi hurdled the front bleacher row and ran towards the sand, only to be stopped by security. She called out to Tamsin,

"Tamsin! Tamsin! Don't drink the water! Don't drink the water!"

Tamsin turned towards Kenzi and waved, not being able to hear the girl over the crowd.

Manny was at Kenzi's side in a moment when she realized what was happening. He motioned to Miguel and Nico to get to the gate. Bo snapped out of her frozen state and called to the pair,

"Bright yellow and bright green broad-rimmed hats! See them? Don't let them get away!" She moved quickly to the security guard where Manny was trying to get the security guard to let Kenzi go.

"Please… uh… pour favor, sir… we've seen this woman…" She held up her phone, showing him Evony's mugshot with an Interpol wanted sign at the bottom, "She was over there by the Team USA bench… she means them harm!"

He released Kenzi and waved another man to him, whispering in his ear and showing him the photo,

"My friends went after them…" Bo rattled off a description as Kenzi ran across the sand.

Bo watched, everything happening as if in slow motion as Lauren raised her water bottle to her mouth. Just as she tipped it, Kenzi smacked it from her hand, then turned and did the same to Tamsin's. All Bo saw was Lauren and Tamsin yelling at Kenzi who was pointing frantically at the gate where security was running.

Bo walked across the sand, watching as Lauren carefully picked up her bottle with a towel and replaced the lid. She took Tamsin's and did the same, then turned and motioned to her coaches to come to the front of the stands so she could talk to them.

As Bo approached, she heard Lauren speak to Kenzi, "Thank you, Kenz. I'm not sure what's in here, but I'm sure it's not good. You may have saved our lives."

Kenzi shook her head, "It wasn't me… it was Bo… she caught it. I was cheering and cheering. She was the one who didn't lose herself in the frenzy that was your incredible win, by the way."

"Thank you. Where is she?" Lauren asked, looking towards the stands, but Bo was behind her.

"Here." Bo said shyly, giving a one-swipe wave.

"Hey." Lauren replied, "Good save."

Bo smiled, "Not as good as the one you made at 27-26."

"Well, my save wasn't going to save a life… just a game that really doesn't mean that much beyond how hard we have to play… which, of course, any match we play in the quarterfinals will be a tough one."

Bo nodded, smiling at how Lauren was rambling. This was the first time they had been face to face since she'd put Lauren in an impossible situation. Sure they'd spoken on the phone every day, but being this close to the woman made Bo feel like a teenager on a first date.

"Lauren!"

The blonde's attention was pulled by the voice of her coach. She turned to Bo, "I'm sorry, I want to get these to our coaches so they can have them analyzed. You're sure it was Evony?"

"And Kristy, yes."

"I have it on video." Manny added.

"What?" Bo and Lauren asked in unison, amazed by his statement.

"I was filming what I thought might be the last point of the match and the celebration that followed when it was. I just looked back at the footage… here."

Lauren held up a finger to Casey, asking him to wait, then looked back at the video. She and Bo looked at each other, shocked.

"Their timing was perfect… no one was watching them because they were all focused on who was going to win such an important match. They slid right past the guards." Bo analyzed.

"They're smart, I'll give them that." Lauren replied, before asking Manny, "Can you email that?"

"Of course. Where to?" He asked.

"I don't know yet. Can I borrow your phone?" Lauren asked.

"Definitely." Manny replied, "Anything to take this bitch down and let you ladies live in peace."

Lauren smiled, taking the offered phone, "I'll be right back. Bo, can you come with me? They may have questions."

"Of course." Bo replied, "Whatever you need, Lauren."

The pair walked to Casey and were joined by the security guard who had been told to stay by the Team USA players once word had spread among them that the two women they had been looking for were at large and nearby.

Misty approached with a tall man that had salt and pepper hair. He looked somewhat familiar to Bo who looked towards Lauren,

"Who's he?"

Casey smiled and introduced her, "Bo, this is the Head Coach of Team USA Volleyball."

The man leaned down and extended his hand to Bo, "The name is Karch."

Bo returned his smile, "Nice to meet you, Karch. I'm Bo."

The man smiled, "I'm familiar with your work. I hear you're healing nicely and are expected to return to the Pro Circuit in the fall? I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, Misty and Casey have a concern? Can someone bring me up to speed?"

Lauren spoke, "I have this video from a spectator's phone." She handed the phone to Misty who was between the two men. The three watched the video as Lauren continued,

"As you can see, two women in large hats put something into our water bottles during the last point. No one was watching, since the match was to be determined by that particular volley. Bo happened to notice them and got her sister's attention. When her sister tried to get to us to stop us, security stopped her. Bo quickly showed them the Interpol photos of the two offenders while Kenzi ran to us and stopped us from drinking from the bottles."

Lauren held up the bottles, "Mine was spilled when Kenzi batted it from my hands, but there's still enough in there for the sample to be analyzed. Tamsin's didn't spill."

Karch motioned to a woman up in the press box who motioned to someone else. Suddenly, the announcer called for the clearing of the stands and a delay of the next match for one hour.

"Sir?" Lauren asked.

Karch shrugged, "Our Team Bench is now a crime scene, Lauren. We'll have to let the Rio police do their job."

Lauren looked over her shoulder and noticed a group of police surrounding the bench area, caution tape being draped from the official's chair to the corner of the court and back again.

"What do we do now?" Lauren asked.

"You and Tamsin go do your drug test, then be sure to keep your phone's with you. Bo, you and your sister will have to provide a statement of what you saw, as will the owner of this phone. We will have to determine the chain of custody with regards to the phone so that we know the video was not tampered with."

Bo turned and waved Manny to the group. He moved quickly to her side and offered a smile, his hands folded behind his back.

"Karch, this is my friend…"

"Manny! How are you old friend?"

"Karch, it's been too long!"

The two shook hands as everyone else looked on in shock, "You know him?" Bo asked.

Manny didn't have a chance to reply as Karch jumped in, "I was here for an indoor tournament and met Manny through some friends. He gave me my first surfing lesson. I was hooked right away."

"You still riding?" Manny asked.

"Every chance I get. I still have the original board you gave me, too."

Manny looked at Bo, "He's riding one of your originals."

Bo grinned widely, "You like it?"

"I've never ridden another board. My wife calls it my mistress."

The group laughed as Karch took the conversation in a more serious direction, "I'm afraid we're going to have to confiscate your phone old friend. I'll buy you another one… promise. I need to know if they phone has been in anyone's possession since you shot this footage."

"The footage is actually of the last point of the match. You can see the two women in the background. I gave the phone to Lauren and as far as I know, she gave it only to you."

Karch nodded, "Very well. Thank you for taking this footage. You may have very well put the proverbial nail in the coffin with this case. Did any of you happen to see Lachlan around?"

Kenzi raised her hand, "I did. He was over by that entrance during the match. I didn't say anything because I assumed he was here as a part of the USA staff. I mean… I know he's not allowed to coach Hot… I mean… Lauren and Tamsin, but I thought he was still on the staff."

"He is." Karch looked down at the phone and played the video once more. After a few minutes, he looked up at Manny, "Any chance you took any other footage during the match?"

"Sure… may I?" He reached for his phone and Karch handed it to him. Everyone watched while Manny flipped through his photos and videos until he found a few short videos he had taken at the end of each game in the match,

"I took the final points in all of the games, thinking the girls might like to have memories of the celebrations. I'm not sure what you're looking for, but…"

"We're looking for Evony's husband. I know you knew Evony. Did you know him?"

"Lachlan… tight ass. Yea, I know him. We'd all go out surfing and he'd be sitting on the beach with his laptop or on his cell phone. I may not be a fan of Evony's, but I'm not surprised she divorced him. He did nothing but work."

He finally found what he was looking for, "There he is."

He handed the phone back to Karch who watched and nodded, "That's what we needed. Can you pull the videos of the competition and put them into a single folder?"

"Sure thing. Okay if I delete a few photos?"

Karch looked at him, his eyebrows furrowing, "Uh, I don't want to…"

Manny leaned over and whispered to him. Karch's eyes went wide before he pulled back and said, "Yes, please delete those."

Manny leafed feverishly through his photos as the others waited. After several minutes, he was handing his phone back to Karch,

"All of the photos and videos of the match are now in a folder marked Team USA. Now, how about that phone?" Manny asked.

Karch reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed it to Casey,

"Can you handle the phone for me? I want to get this evidence to the USOC and the Rio police."

Casey nodded, "Sure thing. Thanks, Karch."

"You bet. We'll be stepping up security on you two. You are not to leave the Olympic Village, understood? They won't be able to get into the athlete's area. We'll have their pictures posted everywhere."

Tamsin and Lauren nodded silently. Lauren asked, "Can we get our clothing and gear?"

Misty shook her head, "I'm afraid not, ladies. It's a crime scene. Once they've cleared it, you can have your belongings back as long as they don't find any other evidence."

The pair nodded as Casey said, "We'll have the police drop the two of you back at the Village. If you'll just give us about fifteen minutes to get things arranged?"

"Of course." Lauren replied.

They all watched as the group moved away from them. Lauren turned back to Bo who was watching Misty and Casey talk to Karch. She watched as the brunette's eyes then moved back towards the court, then to the ground. Tamsin broke the silence,

"So, I guess we'll see you guys around. Sounds like we're on lock down." She turned to Lauren, "Come on, partner. We still have to go pee in the cup. The sergeant is still standing by the tent entrance and she looks… inconvenienced."

"The sergeant?" Manny asked.

"Well, she's not like actual military or anything, but she's super strict and… well… she's kinda mean, I'm not gonna lie."

Lauren nodded, "She is mean."

She looked at Bo before turning to the group, "Uh… could you guys give us a minute?"

Everyone nodded and moved with Tamsin towards the tent. Lauren turned to Bo,

"I'm sorry. I had hoped we could talk for a bit. It's been a while and… well… I know I've been… distant. I just… I had to focus on why I came here, Bo. I hope you understand."

"I do, Lauren and I need to focus on why I came here." Bo replied.

"Why did you come?" Lauren asked.

"You know, I thought I knew. I thought I came here to watch you… and that part is still very true. Supporting you through this medal quest is my top priority. I promise you that I am still just a phone call away. I will drop whatever I'm doing and come to you until you're through this."

"But?" Lauren asked.

"But this physical therapist I'm working with is doing things with me that I've never done before. I feel so much stronger even though I'm weak. Does that make any sense?"

Lauren smiled, "I'm sorry, but… well, no actually."

"He's doing surfing drills with me that are helping me center my weight better. Lauren, I feel more stable and more balanced in the water than I ever have on a board despite the fact that I know my body is weaker than it's been in more than a decade. I'm gaining ground and confidence. I know you're mad about that day that I did the big water, but… well… it was an important day for me. After battling back for four months… after thinking I would never be able to overcome my fear of drowning again, I was back in the water… and it felt good."

Lauren smiled, "I'm happy for you, Bo. I really and truly am. I just…"

"I know. You have to focus on your thing right now and that's fine. I just wanted you to know that I wouldn't have asked you to come there if it hadn't been something huge for me. I thought that since it was during a break for you that maybe it would be okay. You could have said no… but you came."

"I know, Bo… and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you for a decision that I made. I just couldn't split my focus. I would love to watch you surf tomorrow or Sunday if they let us out."

"You would?" Bo asked, surprised.

Lauren nodded, "I won't lie and say that I'm not afraid for you while you're out there. I have zero experience with professional level surfing, but Manny and his brothers, his cousins, Tamsin, Kenzi… hell, even my boss and my coaches… everyone is so confident and amazed by what you can do on a surfboard… I guess… what I'm trying to say is that maybe I just need to watch you until I see what they see."

Bo smiled, "Really?"

Lauren nodded, "Really."

"You know, the other day, Kenzi asked me if I would give up surfing for you. I told her I would because winning a world championship wasn't really a goal for me… it was a goal to make money… it was a goal to fulfill my real dream…"

"Your surf shop and board brand." Lauren nodded.

"Right. But after having a few days to think about it, I sort of hope you would never ask me to give it up. I feel like… I don't know… with this new training and after working with Manny… I think I've found something in myself that makes me want to go for it, you know?"

Lauren smiled, "Bo, I would never ask you to stop surfing. You have to know that. My fear is mine to deal with, not yours… although you should feel free to reassure me and not to push the envelope too far."

Bo smiled, "Of course."

"Bo, after I finish this tournament, I promise you that my focus will be on supporting you through your fall and winter season until this crazy surfing ride is over."

"Thank you, Lauren. That means so much to me." Bo replied, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

"I just can't help but feel like it would be one of the biggest surfing accomplishments of all time for you to win a world championship, Bo. I mean… how many surfers have come back from death, near-strokes and near-paralysis to win a world championship?"

Bo laughed, "None that I know of… thank you, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "I really wish I could spend time with you right now, but I really have to go pee in a cup."

"I totally understand. Will you call me later?" Bo asked.

Lauren frowned, "My phone is in my bag. I won't be able to call you until I get it back."

Bo nodded, "Oh. Well… I guess this is goodbye for now."

Lauren nodded.

"Take care, Lauren."

"You too, Bo."

Bo turned and moved to walk away, but stopped when she heard Lauren call her name. Turning around, she saw Lauren's hands reach for hers, then return to her side. The blonde looked awkward, unable to express why she had called Bo's name. In that moment, Bo didn't care why Lauren had called her name, she just knew what she needed. She took long strides to the blonde and, gripping her face with both hands, crushed their lips together in a fiery kiss.

Pulling back from Lauren, her eyes remained closed as Bo licked her lips and said, simply, "See you soon."

Lauren's fingers moved slowly to her lips, "See you soon."

She watched as Bo joined Kenzi and Manny who now stood with the coaching staff, then turned and walked towards her partner and the sergeant.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **An Hour Later – Apple Store, Village Mall, Rio de Janeiro**_

Casey was on the phone while Misty helped Manny pick up a new phone. Kenzi had a set of headphones on over at the iPad table and was playing a game while Bo talked to another customer service representative. After about a half an hour, Casey made his way over to Bo,

"Hey, Bo."

"Did they find them?"

"Not yet, but they're closing in… so they think."

"What was in the bottle?" Bo asked.

Casey hesitated, but Bo was insistent, "Casey?"

"It was poison, Bo… Lauren's bottle was poison. Tamsin's bottle was a strong sedative that she likely would have survived with medical attention. They found some in their bags as well."

Bo looked at him in disbelief, "She… they… they tried to kill them?"

Casey shook his head, "I guess they have nothing left to lose."

Bo nodded, "They've lost their jobs, probably their licenses…"

"And my connections at the USOC have said that the WSL made it official…"

"She's out of professional competition." Bo finished for him, knowing that was the final straw for her former competition, "How does someone so good fall so far, so quickly."

"I don't know, Bo, but you and Kenzi aren't safe."

Manny arrived at Bo's side, "They're safe, Casey. They'll be staying with us from here on out."

Bo looked at their friend, "Are you sure?"

"I already talked to my wife… just called her as a matter of fact… on my sweet new phone." Manny wagged the device in front of Bo.

The brunette laughed, "You got an iPhone 6S Plus? Isn't that taking advantage?"

Misty smiled, "Karch said whatever he wants, no matter what the price. If it weren't for that video and photos, they wouldn't have the evidence."

Bo nodded, "True."

"So… what's in your bag, Miss Dennis?" Manny asked with a smirk.

Bo blushed, pulling out the device, "Could you get this to Lauren?"

The brunette handed Misty a brand new iPhone 6S, "Tell her it's already set up for the most part. I wanted to make sure our numbers were all in the phone. I didn't set a passcode and I didn't have your numbers to put in, but she now has mine, Kenzi's, Manny's, his brothers and his cousin's numbers."

Misty smiled, "I promise I'll get it to her first thing when I get back."

Bo nodded, "Thanks. If we're all done here, then I'd like to get going. We'll have to pack up our hotel rooms and check out if we're going back to Manny's."

"Actually, I'm not taking them to my house. Evony knows where we live. I've already called my wife and told her to move… my brothers too. Just make sure Lauren knows that she's safe."

Misty smiled, "I will. Thank you… both of you… and Kenzi too. You prevented a horrible act. I know you have your own reasons for doing so, but for Team USA, well… losing them would have been… unimaginable."

Bo nodded, the thought of Kenzi not getting to Lauren before she took that sip causing a shiver to run through her body and straight to her bones. She felt Manny's arms drape over her shoulder,

"Are you ready to go, Bo?"

Bo could only nod, her thoughts only for Lauren in that moment. She looked up at Misty, "You're sure they'll be safe in the Olympic Village?"

"Absolutely, Bo. Since the terror attack decades ago, the village is the most secure facility on earth, other than maybe the White House."

Bo nodded, "Thanks for getting that to Lauren."

Misty nodded as Casey joined her, "I just talked to Tamsin. They're all settled in their rooms with lunch. As long as they're on lock down, they'd like to review some game footage if it's alright with you."

"That's fine. My husband went fishing with his buddies, so I had just planned to do some shopping. I can do that later. I do have a broadcast to do at four."

Casey nodded, "All good. See you all around?"

Bo and Manny nodded, "See you around."

Bo watched as the pair left the store.

"I'll get Kenzi and then we can get going." Manny said, kissing Bo's cheek.

"Thanks, Manny… for everything."

"You bet, Bo."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **Later that night…**_

"Manny, are you sure Enzo won't mind us using his room?" Bo asked, tossing her bags in the corner of the third Rodriguez brother's room.

"Nah. He won't be back until Tuesday, I think. Besides, if Evony and her sidekick are still at large tomorrow, we'll get you settled in another room."

Kenzi laid down on the air mattress Manny had laid on the floor, "Make sure I get a bed if we're here another night."

"Yes, your majesty." Manny bowed with a smirk. Kenzi threw a pillow at him, "Dork."

Manny turned back to Bo, "If you need anything, it's probably in the common room. The kids will all be up at eight for breakfast. If you don't want to get up that early…"

"I have physical therapy tomorrow morning." Bo said.

"Right. One of us will take you there. Kenz, you're welcome to join us for breakfast. If you don't show, one of the kids will likely knock on your door with a tray."

"Breakfast in bed? Cool. I think I like this hotel better than our other one." Kenzi smiled.

"It's a school, Kenzi… and remember that tomorrow at ten you are giving surfing lessons to earn your keep."

Manny smiled, "It's a group of beginners, but they're quick learners. There's a girl in the group named Manuela. She's a little rough. Her parents died when she was six… violent crime that she witnessed… so she's a pretty angry kid until you get her in the water. Then she's an entirely different person. I'm hoping she just needs another female to bond with."

"Bonding is my specialty." Kenzi replied.

Bo and Manny shrugged, "Okay then. Goodnight, Bo. Goodnight, Kenz.

"Night." The two said in unison.

He shut the door behind him as he left. Moments later, as Bo was about to get into bed, her phone rang. She looked at the screen and smiled, seeing that it was Lauren. She stood and left the room so as not to bother her sister while she slept.

Walking out into the common room, she answered the phone, "Hey."

"Hey yourself. You bought me a new phone?" Lauren asked.

Bo was taken back by her question. She thought Lauren would be happy to be able to call her. Maybe she had misjudged?

"Bo?"

"Uh… I'm sorry, Lauren. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought… I mean… you are under no obligation to call me… I just… if you needed anything, I wanted you to be able to call one of us for help."

"Bo, I'm not upset. I just know you're trying to budget your money with all of the medical bills."

"I got a deal for adding a second phone to my account. Casey said he didn't know how long you'd be without yours and this is probably even cheaper than your own. My account has unlimited data and…"

"Bo… really… I'm not upset at all. I'm glad I can call you."

"You didn't think I was being too possessive?"

"Not at all. Remember… you didn't call me. I called you." Lauren replied with a chuckle.

"Oh. Okay." Bo replied.

"I think I owe you an apology. My silence has made things… weird between us. Bo… relax, please? I'm your girlfriend… nothing has changed. Can we just forget about what happened last week and more forward? You know… forgive and forget?"

Bo relaxed, "I would really like that, Lauren."

"Well, fine then." Lauren replied, "So, Misty said you aren't at the hotel?"

"They decided we weren't safe there. Manny is taking care of us. He moved all of us, including his family and cousins… everyone Evony knows… to… well… somewhere she doesn't know."

Lauren was silent, so Bo spoke, "Lauren, I'd tell you if I knew for sure no one was listening, but we got a little tutorial on phone safety at the Apple Store and apparently…"

"I know, Bo. We got the same lecture. No confidential information shared over a wireless connection, period."

"Just know that we're safe." Bo smiled as she walked out onto the front porch, facing the bay. She sat on the step and looked up at the sky, "It's a beautiful night."

"It is. I was just looking at the stars."

"Me too. There's so many of them."

"Want to describe them?" Lauren asked.

"That sounds like fun… let's quiz Doctor Lewis on her constellations." Bo replied.

"Okay, but no more than ten. I have off tomorrow, but I can't stay up too late." Lauren replied.

"Well, I don't have off. I have PT in the morning, so I should probably be in bed earlier than you."

"Definitely. Okay, start the quiz and I'll get you to bed early." Lauren replied.

"Lauren?"

"Yes, Bo?"

"I miss you."

"I miss you too, Bo. Are you okay?" Lauren asked.

"I'm glad you're okay. She got too close, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "I know, Bo. I'm trying not to think about it. I'm trying to be confident in the Rio police."

"Me too." Bo replied.

"So… tell me about those beautiful stars over your head."

Bo smiled. Leaning back on the porch, she looked up at the sky and began, "Well, the first one…"

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**


	6. Chapter 6: Life… Elusive and Unexpected

_**A/N:**_ _So sorry for the very long delay. As they say, life happens sometimes. Anyway, thank you for your continued support of this story. This chapter is a bit of a roller coaster and towards the end, Evony and Kristy bring a bit of violence that I just want to warn peeps about since it could be a trigger for some._

 _I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I was already at 35,000 words in the chapter and needed to end it somewhere or the file is too big to upload. I'll try to post the next chapter within the next week, as I should have some time to write._

 _Sorry for any excessive spelling or grammar errors… my proofread was spotty at best._

 _Happy Belated Canada Day and Independence Day to my North American neighbors. Thanks in advance for any reviews and PM's you send my way – sorry for not replying the last round, but as I mentioned, life happened. I'm hoping I'll be able to devote a bit more time now._

 _Best wishes to all… Cuddles_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 6: Life… Elusive and Unexpected**_

Bo arrived at the doorstep to Lauren and Tamsin's Olympic Village Condo at nine sharp. They had agreed to have breakfast together after Bo had finished her physical therapy appointment, which had – unexpectedly - included surfing today.

 _Knock-Knock_

The door opened to reveal a smiling Lauren in her Team USA jacket, red collared shirt and a pair of blue shorts. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tail that was strung through the back of a blue baseball cap with the USA logo on the brim.

"You're all wet!" Lauren said, "What happened?"

"Well, my trainer failed to mention that I would be surfing this morning, so… I hope you don't mind the wet pony tail look."

Bo shrugged, giving her girlfriend a smile. Lauren leaned towards her and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling the door closed and following Bo as she turned up the sidewalk towards their destination.

Lauren smiled as they walked, "Not at all. Did he clear you to surf again?"

"Nah. I wasn't actually in the ocean. The facility where I'm doing my rehab is one of the new Olympic training facilities they've built to train surfers for the 2020 exhibitions. Inside, there's a wave pool and they have surfboards hooked to machines… well… they best way to explain it is that it's a mechanical bull, but instead of the bull, you're riding a surfboard."

Lauren laughed, "I love riding mechanical bulls. That sounds like fun."

Bo smiled, "Honestly, it really was, but I was again reminded of muscles that I have that I didn't know I had. After I was finished, I was cramping again, so he added a session of electric stim and heat followed by a massage."

"I hope you didn't rush out of your appointment on my account." Lauren smiled as they turned the corner.

"The timing was actually perfect. If he hadn't added that on, I would have been standing here outside your door like a love-sick teenager watching the time tick by minute by minute." Bo smiled, but her face soon melted into a frown,

"I think we're being followed, Lauren."

She nodded towards a man across the road from them. He wore a black polo shirt and jeans, his actions mirroring their own as they walked down the street.

"That's security, Bo. He's supposed to be following us. There's another man over there." Lauren nodded just ahead of him.

"Wow. They're really taking this seriously." Bo replied.

"Well, it wouldn't do well for two athletes from one country to be killed on their home turf. I'm more worried about who's watching you and Kenzi right now."

Bo shook her head, "Look over your shoulder."

The blonde did as Bo asked, but a moment later, laughter burst forth… the kind of laughter Bo hadn't heard from her girlfriend in a very, very long time.

"Manny and Miguel, the brothers Bond, eh?" She said when she'd finally gathered her emotions, "I love the matching Fedora's."

"They said it helps them take the job seriously." Bo replied with a laugh, "Enzo and Nico are across the street behind your guys."

"That's adorable, Bo. They are such good friends."

"They are and they're very sorry that you didn't get off on the right foot with them the other night. They can't wait to make it up to you." Bo said, her face hopeful.

"I look forward to it. Why don't they join us for breakfast?"

"Well, they knew we hadn't seen each other much, so they wanted to give us alone time." Bo replied.

"This is alone time?" Lauren asked with a chuckled and smile.

"I guess until Evony and Kristy are caught, this is about as alone as we'll get." Bo smiled in return.

"Aren't you worried about the guys getting hurt? I mean, they're not actual police officers, are they? I mean… shouldn't you and Kenzi have actual protection?"

"They're more than capable of taking care of themselves, sweetie. They're all former military… it's a long story, but just trust me… they all have families and wouldn't put themselves in harms way unnecessarily." Bo assured.

"Okay." Lauren replied, "Well, I'm still serious about them joining us for breakfast… I mean… if it's okay with you."

Bo wasn't sure how to take Lauren's offer. Did she not want to be alone with her or was she trying to make an effort to get to know her friends? Sensing Bo's silent discomfort with her comment, Lauren realized that maybe she'd made a mistake in offering to make their breakfast date a breakfast party,

"Bo…" She gripped her girlfriend's wrist and pulled her to stop, turning her to face her, "I don't want you to think that I don't want to have breakfast alone with you, because I do… we haven't had any alone time since… well… since our disagreement. I want time with you, but I also feel badly about how I treated your friends the other night. If you want me to make good with them now, I'll do that. If you want alone time, I'll do that. It's your morning, Bo. Whatever will make you happy is what I want to do."

Lauren smiled as she watched the dimple appear on Bo's cheek. It had been a while since she'd seen it and was glad to see her girlfriend give a sincere smile.

"I'd like alone time, please. I miss you, Lauren and more than that, I want you to have some time away from the court for the weekend so you can go back fresh on Monday for practice. I know it helps me sometimes to step away for a few days. You've been so focused… that type of stress takes its toll. I want you to rest, but have a little good fun while you do it."

Lauren smiled and nodded, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought it should be your choice, but I narrowed it down to things that wouldn't take a lot out of you."

"Like what?" Lauren asked, still curious.

"Uh… a dinner cruise… or Samba dance lessons?" Bo said the second option very rapidly, but in truth, she was dying to see Lauren Samba… the thought of the blonde's hips swaying to the smooth music had her senses wired.

"Samba, huh? That could be fun. Can we do both?" Lauren asked.

"I don't want you to get too tired." Bo replied.

"Well, we could Samba tonight and cruise tomorrow, right?" Lauren reasoned.

"I'm sure that could be arranged." Bo smiled, holding the door open for her girlfriend.

"Good. Now feed me… I'm hungry." Lauren teased.

"Yes ma'am." Bo saluted as they entered the restaurant.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kenzi knocked on the Olympic Village condo door, after attempting to do so about fifteen previous times. She had no idea how Tamsin would take to seeing her without calling first, but she needed to apologize… and she did miss the blonde.

"What?" Tamsin asked before she faced the person who had interrupted her movie, "Oh… it's you."

The blonde turned and walked into her temporary living space, leaving the door ajar. Kenzi hesitated, but then took the open door as an invitation to enter. She walked slowly into the living room, and then turned towards the door to close it quietly. She stood there, both hands holding the doorknob for a long moment, debating whether to leave or stay. Mustering her courage, she turned around to face the blonde, both hands behind her still on the knob as if ready to make a quick escape.

Noticing her guests hesitation, Tamsin sighed before tossing the remote control on the coffee table,

"Well, did you come to guard my door, check out my temporary digs or actually say something to me?"

Kenzi lowered her eyes to the floor. Her friend's snark was in full affect… normally she would have a quick, likely sarcastic, comeback but her guilt didn't allow her to feel any humor in this particular moment. She slowly released the doorknob and approached the blonde,

"Uh… I… I came to apologize. I would have come sooner, but I didn't want to distract you before a match. I figured having a weekend to recover from a visit would be okay."

She motioned with her thumb over her shoulder, "I can leave if you don't want to see me… I just… I'm sorry about the other day. I was wrong on so many levels and I'm… I just feel really, really bad… for everything."

Tamsin's eyes remained set on the carpeted floor, leading Kenzi to believe the blonde had no interest in seeing her. She made it to the door before the blonde spoke,

"Wait." Tamsin said, rubbing her hands together. Her eyes didn't move, "Stay."

Kenzi sighed, releasing the doorknob and turned to face her friend. She slowly made her way to the chair next to the sofa where the blonde sat, sitting down, careful not to disturb her. She waited a long while before Tamsin finally looked up at her,

"A lot of things were said… a lot of things we both regret… but… well, you are a distraction to me, Kenzi. Sometimes you're a welcome distraction and sometimes… well… you're confused and… to be honest, I'm pretty much… not. I guess that hurts."

"I'm sorry I'm confused. I wish I could explain." Kenzi said with a quiver in her voice.

Tamsin laughed, "You know… I think I understand. I've been thinking about where you are… and… well, when I was a kid, I thought I was madly in love with this kid named Keith. All of my friends kept trying to push us together because they said we were perfect for each other. The problem was that any time we were together at his house, I wanted to hang out with his sister Jane."

The blonde leaned into the seat cushion, laying her head back, her eyes closing as her memories surged to the surface,

"I wasn't sure why, but I wanted to be around Jane all the time. Then I started having dreams about her. I knew it wasn't normal… I mean… what I was feeling and thinking wasn't normal. I was afraid to tell anyone, so I kept it to myself. For years, I kept seeing Keith so I could spend time with Jane. She was two years older than us."

Kenzi watched as Tamsin's lips curled into a smile, then retracted into a frown, "One day we were at the park together. Keith had baseball practice, so it was just the two of us. We were on the swings together when she started talking to me about how attractive I was becoming now that I was growing out of my lanky teen years. We got off the swings and started to walk the path that led into the woods."

Tamsin sat up and leaned forward onto her elbows, "We held hands… it was such a simple thing, but it felt so good for some reason. I felt… I felt like I mattered… like someone cared about me… like someone saw me."

Kenzi watched as a stray tear ran down the blonde's cheek. She wiped it away before she continued,

"During that walk, I imagined this was the start of some grand romance… that Jane was in love with me all along and all of my prayers were answered. That maybe I was normal after all. After a while, we stopped by the lake and sat down. We talked for a while and then… well, she leaned over… slowly… and she kissed me. I thought I died and went to heaven. Her lips were so soft."

She shook her head, the tears falling more steadily now, "I gave myself to her…" she chuckled, "… of course, I had no idea what I was doing… I was clumsy and terrified, but she was patient and sweet. She walked me back home afterwards and… well… after that… I rarely saw her."

Kenzi's eyes went wide, "I'm so sorry, Tamsin. I can't believe…"

"No… really… it's all right. I just… I've never shared that story with anyone. I just wanted you to know that… well… after Jane left for college, I was left with all of these feelings… feelings that I was very aware most people called wrong. So, I kept it all to myself… I shut down that part of me and was never with another woman again until my junior year in college. Even then, I was confused. I'd been with guys and girls, but I just didn't know what I was supposed to be feeling."

"I don't think there's a right way for anyone to feel. We just feel what we feel. I think it's just that simple. I hate all of the labels we're supposed to wear. Can't we all just be human?" Kenzi asked, frustrated as her own fears were brought to the surface by Tamsin's story.

Tamsin nodded, "That's what Lauren taught me… of course, it took her a while to get that through my thick skull, but when I started hanging out with some of her friends, I realized I wasn't alone. That other people felt like I did… that straight wasn't the right way to feel… it was just one way to feel."

Kenzi smiled, "So did you ever see Jane again?"

Tamsin nodded, "We bumped into each other in the grocery store in my home town a few times, but we never said more than a hello."

"Awkward." Kenzi replied.

"I know, right?"

The two shared a moment of silence before Kenzi finally spoke, "I guess you're sort of my Jane… I just… I don't know how I would feel about the physical stuff."

Tamsin nodded, "Well, I would never do to you what she did to me. If and when anything happens like that, it will be because you initiated it."

"I can't say I haven't thought about it… I just… I'm just not ready." Kenzi replied, "And to be honest, I'm not sure I ever will be, Tamsin. I just… I really don't want to lose your friendship. I really, really care about you. I've never had a best friend before, but I'd think that this is what it would feel like if I had one. I just get confused every once in a while when I think I might like to… I dunno… kiss you, maybe?"

"So what stops you?" Tamsin asked.

"I don't know, really. I just… I get scared and… well, later I'm usually relieved that I didn't take that step."

"What are you scared of?" Tamsin asked.

"If I knew the answer to that question, I would likely not be confused." Kenzi chuckled, although she knew Tamsin probably didn't see the humor in her statement.

"Well, I think I've had enough of talking about feelings for one day. Do you want to get a bite to eat? I'm starving." Tamsin asked, slapping her hands on her thighs before standing.

"I'd like that." Kenzi smiled, following the blonde, "Tamsin?"

"Yea, Kenz?" Tamsin stopped and turned back towards the raven-haired girl.

"I think I'm afraid of hurting you… of kissing you and then finding out that it wouldn't go past that one kiss. I'm afraid of how it would make you feel." Kenzi replied.

Tamsin smiled, "It would suck, so what do you say we hold off on taking that step until after we've won a medal? I don't need anything messing with my head right now."

Kenzi replied, "I think that's a good idea."

They headed for the door, "By the way, I like the confidence."

Tamsin smiled, "Yea… I figure medal winners gotta have some swag to get to the podium. To be honest, we're a little freaked out that we're in the quarterfinals. Two wins and we're on the podium. It's crazy. I mean, we weren't considered a favorite for a medal… maybe a bronze at best."

"I dunno, I think you two have always had a shot."

"That's because you never saw the USA first team play… we got lucky that they pulled a loss and a forfeit. It's just strange that we're now our country's lone chance at a medal. The pressure was all on them, now I guess it's supposed to be on us… but… I dunno… I don't really feel it. I keep waiting for it to hit and for me to go insane with fear, but it's not happening. Of course, it's only Saturday."

"True, but I think you don't feel the pressure because… as you said… you weren't supposed to be in this position. Maybe from here on, it's all gravy?"

Tamsin considered her friend's statement as they walked along the street, "Gravy, huh? I like that." She smiled.

"Good… now, let's find some real gravy… Mamma needs some meat." Kenzi smiled as the pair began their search for a lunch destination.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Lauren had accompanied Bo to her physical therapy appointment. She wanted to meet the new therapist Mitch had hooked her up with. It sounded like he was using some cutting edge methods with athletes, so her interest was sufficiently peaked.

As they entered the facility, the girl at the front desk winked at Bo and smiled, "Hey there surfer girl. Lookin' good today."

"You say that every day, Peaches." Bo smirked, signing in on the patient clipboard and handing her a twenty.

Lauren watched as the girl took not only the twenty, but Bo's hand as well, her gaze intent on wandering over the brunette's chest. Lauren felt a surprising sense of anger rise from her gut, her face flushing. Her mind ran through a thousand insults she could hurl at the woman…

' _I mean… really… Peaches? It sounds like a porn name.'_ She thought to herself, but quickly covered her mouth with her hand, looking around the room hoping she had not spoken aloud. What was wrong with her?

"Uh… that's my hand." Bo said, staring at fingers wrapped tightly around her hand.

"Oh, sorry. I meant to take just the money for your visit, but… well, you do have irresistibly soft hands." The perky redhead winked at Bo again before releasing her hand, puckering her lips and blowing a kiss her way.

"Right… well… is Tony here?" Bo asked, blushing under the scrutiny, knowing Lauren was probably watching their interaction.

"Why don't you just wait here, sugar. I'll go get him for you." Peaches said, stepping out from behind the counter and bumping up against Bo as she passed.

The brunette watched as the woman put a little extra sway in her step as she walked into the gym area, earning her a slap on the arm from Lauren.

"Hey!" Bo said, holding her arm.

"If you'd prefer Peaches ass to mine, that can be arranged… sugar." Lauren added sarcastically, taking a seat in the waiting area.

"Lauren, she's nothing… annoying if anything. If she hit on me any harder, I'd be unconscious." Bo begged Lauren as she chased after her all the way to the seating area.

"So it's a daily thing, then?"

"Well, she seems to work most of the day, so it's… well… it's actually a multiple times a day thing since I usually have two or three appointments a day…." Bo replied, standing in front of Lauren who had immediately taken a seat on the waiting room love seat.

"And yet you said nothing about being taken or about not being interested?" Lauren asked.

Bo stood silently. The truth was, that the woman made her so uncomfortable that she was usually stunned mute at how forward she was becoming.

"Bo?" Lauren asked, her jealousy becoming more apparent as the woman sashayed back towards the pair,

"Tony will be right with you, sugar. You can just park your gorgeous ass here in the waiting area until he's finished with his current client." Peaches remarked, her eyes wandering down Bo's body before moving back up to settle on her breasts.

Lauren's face flushed with anger, her eyes shooting daggers at the receptionist. She took a deep breath and exhaled as Bo stood still as a statue, before she decided two could play this game,

"You can sit right here, sweetie." Lauren replied, patting the space on the bench next to her.

Bo hesitantly moved towards her girlfriend a little concerned at the mix of jealousy and anger on her face. She'd never seen Lauren like this and she wasn't sure if she was about to stand up and punch the redhead out or punch her out.

She sat down and found her answer when her face was gripped with both hands by her girlfriend who pulled her into a scorching hot kiss. All the brunette could do was grip Lauren's face in return, her core seemingly on fire as she melted into the blonde, whose tongue dipped and swirled in concert with her own.

When Lauren finally released her, Bo swooned, the blonde's hands firmly holding her to keep her from falling off of the loveseat.

"Wow." Was all the brunette could muster in reply, her eyes looking dreamily back at the blonde who gave her a soft chuckle.

"Just so there's no question as to who you belong to." Lauren said as Bo fell into her arms, her lips trailing kisses down the blonde's neck.

The Doctor looked over Bo's shoulder at the receptionist and smirked before she whispered in Bo's ear,

"That's all for now, sweetie. The fruit is staring and I don't usually give free shows in the produce department. We'll continue this after your appointment…" She pulled back and looked into Bo's eyes, " _IF_ you work hard for me."

Bo replied breathlessly, "Oh, I'll definitely work hard for you… so hard."

"But what about Peaches?" Lauren asked, smirking.

"Who?" Bo asked before she watched Lauren turn her attention towards a man's voice. She was still in a fog, but turned to see her therapist grinning at her,

"Hey, Bo! You all ready?" Tony asked.

Bo cleared her throat and stood up, smoothing out her T-shirt. She took a step, but turned back, extending her hand to her girlfriend. As Lauren stood, Bo turned back to Tony,

"Sure thing, but first I'd like you to meet Doctor Lauren Lewis, my…"

"Team USA's best chance for a medal! That's some hit you've got there, Lewis. My buddy Mitch back in the states told me you're the reason Bo's still with us." Tony threw an air punch from the hip, before extending an excited hand towards the blonde.

Lauren blushed awkwardly, still not used to the compliments on her play despite many being thrown her way both in person and on social media as of late,

"Well, I'd like to think her will to survive had a lot to do with it. As for the medal, we've certainly found ourselves in a surprising position."

Tony shook his head, "Not in my opinion. I've been watching you and Tamsin since your college days. It was only a matter of time before you two made it to the big show."

His smile was infectious, causing Lauren to return the gesture. She noticed that he was an enthusiastic man who clearly had a good energy for the type of work he did with athletes. His strength was apparent, as was his knowledge of the Team USA athletes… well, Volleyball, at least.

"Are you coming to the games next week?" Bo asked.

"Actually, Doctor Mansfield invited me to work in the medical tent, so I'll be there. I'm super excited about the opportunity. Thanks for putting in a good word for me, Bo."

"You bet, Tony. You've helped me so much… I just told him about my experience when he asked about you and Mitch."

"Well, whatever you said must have have worked." He clapped his hands together, "So, are you ready?" He asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Yup." Bo replied, "Okay if Lauren comes and watches?"

"Absolutely. I don't blame her for wanting to check in on her patient. I heard about what your therapist did… or… should I say… didn't do."

Lauren frowned, her eyes going to the ground as she nodded. She quickly shook off the memory and the fear that now came with it after the incident earlier in the week and lifted her eyes towards Bo, then Tony, "Well, actually, Bo is no longer my patient."

"Lauren is my girlfriend, Tony." Bo interjected with a bright smile, taking the blonde's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "And my former therapist is no longer employed. You should know that… well… she was involved in a plan this week to harm Lauren. If you see her around, you should notify the police or security immediately. They're after both Kristy and Dr. Evony Fluerette Marquis who we believe initiated the plans against both Lauren and myself."

"Wow… I mean… that's… I don't know what to say." Tony stuttered, shaking his head, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at the two in disbelief.

"There's nothing to say, Tony. It's okay. I just wanted you to know since you brought up your knowledge of the case. We'd hate to see you get pulled into our mess. It's best not to speak to them, just report any sightings."

"Of course. Well then, let's get Bo going, girlfriend." Tony winked and smiled at Lauren and led the two back to one of the private rooms.

Explaining he'd be back after Bo's modality treatment, Tony exited the room leaving the two alone. Lauren sat in the chair next to the table while Bo lay face down, her head and hips on the pillows Tony had left in place on the table. A young blonde walked into the room,

"So how are you feeling today, Bo?"

"Hi Grace. My back is a little stiff… and my legs, of course." Bo replied.

Grace smiled at Lauren, "Hi."

Bo interjected, "Oh, sorry. Grace, this is Lauren."

"Hi Lauren." Grace gave her a smile before turning back to her client, "So… low back and legs?"

"Yea and a little to the left of my right shoulder."

The therapist palpated the area, "Here?"

"Oooh, yea." Bo replied.

Lauren watched as the woman left the room and soon returned with several cold packs wrapped in blankets. She laid one on each of Bo's stiff body parts, before picking up a timer and setting it as she spoke,

"Twenty minutes, Bo. I'll be back soon to check on you. Get some rest." She smiled at Lauren who gave her a nod, settling back in her chair.

"Okay. Thanks, Grace." Bo replied.

"You bet." The young therapist said, exiting the room.

Bo turned her head to face Lauren, smiling up at her. The blonde took her girlfriend's hand,

"So… now you lay here for a bit. Do you usually fall asleep?" Lauren asked.

Bo blushed, "Honestly, I usually close my eyes and think of you."

"That's nice to hear, although lately… I guess some of those thoughts have not been so pleasant." Lauren admitted, her eyes downcast as she gave a half smile and a sigh.

"I have to admit, there were definitely days where I thought my actions might have cost me the right to have happy memories of you, but… well… it's all good now, right? I mean… Lauren… are we okay now?" Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, "I'm sorry you even have to ask, Bo. Yes, we're fine, sweetie and believe me, I'm not without fault in what transpired between us over the past couple of weeks. It's funny… now that we're our country's only hope for a medal, I somehow feel less pressure than I did when we were an underdog for the podium… but… well… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel more like myself now than I have… well… even before I met you, I think."

Bo grinned, "Well, it's nice to meet you Lauren Lewis and I look forward to getting to know the real you."

"Hopefully you'll still like the new me." Lauren smiled nervously.

Bo gave her a smile, "I doubt you have to worry about me liking a less cranky, less stressed version of my girlfriend."

Lauren smiled shyly, her eyes rising up from the floor to meet the dark brown eyes of the woman she loved. She felt Bo squeeze her hand as her head settled into the pillow, her eyelids clearly growing heavy. The blonde noticed goose bumps on the brunette's arms, so stood and pulled one of the lightweight blankets from the shelf. Covering her, she spoke,

"Why don't you rest, Bo. Sleep helps the ice work, so it's actually not a bad thing if you can be completely relaxed." Lauren explained, standing next to her.

"You'll stay with me?" Bo asked, reaching for her hand again.

Lauren watched as long slender fingers slid into her palm. She smiled, "I may actually ask Tony if he'll stretch me for a bit if that's okay."

"That sounds like a great idea. It will help you pass the time." Bo replied, "I'm gonna nap then."

Lauren leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on the brunette's temple, then the corner of her mouth, "I won't be far." She whispered, brushing a stray hair from her face.

"Okay." Bo mumbled as she released the blonde's hand and curled it beneath her pillow.

Lauren tucked the blanket beneath her chin and ran her fingers through her hair, looking adoringly at the brunette. It was strange to note that it still pained her to look at the small scar on the side of her girlfriends temple where she'd hit the reef the day of her drowning. She ran her finger over the scar before sighing and shaking off the memory.

Sighing, she turned and walked out of the room in search of Tony, but he found her exiting the room first,

"She asleep already?" He asked.

Lauren smiled, "Yes, out like a light. I was wondering if maybe you or someone on your staff might stretch me a bit while I wait? Sitting in a chair isn't going to help my stiff muscles much."

"Of course. Bo is my last patient today since I have a meeting over at the village about my schedule this week. Okay if I take a shot at it."

"That would be great." Lauren smiled as Tony led her into the main room.

"How about we start with your hamstrings? From your gait, it looks like they have a natural tendency to be tight?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, "They do."

"Okay then… on your back." He pointed to a wide low table, which Lauren immediately moved to, making herself comfortable on her back. She watched as the therapist took her right leg and raised it up towards her head,

"Say when."

"When." She replied quickly, gripping at her hamstring, "Sorry. I didn't realize just how tight I am."

He shook his head, "Okay, well that's not good. Let's try something else. We're going to do some PNF stretching. You remember it from your undergrad exercise physiology classes?" the therapist asked.

Lauren laughed, "Wow… that was a long time ago, but yes, I remember. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, right?"

Tony nodded, "Good girl, okay… up we go." Tony raised Lauren's leg up, "Now, push against my hand for 6-5-4-3-2-1… and relax." He pushed her leg up further as she relaxed, "… and hold for 10-9-8-7…"

Lauren knew that this was going to be a tedious stretching session, but she also knew that this method would have her feeling much more relaxed in no time. She cursed herself for not taking the time to stretch this afternoon before or after she had napped with Bo, but it had felt so good to finally lie in her girlfriend's arms.

After all that had happened with Evony and Kristy, she felt safe there… something she hadn't really felt much of since they'd arrived in Rio. Now, she had a medal in her sites, a more solid foundation growing with Bo and round the clock protection. She meant what she'd said to Bo earlier… she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but somehow she felt more relaxed in her own skin in the last forty-eight hours. Things were finally coming together.

She looked down at her legs and realized she was holding her breath and not really relaxing. She closed her eyes and focused on relaxing into each stretch. Yes indeed, things were finally coming together. She just hoped her body would hold up and that the security team would find Evony and Kristy before their next match.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Tony led Bo and Lauren to the first of two state-of-the-art high-speed wave pools,

"So, this is where we worked Bo out yesterday." Tony smiled, proudly, "We have another pool as well."

"Wow. This is… this is amazing." Lauren's eyes went wide. She had no idea something like this even existed.

"It is and wait until you see your girl ride. I'd never seen a professional surfer up close, so didn't really understand the kinesiology behind their movement. Until your girlfriend walked into our facility, I'd only ever watched surfers from my chair on the beach. It's hard to see the detail of muscle movement from a distance."

"Tell me about it. I didn't really understand until she got me on a board." Lauren laughed.

"Well, you're a step ahead of me. I haven't even tried this pool yet. Bo keeps trying to talk me into it, but I can't afford an injury, so I haven't been willing to brave it yet."

"Take it from me, Tony… it's a great experience if you're ever willing and Bo is a fantastic teacher. She had me up in less than an hour and I'm not big on balance." Lauren chuckled, "So, what do you hope to accomplish with the pools?"

"As you probably know, most surfers have never really trained in any way other than a combination of dry land conditioning and daily surfing. We wanted to be able to get surfers on waves in controlled situations where they would work on building specific core strength through specific tricks and repetitive movement. The problem with doing that in the ocean is time between reps and the length of the ride is short and unpredictable. Plus, they only get to do tricks that the wave or conditions allow."

He strolled over to the control panel area and handed Bo a neoprene jacket. She took the jacket and stripped out of her shirt, revealing a sports bra. Lauren's throat went dry almost immediately as she tried hard to keep her focus on listening to Tony as he continued talking about the facility,

Tony pointed to the control panel as he spoke, "We have two wave pools. This is our SurfStream Pool, made by a company called American Wave Machines. It is a standing wave that allows continuous tricks without having to dismount and reenter unless you fall. It delivers training waves as well as both right and left barrel waves. All of them can be adjusted to different wave strengths and heights. Of course, we didn't really understand what any of that meant until Bo walked in. She's sort of been training us as we've been training her."

Lauren smiled, "Well, you've got one of the best here, so you're smart to pick her brain while you have her."

Tony nodded, "Most of the locals aren't willing to train with us. They want to keep the natural component to surfing, but if the sport is going to progress to Olympic level, we believe their training methods are going to have to change."

"I'm sure you could get some American surfers down here to work with you." Lauren replied, "Unless you plan to come back to the States?"

"I do… eventually… but not until my business partner is on his feet here. He's Brazilian, so…"

Lauren nodded, waving off further explanation, "I get it."

Tony nodded towards Bo, "We've been trying to talk her into getting her little sister to move here to train for the Olympics instead of going to Colorado to train at the US Olympic Training Center."

"Well, Kenzi would certainly have the support group to stay here. They have this little band of adopted brothers…"

Tony agreed, "Yea, I met that big guy Manny when he brought Bo in for therapy the other day."

Bo shook her head rapidly, begging Tony to stop, but it was too late,

"Manny had to bring you in?" Lauren asked, her eyes on Bo.

"I told you I'd overdone it, remember? Well, after I sat in the stands for your game… I couldn't stand. I'd been back on my cane for a few days and…"

"The day Evony and Kristy…"

Bo shook her head again, "No, no… it was the game before that. I'm fine, Lauren… really. I won't make that mistake again. This pool allows me to get stronger without the risk. I don't get as tired since I don't have to paddle out and back. The wave is smaller, so it almost eliminates the risk and…"

Tony handed Bo a helmet, "… she wears a buoyant helmet when she rides. It's padded, so it protects her head if she falls… which she had yet to do even when Reggie is really pushing the wave forms."

Lauren nodded, "I see… and who's Reggie?"

Bo smiled, "He's The Great and Powerful Oz! You know… the man behind the curtain?"

Lauren looked confused.

"He's the guy who handles this control panel when I'm in the pool."

"Oh." Lauren nodded, now understanding the nickname, "So have you had any other set backs you haven't told me about?"

Lauren frowned at the knowledge that Bo had been back on her cane, barely registering having seen it the day that Evony and Kristy had made their move on them at their game.

"Nope." Bo said as she began slipping out of her shorts revealing her black bikini bottoms. Lauren took in the firmly shaped lines of her girlfriend's strong quads and hamstrings, the definition now returning. Her eyes trailed up to the nicely shaped bottom, her cheeks just barely showing until Bo reached up with her index fingers and pulled the black material down to cup the firm, rounded flesh.

The blonde sighed, her eyes moving to where Bo was zipping up her neoprene top, the ample cleavage disappearing from view, much to Lauren's dismay. Bo gave her a knowing grin as she watched a pout appear on her girlfriend's face. She leaned in,

"Later… they're all yours." Bo whispered in the blonde's ear.

A surge of heat rushed to Lauren's core at the thought of ravaging the brunette's breasts while her hands gripped the firm bottom of the well-defined surfer. Lauren cleared her throat as her eyes moved up to Bo's face, only to find the brunette laughing lightly at her discomfort.

"You're bad." Lauren whispered, looking over at Tony to make sure he wasn't able to hear her.

"You like it when I'm bad. I'm a bad, bad girl." Bo smiled, leaning in and capturing the blonde's lips in a soft kiss, her tongue gracing her bottom lip as she retreated. She reached over and grabbed a board,

"Check it out… Manny gave him one of my boards to use." Bo smiled, proudly, running her hand over the original logo.

"That doesn't look like one of your boards." Lauren replied, confused.

"It's my old logo." Bo replied.

Lauren smiled, "Oh… now I see it… it just says 'Bo'… it's sort of a mix between graffiti and fancy script."

Bo nodded, "Yea."

"Did you design that logo? I really like it. Maybe you should have different logos for different board styles." Lauren suggested.

Bo nodded, "Well, I'd have to revamp this one. I don't have the rights to this design."

"But it's your board." Lauren didn't understand how Bo couldn't own the rights.

"Uh… well… my ex was a graphic designer. As you know, I was never focused on relationships so, like most of them, it ended in disaster. Since she helped with the design, she refused to sign off on the rights to use it after our split." Bo explained.

"Oh. I guess I… well… that's… unfortunate." Lauren said quickly as Tony moved back to the two of them. Lauren wasn't sure why Bo had never mentioned an old girlfriend, but then again, she hadn't exactly been forthcoming about hers either. Tony's voice pulled Lauren from her thoughts,

"Okay, we're all set up, Bo. You're sure you don't want to be stretched a little more before you start?"

"I'm sure. Grace got me pretty loose and we have a full heat, stim and stretching session after this, so I think I'm good."

"Okay. Just remember that we can stop and stretch you at any time while you're working on the waves." Tony reminded, "Reggie is going to start you off slow, so standing waves first, then training waves, then tubes."

"Got it." Bo replied. She leaned over to Lauren, "You might want to sit down and rest. This is the longest part of the session. I'll be in the wave pool for an hour, right?"

She looked at Tony who replied, "Yes, unless we decide to move you to the other pool. In that case, it will be 30 minutes in each pool."

"What's the difference between this pool and the other?" Lauren asked while she watched Reggie and Bo talking about the waveforms he'd be using.

Tony replied, "While this pool is a standing wave pool, the other is called the PerfectSwell pool. It's a continuous wave pool which means she gets a longer ride for a mix of tricks."

"So it's closer to real surfing." Lauren deduced.

"Right, but without the high risk of a wipeout and the need to use time paddling in and out. Don't get me wrong, paddling is a good workout and a necessary skill for survival, but it doesn't hit the areas we're trying to rehab. She can paddle in her off time on the bay as a workout. We've already written up a paddle workout for her to start using once we know it won't cause more upper body cramping."

"I see." Lauren nodded.

"So, in the PerfectSwell pool, as soon as she's finished with one wave, we can get her right back up on another after a short walk to reenter the pool. We use that pool for its similarity to surfing, but also for more endurance-style training. This pool really works her core and allows her to practice the same trick over and over..."

"… like getting reps in a weight room for a muscle group." Lauren concluded.

"Exactly." Tony agreed, nodding towards the pool, "Here she goes."

Lauren turned and watched as Reggie focused on the panel until a wall of water formed on the water's surface. He looked up and watched his client closely, calling out commands. The blonde had to chuckle.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Oh, nothing… I was just thinking how cute that little wave is. Bo calls them puddle jumpers."

Tony smiled, "So that's what it means. She always asks Reggie for a few puddle jumpers to cool down after a workout. I'm not big on surfer talk."

"Oh, I don't think it's actually surfer talk. I think it's just something her family used to say. Of course, it could be. I'm no surfer, so I'm not entirely sure."

Lauren watched as Bo entered the pool at the side, moving towards the center of the water,

"First, she'll just ride this small wave, focusing on keeping the board as straight and still as possible. All of her synergists and fixators are working in this phase of the exercise."

"This is probably what's making her so sore then, right? She's contracting the deepest muscles that are not usually pushed to failure."

Tony nodded, "And, add to that the fact that she hasn't had to use them for several months and you've got an extremely weak frame beneath the musculature that seems to be developing…"

Lauren finished, "Because she's been focused only on her prime movers and antagonists… the biggest muscles."

Tony nodded again, "A common mistake people make post-therapy. They hate doing the tedious little exercises they do in P.T., so they leap to strengthening the largest muscle groups and end up stiff, sore or re-injured because the muscles that support the prime movements of their limbs start to when they stop using them again post-therapy. Therefore, you get regression."

Lauren nodded her understanding, "How long does she do this exercise?"

"About five minutes, but we've been gradually increasing that time as her body tolerates. Then she starts doing some small, relaxed cutbacks. Once she signals she's feeling loose, Reggie will increase the wave size and she'll do thirty sharp cutback repetitions in each direction... again, something she can't do in the water since wave direction depends on the ocean floor."

Lauren nodded, telling Tony she was still with him,

"Since we can change the direction of the wave, she can focus on making a sharp and clean board motion as well as the speed of her turns while we focus on her core strength and conditioning. Yesterday she fell a few times with that drill, so I'm hoping that she can decrease her fall rate today."

"She fell?" Lauren asked, her arms coming to rest across her chest.

Tony smiled, noting the defensive posture of his patient's girlfriend, "It's fine, Lauren. You know, when you were a little baby first learning to walk, you fell all the time. Then, your muscles – your synergists and fixators first – learned how to keep you upright."

Lauren smiled as Tony demonstrated his best baby wobbling walk, "Bo is just learning to walk again, so we're training her body's muscles to do it right in a controlled setting. She's bound to fall a few times, but in this pool, we don't have to worry about her getting pummeled by a wave when she does. The only concern is hitting her head on the wave form that creates the wave, but that's why she's wearing the helmet."

"Is there a great deal of danger of that happening? I mean… I don't know if they sent you her whole file, but you do understand she is the survivor of a traumatic brain injury, right?"

Tony nodded, "Of course, and as for her file, I read the entire thing… a real page turner. Nice save, Lewis."

Lauren smiled and nodded, "Yea, well it's one moment I'd rather forget."

"Awww, don't be like that, Lauren."

"Excuse me?" Lauren looked at the man, shocked that he would be so flip about such a devastating time in her life.

Tony chuckled, "She hasn't told you, has she."

"What?"

"How she has come to view you and that day at the beach." Tony answered.

"What are you talking about?" Lauren asked.

"Look, I'm a stranger to surfing, but I'm not a stranger to drowning victims and their families. You have clearly not moved forward from that day, and are instead embracing the fear that came with it. Bo, on the other hand, has begun to move forward in the past week or so… her perspective is changing. Remember, Lauren… I'm a PT, but we heal the whole patient. To understand their progress, you must also understand their mind."

"I don't think you're in any position to say what I'm feeling, and…"

Tony turned to face the blonde, "Wait… Lauren… I'm just making an observation, okay? I'm not trying to offend you. Please, let me finish."

"Okay." Lauren said, cautiously.

"During my first session with Bo, we talked for two hours… I don't do any physical work with my patients until I understand their psyche. If I don't know where they are mentally, I won't know how to proceed physically… how hard I can push them, what kind of reinforcement they need from me, etc."

Lauren simply nodded her understanding before he continued,

"It took about an hour to get her to speak about her accident. Prior to that, it was all about whether or not she wanted to surf competitively again. Once she decided it's what she wanted, you came up in the conversation."

"Me?" Lauren asked, the fingers of her hand splayed across her chest.

Tony nodded, "She was concerned about how afraid you were of her surfing again… concerned about your nightmares…"

"But…"

"Lauren, she knows you're still having them… more importantly, I know you're still having them. So… professional to professional…"

"I know, I know… I need to talk to someone. I decided I was going to do that about a week to go. I flipped out on Bo and said some things I regret… what I don't regret is that it helped me to realize how strong my fear was… I mean… I don't want to be the reason Bo stops surfing. She deserves the chance to live her dreams and I need to trust that she knows how far she can push the envelope."

Tony smiled, "It sounds like you've already started therapy. The old 'Doctor heal thyself'?"

Lauren chuckled, though her discomfort with the topic of conversation was apparent, so Tony continued,

"Well, anyway… during the second hour, Bo had an interesting revelation. I had asked her to share it with you, but apparently she never got the chance… uh… I mean… well, she told me you weren't really speaking for a while there."

Lauren only nodded, her face flushed with embarrassment over how she had treated Bo after the incident at the beach. Freezing her out was not a very mature way to handle something caused by her own fears.

"Bo said that what had happened to her was something that has led to her getting reacquainted with why she fell in love with surfing to begin with. She told me that the day you saved her… the very moment… was a rebirth for her and she had no intention of screwing up her second chance at life."

Lauren had no idea that was how Bo felt. She wished she had given her a chance to talk about it. Of course, if she didn't tell Bo that Tony had told her, maybe she still would and it could become a good conversation through which she could tell Bo how she felt and what she had now come to understand.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

Lauren nodded, "Thank you for sharing that with me. Can we keep this conversation between us?"

"Of course." Tony replied, nodding towards the pool, "Okay… now she's going to start working the cutbacks. Her focus is supposed to be on her form. Come on over here where I can talk to her. I like to make my observations of her skills from a slight angle so I can see her lead leg better."

"Her lead leg?" Lauren asked.

Tony pointed, "Her left leg coming in this direction. It's the leg that is the fly in the proverbial ointment."

"How so?"

"We performed several Electroneurography and Electromyography scans on various areas of Bo's body."

Lauren's head turned quickly to Tony, "Bo didn't tell me you did ENG and EMG studies. What did they show?"

"The ENG showed normal function everywhere except in that left leg. Her nerve impulses are just a little bit slower. The EMG confirmed nerve function as the probable cause of the weakness and sporadic cramping she's having in the muscle."

"And the brain?"

"The abnormality does not travel the full nerve pathway from brain to toe which is the best news. She does have impairment from her low back to her foot, but my other business partner, Keith, had the idea to do the EMG both before and after exercise."

"And what did that show?" Lauren asked.

Tony explained, "Exercise excites her nerve pathways and seems to be the solution to nerve regeneration at this point. This type of surfing is best since the large muscles get a shorter workout, thereby decreasing the chance of muscle, bone or joint injuries."

Lauren nodded, "Thank you, Tony… I mean… for taking over her treatment while we're here. It means a lot to me to have her here even though I haven't exactly shown it."

"There's no where she would rather be, Lauren. She's proud of you, ya know."

"She told you that?"

Tony nodded.

"Well, I'm proud of her too. She has literally clawed her way back from death to get back on that wave." Lauren nodded towards Bo in the pool.

"Puddle jumper… she won't let me call that a wave." Tony replied.

Lauren laughed, "Yea, the little daredevil isn't in a wave unless it's a massive pipe in the middle of the ocean."

Tony laughed, "We're gonna get her back, Lauren… all of her… and then some."

Lauren nodded and leaned forward onto the rail, "Is it my imagination or is the wave turning?"

"Your mind is fine." Tony smiled, "She's into her next set of thirty cutbacks… watch how much sharper she is with her right leg forward. You can really see the difference in how her lower body does more of the work."

Lauren observed her girlfriend for several minutes, taking special note of the point Tony had made… as well as how incredible her legs and ass looked while she was surfing… but tried to shake off the latter thoughts so she could remain professional,

"Uh… ahem… she… uh… definitely looks… shapelier… I mean… sharper with the opposite leg forward. It's quite obvious how much more upper body she uses when facing the other direction."

"Agreed… of course, I'm not completely sure if that's not normal for her. I asked Kenzi to meet us here for this session so she could help me since she knows her sister's style better than anyone."

"I'm sure she'll be here if you asked her to come. She's your patient's biggest supporter."

As if on cue, the pair turned when they heard Kenzi's voice just a few minutes later,

"Dude… this. Place. Is. AWESOME! Can I get in after Bo?" Kenzi asked, her arms spread wide, a grin from ear to ear as she spoke.

Tony laughed, "I'm glad you finally got to see this part of the facility, Kenz. So… you approve?"

"Oh, man… this is such an incredible idea! Bo-Bo needs to put one of these in our surf shop! What do you think, Hotpants?"

Tony looked at Lauren, confused, "Bo's sister is big on nicknames… apparently that's mine."

Tony laughed and mocked looking over Lauren's behind, but the blonde slapped him on the shoulder,

"Hey! Professionalism, here!"

"Right!" Tony faked standing at attention, his eyes drifting down towards the blonde's bum again, earning him another smack, "Hey! I'm just kidding!" He laughed, "So… who's the blonde?"

Lauren smiled, "This is Tamsin, my partner on Team USA."

"Oooh, Lady Smackdown! It's so nice to meet you in person! I'm a fan!"

He shook Tamsin hand as she looked on at Lauren, confused and mouthing the words 'lady smackdown' in question.

"Lady Smackdown?" Kenzi asked, also confused by the reference.

"Oh man, did you see their match against Russia? Every time they tried to hit, this lady was on that net, blocking their shots!"

Kenzi nodded, "Oh… right."

She rolled her eyes at Tamsin, her back turned to Tony before whispering, "I guess he at least tried to come up with a cool nickname… of course, we all know your official nickname will come from me once I decide what it should be."

Tamsin smiled, "Of course."

Kenzi turned back to the pool, "So… tell me all about it!"

"I promise I will, but first I need you to tell me about your sisters' form. She's almost finished a set of thirty cut backs in this direction, then we're going to shift the wave to move in the other direction, so she'll have to counter with her other foot forward in this drill. I need you to tell me if her form looks the least bit unusual… barring any improvements that will make her a better surfer."

Kenzi nodded and watched her sister intently, sharing occasional tips with Tony about her observations. When they switched directions, she immediately made note of how 'floppy' her upper body was, noting she would lose style points for it. Tony had her call out instructions to her sister who nodded and did her best to make adjustments. Finally, Tony motioned to Reggie to cut the wave. They all watched as Bo slowly sunk down into the water after stepping off the board.

The brunette beamed at Lauren, as she spoke, clearly quite winded from exertion, "Okay, how'd I do?"

Kenzi interjected, "I think you cleaned things up a bit there."

Lauren smiled as she handed Bo a towel from the table. The brunette gave her a small peck on the cheek before beginning to towel off. She turned to Kenzi,

"Yea, I feel sort of out of control with my left leg forward. My cutbacks are weak and I could never throw any sort of rotation with that leg at this point. I can't go back to competition with a weakness like this. I'll get my ass kicked."

Tony held up his hands, "It's okay, Bo. We're making progress. You can see that in your EMG. Remember what we talked about…"

"…I know, I know… patience." Bo nodded.

"Right. Now, get some water, stretch your legs and anything else you feel is tight. Give me a shout if you need my help with getting anything limber. Once you're feeling loose again, we're gonna raise the bar a bit since I have Kenzi here to help me know what things should look like."

Tony watched as Bo's eyebrows knit together,

"Bo? You worried?"

"Nah… just… I don't think I'll ever look the way Kenzi's used to me looking. I'm not saying I'll never surf again and I'm not getting down on myself, but I feel… I dunno… different. I mean… I'm feeling the water more… I mean… the accident changed me… it took me back and now I remember why I used to love to surf. I'm not just surfing for money anymore, I'm surfing because it feels good."

She turned to Kenzi, "I feel… what Mom and Dad taught us. Does that make any sense?"

Kenzi shook her head, "It doesn't just yet, but when I see you surf, I think it will. Come on, Bo-Bo… let's get you stretched and into the water so we can all see the new you."

Tony asked, "Are you okay with upping the bar, Bo?

Bo smiled and nodded, "I like the sound of that!"

Tony gave Kenzi a light touch on the arm, "Come on, Kenzi. I'll show you the other half of the facility where Bo is going to surf next. You're gonna love this and you're gonna want to train here when you're in the Olympics."

"Uh… a little optimistic, isn't it?" Kenzi asked.

Tony shook his head as they walked away from the couple, "Ever since I heard that 2020 was the year for surfing to have it's exhibition year in the Summer Olympics, I've been working towards making this the premier facility for surfers from around the world while my business partner Keith works on a similar facility in the States. That one is still under construction, but it'll open in another six months. We're hoping you'll join us in one of our facilities… or maybe training center is a better description?"

Kenzi nodded and smiled, "Well, you know I can't make a move without my sponsors, but once I'm officially an Olympian, the sponsors are not permitted, from what we've been told so far. So, with them out of the picture, I'd definitely consider it. Let's see what you've got."

As the pair walked away, Bo turned towards Lauren and wrapped her hands around her waist, "So… what did you think?"

"You're amazing… _kiss_ … and beautiful… _kiss_ … and strong… _kiss_ … and sexy… _kiss…_ and… _kiss_ … mine."

Lauren pulled Bo into a heated kiss that made the brunette go weak in the knees. She knew she had to surf even harder waves soon, but she simply didn't care in the moment. It had been weeks since Lauren had kissed her this way and the truth was, that if the blonde wanted to take her right here and now on this towel table, she would spread her legs and allow her to have whatever she wanted. But suddenly, she felt her lips turn cold, the air hitting their wet surface while her eyes remained closed.

The blonde smiled at her girlfriend's face, "Bo?"

"Huh?" The brunette replied, still savoring the taste of her girlfriend on her lips.

Lauren laughed, "Bo, come on… you have to stretch so you can finish surfing."

"Nah… let's just make out some more."

Lauren gave the brunette a chaste kiss, "We can make out all you want when we get back to your room. Right now, I need my big, strong, sexy surfer-girl to stretch and then get up on that board so she can rock any wave Tony and Reggie throw at her."

Bo's eyes opened and she pulled Lauren close again, "Do you like watching me surf?"

"Mmmm… you're very good." Lauren smiled, her eyes running down her girlfriend's form.

"Mmmm… but I'm a very, very bad girl." Bo smirked, her eyes the picture of seduction.

"You are a bad, bad girl, but right now, I want to watch my sexy, sexy surfer. The way the muscles in your legs flex, the way you toss your hair when the water splashes it into your face, the intensity on your face, your glutes flexing under the strain of balancing when you're cutting back over a wave… it's so damn hot… and I want you to surf like crazy and turn me on."

"And after I turn you on?" Bo asked, trailing kisses down Lauren's neck.

"Well, then… I supposed you have to take care of what you start."

Lauren took the towel from Bo and wrapped it around the brunette's waist. She gripped the ends, circling them around her hands before pulling her hips close to her own with a strong yank,

"And you should know that I'm already very, very turned on."

"Oh, baby… I have not begun to rev your little engine." Bo said, her fingertips trailing down Lauren's jaw.

"Do your worst, surfer girl." Lauren said, releasing Bo from her hold and allowing the brunette to lead her to the other pool.

"Bo?"

The brunette turned her head, her eyes full of so much happiness and love, it almost made the blonde melt, "Yes, baby?"

Lauren smiled at the term of affection, "Are you okay? I mean… you're not putting on a strong front for all of us? You really do feel at home in the water again?"

"Do you not want me to?" Bo asked.

"Not at all… I want you happy and if surfing makes you happy and makes you feel fulfilled, it's all I want for you. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little nervous, but it's getting better. I mean… I want this for you… I really do."

"So, you're… getting better?" Bo asked.

Lauren sighed, "Well… the week we were apart…"

"… the week you avoided me?" Bo interrupted with a slight smile.

Lauren nudged the brunette's shoulder as they walked up a ramp, "Yes, that week. I started seeing one of the Sports Psychologists here. Her name is Ciara and… well… she's really helped. She's from Australia and she understands both your world and mine… I mean… our sports worlds. She knew of what happened to you because she follows surfing, but she didn't know I was the doctor who found you."

"I see." Bo replied, a bit slighted that Lauren hadn't told her she was seeing someone.

"I would have told you sooner, but I was still working through some things in my own head. Anyway… I understand now… at least I think I do… a little more about a surfer's mentality."

"Oh really?" Bo asked, with a smile, "And is my mind scary to you?"

Lauren smiled, "Not at all, but I do understand that the ocean is more a part of your soul than it is something for you to fear."

"To be honest, I'd never felt afraid out there until I drowned. My parents taught me such reverence and respect for the sea that I had no reason to… but that day... well… I was surfing when I had no business being out there. I had become angry… very angry…"

Bo paused, leaving Lauren hanging with regards to the reason for her anger, "…anyway, you never surf when you're angry… never. You do stupid things, like get into a battle with a women whose dream was a surfing championship but was dumped by her scorned lover who happened to be one of the members of the WSL Association."

Lauren nodded, "I knew there had to be a reason Evony went after you… but that still doesn't explain why she would come after us as she has."

"I don't think she would have if she hadn't lost everything now. I mean… she started out in surfing when she was in med school… we were all friends in California. She needed money to pay her tuition and surfing was the way to do that for her. She climbed the ranks quickly with me right on her heels every step of the way. It was always friendly, you know?"

Lauren nodded, as she watched Bo lower herself to the table and begin her stretching routine,

"She hooked up with this woman, Maggie. None of us knew who she was, she was just in a bar after an event one night. About a week later, after they'd been bed buddies, the woman told her who she was. Well, Evony latched onto her like a fly on flypaper. She told Vex that the woman was her ticket to the pro surf championship."

"So what happened?"

"It was a little over two years later. Evony was sleeping around… she really wasn't all that into Maggie. She'd met Lachlan… one of her professors… and they were seeing each other on the side. Well, long and complicated story made short and easy… Maggie overheard Vex talking to me about Evony's philandering and how wrong it was for her to use Maggie to make her climb to the top. I'd replied… I don't even remember what I said anymore… but between the two of us, it was enough for her to approach."

"I guess she was pretty upset." Lauren replied.

"Upset? Oh no. Maggie isn't the type to get upset. She was beyond upset… she was furious… I mean… I'd never seen someone so angry in my life… angry to the point where she barely spoke. We didn't need words, though. Her face was ten shades of red and this little vein was popping out of her forehead. We watched as she calmly pulled out her cell phone and arranged a meeting with the USL President."

"Oh shit."

"Yea. She turned to me and informed me that I would be replacing Evony on tour… that Evony could consider all of the strings she'd pulled for her… unpulled."

"But wouldn't that expose her?"

Bo nodded, "Maggie didn't care what happened to herself. Surfing was her hobby, not her job. She admitted to calling in favors from judges and the whole thing blew up. Evony's scores for the season were tossed. She got to keep her prize money, but her sponsors all dumped her and so did the USL. If you're not a member of the USL, you can't be with the WSL…"

"In other words, you've gotta have a country to participate against the world." Lauren nodded.

"Yup. So, she still had med school… well… she was starting her residency when all of this hit the fan. She moved here and well… the rest, as they say, is history. She's been trying to climb back to the top every since."

"But where does this hatred for you come from?" Lauren asked.

Bo lifted her leg straight up, "Could you?"

"Sure." Lauren smiled, gripping her girlfriend's heel and placing it on her shoulder to begin a gentle hamstring stretch.

"The USL was short a surfer on the tour, so the alternate moved up."

"…and that was you."

Bo nodded, "Like I said, I was always right on Evony's heels. The difference was, my scores were all earned. Without Maggie's favors, I'd have been ahead of her all along. If anyone should be mad, at someone, it's me. Evony took a spot that actually belonged to me all along by bedding a USL official." Bo sat still, replaying her own words again and again in her mind. She'd never said those words aloud.

"So Maggie was actually with the USL?"

Bo nodded, growing silent as Lauren switched to her other leg. Noting the brunette's sudden withdrawal from conversation, the blonde asked, "Bo?"

The brunette smiled, "I'm okay. It's just that I only just realized that she was never better than me once we turned pro. I never was behind her… her scores were all inflated to beat mine." She chuckled, "I guess I should have been furious with Maggie."

Lauren smiled, "I guess."

"Well, regardless, however this last season of mine ends up, I'll know that every score I get will be one I've earned… the hard way. If I can still come back with enough points to place in the top three, I'll be pretty damn proud of myself."

"And you will have every right to be." Lauren confirmed.

"Lauren, I wouldn't be doing any of this if it weren't for you. I just want you to know that no matter what happens between the two of us down the road, I will forever be grateful that you were there on the beach that day and that you've stuck by me every since."

"I will be forever grateful that I was there that day as well, Bo. If I hadn't been, the world may have lost a great surfer, Kenzi would have lost her only sister and I would have lost the woman that I am quickly realizing may very well be the love of my life."

Lauren's eyes welled with tears. Bo reached up and caressed her face, her eyes filling in tandem with the blondes',

"The love of your life, huh?" Bo smiled.

"Too much?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "Not at all. I love you, Lauren. So very much… and I'm quickly realizing that I can't see a future that doesn't have you in it… time will tell, eh?"

Lauren placed her hand against her girlfriend's and kissed her palm, "And I love you, Bo Dennis."

She sighed, "Time will tell." Lauren smiled before adding, "Now, what do you say you go kick some wave pool ass, surfer girl."

"Absolutely… but… I still have to stretch my low back and quads… my abs are sore already. This wave pool training has a habit of making my body announce the presence of muscles I didn't know existed for a surfer. I thought I learned about all of them in the hospital and with Mitch."

"Well, apparently Tony has more muscles he wants to introduce you to."

"Apparently." Bo smiled, pulling her knees to her chest to stretch her low back.

Lauren smiled, "Suck it up, champ. You'll survive."

"Is that your professional opinion, Doctor?" Bo smiled.

"If there's one thing I've learned about this particular patient, it's that she's a survivor… and her girlfriend thinks so too. Now quit stalling and stretch."

"Yes ma'am." Bo saluted with a wink.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After finishing up at the wave pool, Bo and Lauren had parted ways with Kenzi and Tamsin who had gone off to do some shopping. They had returned to the Olympic Village to get a late lunch and then moved to Bo's hotel room for some privacy.

When they entered the room, Bo had immediately collapsed on the bed, the blonde following next to her. The two laid side by side, their fingers entwined as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I know we said we would finish what we started, but I think I'm actually too exhausted." Bo mumbled quietly.

Lauren laughed, "I'm not upset, if that's what you're worried about… and I'm also not surprised. You did a total of an hour and a half between the two pools, a half hour of pre-therapy modality treatments and an hour of post-therapy modality treatments and stretches. You've been doing that multiple times a day?"

Bo replied, "Well, I haven't had much else to do recently, so… well, yes."

"I'm sorry, Bo. I really am. I shouldn't have…"

Bo placed two fingers gently across her girlfriend's lips, "Lauren, it's over, okay? We've both apologized. We both admitted our faults. We are both working through some pretty emotional stuff and we both have a lot on the line. Finding the middle ground where we can make compromises for each other and our relationship without compromising who we are or our goals is something we just need to communicate about moving forward. Agreed?"

Lauren nodded, "Wow… you're so… insightful."

"So does that mean you agree?" Bo asked.

Lauren chuckled, "Yes. I agree. Now, why don't you get some sleep. I can use a nap too. I'm supposed to be resting, after all."

"Yes, you are." Bo replied with a smile, "I love you."

"I love you." Lauren smiled in return, "Under the covers or on top of the covers?"

Bo groaned, sitting up, "Under the covers with no clothes?"

"Bo…"

"I promise, we'll sleep. I just… I want to feel you… feel close to you when I fall asleep… intimately close… ya know?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled and stood, pulling off her top before unbuttoning her jeans. Bo stood and followed suit, the pair slipping into bed once fully naked.

"Big spoon or little spoon?" Lauren asked.

"Drape." Bo replied, throwing an arm and leg over the blonde before laying her head in the crook of her neck.

Lauren smiled, kissing the top of the brunette's head as she pulled the covers up over her shoulders. Wrapping her arms around her love, she whispered,

"Sleep well, love. Dream sweet dreams of riding atop giant waves, the wind in your hair and the mist on your skin."

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo awoke alone in her hotel bed, her legs twisted in the sheets as she tried to move them. She let out a groan as she struggled, now feeling the familiar aching in her limbs. She wished she could fast forward her life four weeks so she was through this phase of her rehabilitation, but reconsidered when she realized it would mean missing the rest of her girlfriend's Olympic quest. Thinking of the blonde, she opened her eyes and looked around the room.

"Hey, sleepy head." Lauren chuckled, from the small table in the room.

Bo moaned, finally freeing herself from the sheets to sit up, "Whatcha doin'?"

Lauren took a quick swig of water, "I ordered room service from the American menu."

"American?" Bo asked.

The blonde chuckled, "Well, apparently they think all we eat is burgers and fries."

"Cursed Mickey D's and all the other fast food chains. The world thinks we don't have a palate to speak of."

Lauren laughed, "If only they knew the truth."

Bo asked, "The truth?"

"That our palates are confused as hell because we're all mutts!"

Bo laughed, "Very true. I know my Mom's parents moved to Canada, my Grandmother being from Russia and my Grandfather from Germany. My Mom met my Dad there on a summer vacation and they eventually moved to the States for college and then got married."

Bo stood and pulled on a T-shirt and shorts as Lauren watched, admiring her girlfriend's body.

"My Dad was part Irish and part Italian. So… well… I'm just American. We spoke some Russian when we were young. Kenzi hung onto the language, because my Mom was fluent and they spoke it all the time. I spent more time with my Dad and when I went off to school… well, I never had a very good command of the language to begin with, so I lost what little I had."

Lauren pulled out the chair next to her, inviting Bo to sit down, but the brunette just laughed and sat on the blonde's lap instead,

"This okay?"

Lauren smiled, kissing the brunette on the cheek, "It's more than okay. Want a bite?"

Bo twisted her face, "What is it?"

"It's Caesar salad. You can't screw up salad, chicken and cheese. The dressing and croutons came pre-packaged, so they taste normal."

"Oh." Bo said, opening her mouth wide as Lauren fed her a forkful of lettuce, "Mmmm… so hungry."

"Chew, don't choke. I'm not saving your life again." Lauren deadpanned, taking a bite for herself.

"Awww, don't be like that. Of course you would save me again. You like my boobs too much to lose them." Bo thrust her breasts into Lauren's face, giving her a chuckle.

"I do love your boobs." Lauren replied, biting down on a nipple through her girlfriend's shirt.

"Oowa!" Bo laughed, putting her hand over her chest to deny the blonde further access, "Bad girl!" She slapped the blonde playfully.

"I thought you liked it when I was a bad girl." Lauren said, kissing the brunette's neck.

"What's in here?" Bo asked, moving to lift the lid on the unopened plate, but Lauren stabbed the lid with her fork before the brunette could lift it.

"Dessert. Dinner first." Lauren said with authority.

"Hey! I'm not in the Olympics. I can still eat dessert for dinner."

"You may not be in the Olympics, but you're still in training. You have a little over a month before you have to compete again, so no dessert without protein and nutrients first."

"Well, a salad isn't gonna cut it, buddy." Bo pouted.

"Then you should eat the plate I actually ordered for you." Lauren said pointing to another covered plate.

"What's that?" Bo asked.

"Steak, sweet potatoes and broccoli. Oh… and your salad is over there too. I didn't know what kind you'd want so I got three different dressings."

"Yum." Bo said, climbing off Lauren's lap to take the chair next to her. She opened the lid and took a whiff, "Mmmm… smells great."

"It's probably a little cold. The food came a half hour ago. Toss it in the toaster oven for twenty minutes or in the microwave for about three."

Bo moved over to the small kitchen area to heat up her food, turning only when Lauren called her name,

"So… Bo, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Bo replied, moving back to the table.

"You mentioned an ex earlier today... you know, the one who wouldn't sign over the rights to your logo?"

Bo frowned. She hated talking about her past, especially past lovers… especially with Lauren. The truth was, none of them could hold a candle to the blonde.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. It's just that… well… you never mentioned having a girlfriend before and… well… I figured you had something with Dyson but…"

Bo placed a gentle hand over her girlfriend's, "Lauren… hey… take it easy, okay? I was just… I mean, you mentioned it and my mind just sort of went somewhere else. What do you want to know?"

Lauren lowered her eyes back to her salad, pushing the lettuce around the bowl before taking on another forkful. Bo waited patiently as she chewed and then swallowed,

"I don't know, really. I guess… I guess it was just a little overload today. From Miss Peaches to the sudden mention of an ex… I guess my jealousy was just a little on overload."

Bo smiled, "You were jealous? Of Peaches and an ex who screwed me out of my own company logo?"

Lauren looked up and saw the brunette laughing. She turned away and pouted, pressing her fist into her cheek as she moved back to her salad.

"Hey. Lauren, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I'm just laughing at the fact that you could possibly be jealous of anyone when I am so absolutely and exclusively yours. No ex could hold a candle to you… I mean… they couldn't even generate a spark. You've ruined me for anyone else."

Lauren smiled, blushing, "Well, I guess that's good to know."

Bo stood and knelt down next to the blonde, "Lauren, I love you… you and only you. You're not a rebound and you're not second best to anyone else. I just… look… I don't want to scare you off and I know it's not been that long for us, but… well… my Dad always told me to never rush love, that it wasn't something to be forced. She said if two people were meant to be, you would just fit. You would be pieces of a puzzle that come together to make it whole."

Lauren nodded, but Bo didn't think the blonde seemed convinced, so she continued,

"He told me that relationships require attentiveness and nurturing… that sometimes they're hard work, but it's work that, if it's the right person, you'll be more than happy to do."

She placed two fingers gently beneath Lauren's chin and lifted her eyes to meet her own, "You're the person who I would be more than happy to do that work for… the person I want to give my attention. This is the relationship I want to nurture. I'm all in, Lauren."

The blonde's eyes glistened as Bo kissed her ever so gently on the lips. Gazing into each other's eyes, they shared a brief smile before Bo pulled back. She sighed and stood, moving to pick up her food when the timer sounded. She came back to the table and sat down quietly as she began to eat. Speaking between bites and swallows, she told the story,

"Her name was Katie and we were together for three years after I left college. After we split up and I had time to think about it… and talk about it a lot with Kenzi… I think I realized that she was a source of stability for me in a time when all of my stability was ripped from my life."

Bo took a sip of water before she continued,

"We were partners in life… I mean… we had a routine and it was comfortable. One day, she brought up the subject of buying a house and marriage and kids… she told me we needed to start thinking about our future."

Bo took another, much longer, sip of water. Lauren noticed the brunette pushing her food around her plate,

"Bo, it's okay if you don't want to…"

"No, Lauren. It's okay. I just… it's funny, but I still sort of feel bad. When she brought it up that first time, I realized that she had been thinking about it since the beginning. The truth was, that I hadn't thought about having a future with her once… and I mean never. I didn't fantasize about a wedding, honeymoon, house, yard and definitely not kids."

"You don't want kids?" Lauren asked.

"I haven't really thought about it much. I mean… with you… well… I don't want to get ahead of things… I just… I mean… do you?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "Yes. I always thought I'd want at least one child. Ethan if it was a boy and Charlotte if it was a girl."

"You have names?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "Since I was young, actually."

Bo smiled, "That's adorable."

The blonde smiled before there was a long moment of silence. Bo returned to her steak and then continued,

"So… when I told Katie that I wasn't sure I would ever get married or buy a house, she just got quiet. We continued on with the status quo for about another six months when she finally demanded a commitment or she was leaving. I told her I couldn't give her that and she proceeded to yell at me, asking me how I could just throw all of our years together away and… well, you can imagine how it went from there."

Bo took a moment to gather her thoughts, "So, there was angry yelling and suitcase packing and breaking things and… well, thank God that Kenzi walked in and called the cops. They came and took her out of the house. Then, that night, Dyson called me from a bar and told me she was there and drunk… that she didn't have anywhere to go. I hadn't thought about the fact that she'd lived with me and Kenzi since college and never had a place of her own."

"That's unfortunate." Lauren said, quietly.

"So, I drove to the bar to give her some money that I took from the forbidden lock box. I gave her six months rent and down money in addition to letting her take any furniture she wanted."

Bo paused, laughing a bit,

"She called me at work one day and asked if she could go pick up the furniture she wanted. I told her she could and asked her to lock the key in the house. Next thing I know, Kenzi's calling me screaming about us being robbed."

"Oh no." Lauren said, imagining what the woman could have taken.

"Oh yes. She took everything and I mean everything. She did have the courtesy to leave us two plates, two bowls, and two glasses. She left us all of the plastic utensils and the groceries that were in the fridge. She also left us all of our photos of our parents."

"Oh, Bo."

"Yea. Needless to say, the trust thing didn't come easy after that. The worst part came about two months later when I found out she'd sold my board on EBay for two grand, telling the buyer it was a Bo Dennis original. After that, I was advised by my sponsor to get the rights to my logo. The rest, you know."

"She refused to give you the rights."

"Not only that, but she then tried to get them for herself. She had planned to market Bo Boards for herself. My sponsors took care of that pretty quickly. They claimed the business rights to every form of my name that could possibly be used… and Kenzi's too. A few nights after that, Kenzi came home to six broken windows in our house."

"Katie broke your windows?"

"She through a surfboard through one, the rest were broken with various items from outside the house. The surfboard had a little message on it which is how we knew it was her."

Bo's expression straightened, her jaw clenching as she remembered the words on the board. She dropped her fork to her plate and sighed.

Lauren shook her head, "What was the message? I mean… if you don't mind telling me."

"She wrote 'I hope you drown using this thing' on the top of the board." Bo said quietly.

"Oh God, Bo… I'm so… geez."

The brunette laughed, "You know, I hadn't thought about that until now. Do you think…"

"Bo, it was pure coincidence… unless you want to tell me that your ex is a witch?"

"No, not that I know of but she was certainly a bitch in the end. It's amazing how quickly someone's love for you can disappear to the point they would want to cause you so much pain just because you can't force yourself to feel for them what they feel for you."

"I know what you mean." Lauren replied, softly.

Bo looked at her girlfriend curiously, "You do?"

Lauren nodded and Bo then remembered her mentioning a girl from college, "That girl from college?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded again, giving a big sigh before she finally spoke,

"I had one serious relationship that ended badly. We were together from my junior year at Stanford through my first two years of medical school. I'll admit trying to juggle school, hospital rotations, national team volleyball practices, workouts and a relationship was not something I was very good at… I mean… I was young and had no experience in anything that I was doing, plus I needed to work part-time to pay my bills… the relationship suffered."

"Do you mind if I ask how it ended?"

Lauren shook her head, "Tamsin and I went out to a bar after a match one night. Nadia… that was her name…"

"Right." Bo said, now recalling the name when Lauren mentioned it,

Lauren continued, "Yea… well… she was supposedly working an extra shift so couldn't come to my match. Tamsin caught sight of her in the bar first and tried to get me to leave, but instead, I saw her… wrapped around another blonde in a booth in the back corner."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Lauren." Bo said, knowing how hurt the blonde must have been, "What did you do?"

"Something highly uncharacteristic, which led to Tamsin spending the entire walk home talking about how proud she was that I finally grew a pair."

"And that something was?"

"I walked over to the table, picked up the full pitcher of beer that was in the middle of their table and poured it over her head. When she looked up and went to scream at me, she stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at me. She said my name two or three times, but my eyes were glued to the other woman who was screaming obscenities at me for drowning her in beer. She clearly hadn't been told who I was. I don't know what came over me. I just picked up their beer glasses and threw one in the girl's face and one in Nadia's face."

"Oh. My. God." Bo replied, laughing hysterically.

Lauren smiled, "Apparently, I said something to the girl about being a home wrecker and something to Nadia about being a lying, cheating bitch. I gave her twenty-four hours to vacate the apartment or I was burning all of her belongings in the building incinerator."

"Wow."

"Yea, I guess I'm sort of a close second to your Katie, huh?" Lauren chuckled.

"She's not mine… mine is Doctor Lauren Lewis, saver of lives and promising Olympian who apparently has balls of steel."

The couple laughed before Lauren decided it was time for something different,

"Well, that's enough of the heavy talk, don't you think?"

"Agreed. What should we talk about then?" Bo asked.

"Let's talk about dessert." Lauren smiled, opening the lid to the last plate, "I got you chocolate."

"Really?" Bo's eyes lit up as she looked at the plate, "Ohmagosh! That looks amazing!"

The brunette grabbed a fork as Lauren spoke, "It's called _Death by Chocolate_."

Bo's face contorted into a look that Lauren could swear was the same look she had during an orgasm. She laughed as the brunette opened her eyes and looked at her as she swallowed,

"That cake is amazing. It should be called Chocolate Truffle Orgasm."

Lauren laughed, taking a bite of her own, "It really is so good."

Bo nodded, "So good."

"I can think of something else that would be… so good." Lauren winked.

She picked up the plate and carried it towards the bed, placing it on the nightstand.

"Hey! I was eating that!" Bo protested, staring at the empty table. She quickly picked up her trash and put it on the room service tray with Lauren's before carrying it to the door and placing it outside for pick up. She closed the door and locked it, securing the door as they'd been told to do whenever they were in the room. She turned back towards the middle of the room to talk to her girlfriend and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh. My." Bo said in a whisper unable to get any other words out of her mouth. There on the bed in front of her was her girlfriend, naked on the sheets, she chocolate cake broken into pieces smeared on each side of her neck, each breast, several places on her abdomen and her hips. The remaining large piece was perched just above her center.

"Still eating?" Lauren asked with a seductive smirk, one arm behind her head, the other stretched out towards Bo.

"Definitely." Bo said, moving towards the bed, her shorts and shirt removed by the time she arrived at her girlfriend's side, "Mmmm… I don't know where to start."

She laid down on the bed, quickly deciding on the blonde's neck. Lauren giggled as she felt Bo nip and lick playfully at her neck, first the right side, then the left. The brunette then moved to her breasts, taking a little extra care with each,

"I wouldn't want to leave any behind." Bo said, swiping her thumb over one nipple, "The girls could have a chocolate allergy that we don't know about."

"Well, theoretically speaking, if the owner doesn't have a chocolate allergy, it's highly unlikely that the breasts of said owner would have an allergy. I think it's safe to assume they're in the clear."

Bo chuckled, "So, that's either code for you want me to hurry up and get to the other pieces of cake or you're saying they're clean enough."

"Mmmm… honey, I would never tell you they're clean enough if it meant you were going to keep doing what you're doing to them." Lauren said, watching her lover enjoy her breasts.

"Well, maybe I'll come back to them. Right now, I'm craving more chocolate."

Lauren watched as her girlfriend moved lower, enjoying the tasty treats she'd left for her as she moved further and further down her body. She loved the fact that Bo's eyes never left her own, though she had to admit there were times where she had trouble keeping her own open. The sensations of the brunette's mouth and hands on her body were something she always craved.

Bo finally arrived at the largest piece of cake. Lifting it off of her girlfriend, she looked up,

"Plate, please? I think this is for you. Besides, if I eat any more of that, I might lose my appetite before the main course."

Placing the piece of remaining cake on the plate next to them, Bo slid her arms under, and then over Lauren's thighs, gently pulling them apart. She looked up at the blonde before looking down at the glistening folds. Her eyes traveled back up to her girlfriend's before she lowered her mouth and slid her tongue through her heat.

Bo watched as Lauren's mouth dropped open, a soft gasp escaping as she swirled her tongue over the erect tissue tucked beneath soft skin.

"No one has ever loved me the way you do, Bo. No one has ever made me feel all of the things you make me feel."

Bo sunk two fingers into her lover's core, causing her to moan out her name. She watched as the blonde's hips committed to the rhythm of her movements, her abdominal muscles rippling with the strain of her need.

"Bo… God, Bo… I'm so close… so close… don't… please… don't stop… baby…"

The brunette released the blonde's clit from her lips, using her thumb to continue sating her lover's need while she traveled up to lower her moist lips to Lauren's, giving her a deep kiss.

Bo quickened her pace, Lauren matching her speed as the brunette pulled her lips away, their eyes locking as the blonde fell over the edge, her mouth agape, eyes welling with tears as she spoke quietly,

"Ysabeau…"

"I love you so much, Lauren." Bo replied as she continued until her orgasm was complete, "You're so beautiful when you come, baby."

Lauren blushed, tucking her head into Bo's neck as the brunette wrapped her in her warm embrace.

"I love you Bo. I love you so much that it scares me sometimes."

Bo pulled back, her fingers caressing the side of the blonde's face, "What scares you?"

"What if I'm not attentive enough or nurturing enough? What if I don't work hard enough? What if I'm so afraid of losing you that I hold on too tightly and you run?"

Bo smiled, "All valid questions. All possibilities. All reasons to be afraid if you love something so much you don't want to live without it. However, what if you could live your life without worrying about the what-if's? What if you could live life one day at a time, always waking up in the morning and reminding yourself that today is another day I get to be with this incredible woman?"

A stray tear trailed across Lauren's temple from the outside corner of her eye. Bo smiled and wiped it away,

"What if you could trust that I want you in my life just as much, if not more, than you do? Would you still worry then?" Bo asked, quietly, her fingers never leaving Lauren's face.

"Maybe not, I guess." Lauren replied.

Bo smiled, "Then I guess you'll just have to find a way to trust me."

Lauren searched her heart. Nadia had made trust something she found hard to give, but could she really hold Bo responsible for Nadia's actions? The answer to that question was no and if she was ever really going to give them a chance, she had to give Bo all that she deserved in a relationship… and that most definitely included her trust.

"I think I can do that." Lauren replied with a smile, "Now, let me also take care of some of that nurturing and attentiveness."

She rolled them over and lowered her mouth to the brunette's, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss as her body moved to cover her lover's. She slipped a thigh between Bo's legs and thrust her hips forward, earning a moan from her lover.

Pulling back so she could look at her, she smiled, "So… what needs attention first?"

Her gaze fell to the erect nipples atop Bo's breasts, "Oh… right… these have been begging for attention since before you got in the wave pool."

Capturing a nipple in her mouth, she giggled as she teased the hardened peak with her tongue. Bo smiled, pushing her hair back so she could watch her girlfriend's actions. Lauren paused, looking up at the brunette,

"You did cancel your evening therapy appointment, right?"

Bo nodded, "Yea, why?"

"Well, because you'll be busy getting attention… a whole lot of attention." Lauren giggled again.

"And I assure you I will be reciprocating… we'll practice attentiveness until we can check it off of your worry list." Bo smiled.

"Perfect." Lauren said, looking down at her girlfriend's breast, "Just perfect." She giggled as she took a nipple into her mouth, earning her a light gasp from Bo.

Oh yes, Lauren thought to herself… this was perfect.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The weekend had flown by all too quickly for Bo. There had been physical therapy, site seeing, plenty of rest and plenty of lovemaking. Bo felt like she fell in love with Lauren all over again. They'd talked about so many things… things she had never discussed with anyone before. She felt herself opening up in the most unexpected ways. It was like Lauren turned on the faucet and Bo couldn't turn it off. The first thing that had shocked her was sharing about Katie… by Sunday night, they'd talked about Dyson as well.

The one thing Bo wasn't looking forward to was today's match. Lauren and Tamsin had won their quarterfinal match on Tuesday and today they were playing Canada in the semifinals for a shot at either the finals or the consolation finals. Bo wasn't as nervous about the match as she was about the woman who would be opposite Lauren at the net. It turns out that one of the women on the Canadian team was Lauren's ex… Nadia.

Bo had been a little upset about the fact that Lauren hadn't mentioned that her ex was wandering around the games, so they had argued a bit over what Bo had called a lie and Lauren had called an omission. She had admitted she had seen her… that they'd had dinner. Bo had felt her stomach drop when the blonde had told her, but she had tried hard to stay calm and see Lauren's point of view. She had said the dinner was about closure… that Nadia apologized for how she had treated her and hoped they could start over again.

Bo now sat in the bleachers thinking about the words she'd said…

' _Start over again?'_

' _It's not like that, Bo. She meant start over as friends.'_

' _Did she say friends?'_

' _There was a whole conversation about it, Bo. We had been talking about friendship when she made the comment. I assumed that was what she meant. I'm sure she knows how I feel about it.'_

' _Well, did you actually tell her? I mean… did you tell her about me… about us?'_

' _Well, no… I mean… we weren't exactly speaking at the time and… well, frankly it's none of her business what's happening in my life anymore.'_

Bo sat, thinking that at least Lauren had finished with a statement that sounded like Nadia was not going to be a part of her life now. Still, she felt a little uneasy about the whole situation.

"Here they come, BoBo!" Kenzi elbowed her sister, causing Bo to look up from her musings of a few nights ago.

She looked up to see the Team USA duo stripping off their jackets. They moved to the sideline and began their warm up as the crowd chatter began to pick up. Bo listened to one group taking bets on who would win. Another pair were commenting on the American women's asses. She couldn't blame them since she knew the pair did have great assets in that department… especially Lauren.

The crowd suddenly began to cheer. She followed the eyes of the cheering crowd to see Team Canada entering the arena. She looked at the pair, noticing the exotic looking brunette that fit the description of Nadia perfectly.

"Shit." Bo said, sinking into the bleachers.

Kenzi looked at her sister, "What are you shittin' about?"

"Nothing." Bo said, looking at Lauren who was moving with Tamsin to the net. There was a conversation taking place which led to Nadia putting her hand on Lauren's shoulder, allowing it to linger there for what Bo believed was unnecessarily long. The four stood laughing for a long while before shaking hands and going back to their sides.

She watched as Nadia called something out to Lauren that she couldn't hear over the crowd. Lauren looked back, giving the woman a smile… a smile that showed a glow that Bo thought was only reserved for her.

"Bo! Hey!"

She felt Kenzi nudge here before she heard her voice, "What?"

"What's going on? You are clearly upset about something." Kenzi replied.

It was only then that Bo realized a single tear had trailed down her cheek with more threatening to fall. It was in that moment that she understood what Lauren had been saying the other day about how it felt to fear losing someone you love.

"It's nothing."

"Hey! This is your little sister. We have no secrets, now spill!"

Bo turned her head looking at Kenzi with angry eyes. She really didn't want to talk about this right now.

"Oh no you don't. Don't you dare give me those 'stop being my annoying little sister' eyes. You are keeping a secret from me, Bo Dennis. Now spill!"

"Fine! That woman on the Canadian side is Nadia… Lauren's ex… she had dinner with her the other night and didn't tell me. Now the woman is getting her flirt on with my girlfriend and… well… shit."

Kenzi eyes the two on the opposite side of the net, "Which one?"

"Brunette."

"Whoa… Miss Canada over there? She's a bit of a looker there. Gorgeous head 'o hair, tanned, big old eyes and super nice… assets… shit, I sound like I like lady bits! Do I like lady bits? Ohmagosh! I might like lady bits!"

Kenzi didn't hear her sister's reply. She was now officially stuck in her own head as her eyes moved to Tamsin. She was more confused then ever about the blonde and in a few days, the games would be over for Team USA Volleyball. She had no idea what would happen then but she got anxious just thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Bo was sitting on her hands as she replied to her sister, "Not helping, Kenz." The brunette then turned her attention back to the court where Lauren and Tamsin had continued their warm up.

Try as she'd like, she couldn't keep her eyes from drifting to the opposing team. She wondered what the brunette's real intentions were. In that moment, she wished she had a super power to read minds. Her eyes wandered to where Lauren and Tamsin were passing back and forth to each other before their eyes traveled across the net. Tamsin nodded and the two teams moved into position to practice serving.

"Oh no." Bo said, pulling Kenzi from her thoughts.

"What?"

"Lauren just put her first serve into the net. She never misses her serve." Bo replied.

"It's called a warm up for a reason, BoBo. Give the girl a chance."

They watched as the blonde put her next serve into the net. She turned, her head hung walking back to the endline. With her back to her opponents, she shook her head as she picked up the next ball. She stood silently for a moment.

"What's she doin'?" Kenzi asked.

"I don't know. Why isn't Tamsin talking to her?"

"She's getting water." Kenzi replied, looking at her friend crossing the sand towards the bleachers.

"This isn't cool, Kenz. They're not looking out for each other and Lauren's head isn't in this. She looks… off."

"You think that Nadia chick rattled her somehow?"

"I don't know, Kenz. I wasn't standing at the net with them. Dammit!"

Bo didn't know how to help her girlfriend. She looked over at Team Canada where the pair was whispering to each other and laughing. Bo turned back towards Lauren. Placing a finger in each corner of her mouth, and blew. A high-pitched, shrill whistle projected across the sand, causing Lauren to turn her head and look.

Bo put a fist over her heart, pounding firmly twice before calling out to the blonde,

"You've got this… nothing will get in your way today."

She gave Lauren a brilliant smile and watched, as her slumped shoulders seemed to straighten just a bit. She gave Bo a smile and a nod before looking back at the ball in her hands. She slapped the ball with one hand and nodded as she silently whispered something to herself, then turned towards the net again. Tamsin had moved back onto the court and gave Lauren a couple of claps,

"Here we go, Lewis. We got this."

Lauren gave a nod, approached her serve and slammed it across the net. It landed right in front of Nadia's feet, sand flying up into her face.

"Shit, your girl be gettin' her anger on, BoBo. You see that? Girl be writin' her a message in the sand, you know what I mean?"

Bo could only laugh at her sister as she watched Lauren serve another powerful serve over the net, this one hitting the back corner, perfectly placed.

"I think she's okay now." Bo replied with a smile, "I guess Nadia did say something that got under her skin."

"Bitch."

Their attention was pulled to center court at the sound of the official's whistle. The four women moved off court to their chairs. Tamsin and Lauren stood, taking a few sips of water as they had their usual pregame discussion.

"Okay, here comes their secret handshake and then it's game on. I'm so nervous!" Kenzi said, her eyes watching the pair.

"Their handshake is hardly a secret, Kenz. Everyone can see them do it and why are you nervous? You don't have to play."

"You cannot tell me you aren't the least bit nervous."

"Okay, I'm nervous, but we have to be confident in them. Power of positive thinking and all, ya know?"

"Right. Because our thinking will win the match for them and put them into the gold medal final."

"Hey. Every little bit helps. Send out a positive vibe. Here we go… spirit fingers."

Bo extended her arms and wiggled her fingers towards the court.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kenzi said, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Come on, send the positive energy out with me." She watched her sister cross her arms over her chest and shake her head no.

"If you really cared about our friends, you would do this with me… for them."

"Fine. But you're buying dinner." Kenzi said, reluctantly extending her arms.

"You're not doing it right!"

"What? I'm wiggling!"

"But you're not closing your eyes and really concentrating on sending positive vibes. Come on, Kenz. This is serious! It's the biggest game of their lives!"

Kenzi sighed, "Fine." She closed her eyes and tried to muster positive energy, popping open one eye to see when Bo finally stopped.

"There. Now we're ready to go." Bo replied, satisfied that they'd filled the arena with positive energy for the pair.

"Canada must've won serve on their little private reffy meeting." Kenzi said, biting her nails.

"Private reffy meeting?"

"Ya know… the meeting where they all stand together with some guy in a suit and talk so none of us can hear?"

"Whatever. Here we go."

They watched as Nadia moved to the back line from her partner who gave her a smack as she walked away.

"Look. Nadia's partner felt her butt."

"She smacked her butt. It's motivational." Bo replied.

"More like sexualtional. I don't understand these land sports." Kenzi sighed, "I wish this was over, we won and we were on our way to dinner. The suspense is gonna give me a heartastroke."

"You'll live. Now watch the match, Kenzi!" Bo scolded as Team Canada scored first, "Shit."

"It's only one point, right. We've got a long ways to go."

"Right." Bo replied as Nadia sent an ace across the net, "Shit."

Bo gave a whistle again, causing both women to look over. She and Kenzi began screaming,

"You got this!"

"Come on girls!"

"Defense!"

Kenzi stood and turned towards the crowd, "Come on my fellow countrymen! U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A…"

Kenzi got the crowd started as Tamsin and Lauren smiled, walking back into their serve-receive positions.

"YOU GOT THIS! TEAM L-T!" Kenzi shouted as Nadia served again.

Lauren received the deep serve with some effort, passing to Tamsin who set her up for the hit. Nadia rushed the net in an effort to block the blonde, but she was too late. Lauren sent a huge hit down the line, placing it perfectly on the corner line.

"Point, USA! Yes!" Bo yelled, smiling brilliantly as Lauren tilted her head slightly towards her, just catching the brunette's eyes.

Bo sat, her hands moving to her chest as her smile spread across her face from ear to ear. Lauren never paid much attention to her during a match. As a matter of fact, she usually never looked to the stands, her mind always focused on the task at hand. Today, Bo felt a part of Lauren's mission… she felt like she was truly helping her in some strange way… like it was important that she be there for her, more so than other matches.

In that moment, Bo realized that since they'd met, she hadn't really been able to figure out how to be a part of Lauren's world. She was well aware of how much Lauren had done for her in her own life… both personally and professionally, but until now, she hadn't really felt she could reciprocate. Sitting here now, she finally felt like she had something to offer to the blonde's life. Lauren wasn't listening to the cheers of a crowd, the cheers of her country or the cheers of fans today… today, she was listening specifically for Bo's voice and the brunette was not going to let her down. She was going to let Lauren hear her voice on every point of every game until this match was settled, no matter what the outcome.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The crowd was chanting as the final points approached. The match was to be decided in this, the final game which remained in a deadlock, each team serving to try to get the deciding two-point lead necessary to earn the win.

"27-27." The announcer called out the score.

Kenzi's nails were worn to the nub and Bo was sweating as she screamed out yet another motivational phrase, her voice raspy and sore from more than two hours of yelling across the court.

It was Nadia behind the service line again, the pair of American's eyeing her with unmatched intensity as Tamsin's hands lay still on her back ready to signal Lauren in the backcourt.

The serve came hard to Lauren who dove to dig it up to Tamsin who somehow managed to control the desperate pass her teammate had sent her way. Struggling to her feet, sand blowing off her body in the breeze, most remaining attached as if glued there by sweat, Lauren rushed the net and elevated, hand behind her head, back arching to gain momentum before her arm and body put ever ounce of strength she could muster into her shot, sending it unpredictably across court for the point.

"Whoa, that was amazing! I've never seen her hit it across the court like that!"

Bo smiled proudly, "Great idea Lauren! Keep 'em guessing! You got this guys! Come on, Tam! Ace! Ace!"

Bo leaned towards Kenzi, "Did you see how she caught the other team off balance? They were expecting her to go down the line since it's what she's known for!"

"She totally outsmarted them. Not that I'm surprised by your brilliant doctory ladylove, but she couldn't have come up with that one at a better time. They just need one point, right?"

"Yea, let's hope Tamsin pulls an ace out of her butt and ends this thing."

As if the universe were listening, Tamsin's serve was indeed a perfect ace, planted just between the two Canadians who dove for the serve, both getting nothing but faces of sand. Kenzi and Bo wrapped their arms around each other and screamed as the crowd began to chant U-S-A. The pair turned towards the court to see Tamsin holding Lauren by the thighs over her head, the blonde's arms raised in victory as the opponents walked slowly towards the net, the heads down.

"I'd love to say I feel sorry for them and on any other day, I would but knowing that chick is Lauren's ex and she obviously said something at the start of the match to throw her off, I just can't... does that make me a poor sport?"

"I don't know the team sport handbook, but I do know that trying to bring ex business into the Olympics to win a medal is just bad form, so I think you're well within your rights to be a poor sport right now."

They watched as the pair moved to the net and exchanged handshakes before moving to the official's stand to shake his hand as well. The pair turned to walk away, but Nadia reached below the net and grabbed Lauren's hand. Tamsin walked away, not noticing Lauren was no longer following.

Bo watched as Nadia brought a hand up to Lauren's cheek. She felt Kenzi's hand on her wrist as she took as step towards the court when she saw Nadia moving closer to her girlfriend. Just as she was inches from her lips, Lauren lowered her head. Nadia lifted Lauren's chin so their eyes met for a long moment.

Bo felt like all of the air had left her lungs as she watched her girlfriend hesitate. Finally she saw Lauren twist her hand, pulling her wrist free. She put a hand on Nadia's chest and shook her head, saying something. That was when Bo saw the woman's hands contort into fists, a scowl on her face as she began to yell at Lauren. The blonde cowered under the brunette's words,

"That's it." Bo said, taking a step towards the court, but Kenzi held her.

"Don't… T sees… she's got it."

Bo looked to her left where Tamsin was jogging towards the net. She gripped Lauren's shoulders and turned her towards their bench, before turning back to Nadia, her arm flying out towards her, finger pointing as she spat out something that the Dennis sisters couldn't hear.

The pair dressed quietly, picking up their gear bags and following the official to the tent where they would undergo their usual post-match drug test. Kenzi and Bo sat quietly in the bleachers until the pair vanished from sight,

"What's going on, Kenzi?" Bo asked.

"I have no idea, BoBo. Tamsin said to meet them in the med tent after the match, because they're both supposed to get massages again. We'll find out there, right?"

"Did she promise her something, Kenz? Is that why she was so angry? Or did she not kiss her because I was here, so Nadia got mad because she was expecting her to kiss her? And if that's true, why would Nadia expect a kiss from someone she had only had one dinner with? Should I be worried?"

"Would it matter if I said you shouldn't be worried?"

"No, I'm gonna be worried anyway."

"Right. So let's just get to the med tent. You'll have your answers soon." Kenzi replied, sliding her arm beneath her sister's and lifting her from the bench.

"I don't know if the answer I'm gonna get is the answer I want to hear." Bo mumbled.

Kenzi wiggled her fingers in front of Bo's face.

"What's that for?" Bo asked, pulling her face away.

"I'm sending you positive energy." Kenzi laughed.

"Funny."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Hey Doc!"

"My dear, dear Kenzi! Have you decided on staying in Rio to train?"

Bo looked at her sister, surprised, "You're seriously thinking about it?"

"Key words are thinking about it. No, Doc. I'm not sure about anything right now. We have a few competitions coming up in September and October. I figure I'll decide after this season is over."

"I see. I would just like to mention that Nick and his staff have helped Bo tremendously in the last two weeks from what she tells me. Imagine what another month could do for you before those few competitions you have coming up?" Dr. Mansfield was persistent, Kenzi would have to give him that.

"That's a very good point, Doc. But my sister and I are opening up shop when we get back to the states and our home is being renovated while we're gone, so… well… I just have a lot going on right now and all of my training peeps are back in the islands, so… it's just a lot to think about."

Bo leaned over and whispered to Kenzi, "None of that matters if you want to train here, ya know? I can handle stuff."

Kenzi looked over her shoulder at Bo, "I need to think about this and we need to talk about it. I'm not ready to commit to anything just yet."

"Okay, Kenzi. I just don't want you sacrificing your own dreams for me."

"I know, BoBo. I know."

Kenzi moved to an open table, "Hey Pete! Hit me up, will ya? I'll be your warm up for Team LT!"

Doctor Mansfield looked at Bo, "Team LT?"

"Team Lauren and Tamsin."

"Oh. Your little sister sure does have a lot of energy." He smiled as he watched Kenzi argue with Pete about why she needed a massage when she wasn't an Olympian.

Doctor Mansfield laughed, "Help her out, Pete. If she does what everyone's expecting, you'll be working on her next year anyway."

"Really?" Pete asked.

"Son, that is the one, the only, Kenzi Dennis, surfer extraordinaire. She's a favorite for the US Team in the 2020 exhibition."

Pete's eyes went wide, "You're a surfer?"

"Pete, you disappoint me." Kenzi replied, "Have you never heard that big things come in small packages? Yes, inside this petite, yet amazing body is a professional surfer who you wouldn't be able to take your eyes off of if you saw me on a board."

Pete blushed, rubbing his neck, "Uh… well… uh…"

Kenzi lay down and pointed to her back, "You heard the Doc… now get to work on this future Olympian before Team LT comes out here seeking your undivided attention."

Doctor Mansfield and Bo laughed as Pete went to work on Kenzi, his face still red. The doctor turned to Bo,

"So, how are you feeling? Can I set our favorite surfer girl up with a massage as well?"

"No thank you. I'll stretch after dinner. Grace gave me a great massage after therapy just before we came here. Kenzi did have a chance to get in the wave pool today. That's probably why she's sore now. Working in that pool definitely hits muscles I never knew I had."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you like it. It took some convincing for Nick and his partner to get their investors to go for the idea of the wave pools."

"Kenzi and I will certainly be spreading the word. I'm really interested in this new facility they're building. It sounds great."

Doctor Mansfield nodded, "Lauren mentioned to me that you might want to teach surfing in addition to making your own boards. Is that true?"

"I would love to work with kids… you know, a grass roots program?"

He nodded, "I understand… grow the sport."

"Right." Bo replied.

"Well, when all of this hoopla is over, I'd like to meet with you and your sister about an idea I have. Me and a few other docs would like to step into your world as investors. One of those doctors is in Hawaii. He works with Lauren… well… not with her, but in her hospital as an Orthopedic surgeon. He had a conversation with your old mentor a while back that stuck with him and… well… he's been following your career from the shadows ever since. He heard about your accident and thought you were history… uh… so to speak…"

"It's okay. I'm sure a lot of people thought that… I know I did for a while there."

The doctor nodded, "I'm amazed that you came back from death, let alone came back to competition form again, Bo. That type of resiliency and toughness is something that we'd all like to be a part of and… well… taking a page our of Nick's book, we'd like to invest in a facility similar to his. My buddy would provide the medical staff if you and Kenzi can provide the instructors."

"Wow… that's… well… just… wow." Bo replied, unable to speak at the incredible offer.

"Like I said, we'll talk after all of this is over, but know that when we do talk, it won't be a passing conversation. We're serious about this, Bo and we don't want to do this without you."

Bo nodded, "Of course. Might I recommend that you visit my friends' facility? Manny and his brothers have quite the little surfing village going on and I love their concept. It would be neat to merge his idea with Nick's idea."

"I'd love to. Will you set it up?" The doctor asked.

"Manny should be by any minute. They're going to dinner with us tonight. They had tickets to the Brazil soccer match, so they had to miss this game."

"I see… so what will they do now that Team USA Volleyball is playing Team Brazil in the gold medal game?"

Just then, Manny entered the tent, "I think Bo will understand if I cheer for Team Brazil. She knows I love her like a sister, but I'll need a better reason than her girlfriend plays for the other team to cheer against my own country."

Bo and Doctor Mansfield laughed, "Manny, this is Doctor Mansfield. I was just telling him about your little camp town. Do you think you could give him a tour some time before the games are over?"

"Of course, I'd love to. I never hesitate to show off our dream come true."

Doctor Mansfield smiled, "I'm pretty much tied to this tent until dark every day and have to be back by eight or nine every morning."

"Let's do a night visit. Are you free tonight after dinner?"

"Sure thing. Meet you here?"

"Absolutely. We can take my truck there and I'll drop you back."

"Great." Dr. Mansfield smiled, shaking Manny's hand before the tall Brazilian turned to his friend,

"So, I heard they won!"

Bo nodded, "They did, so we'll have to make a little wager for the finals."

"You and Kenzi have to spend a week at my school if they lose."

Bo looked at her sister, "Kenz? We taking that bet?"

"Uhhh… I'll do anything you want as long as Pete keeps doin' what he's doin' right now."

Bo and Manny laughed, "You're on. If we win, you have to come and help us set up shop after the Olympics."

"Well, conveniently, I happen to have purchased tickets to go to the USA in September for some lame surf competition my friends are entering."

Bo smiled, "You're coming to that little beach competition? It's not even a sanctioned WSL event!"

"Yea, but it's your warm up to go back to the big leagues, so I think it warrants fan attendance."

"Thank you, Manny." Bo said, accepting the offered hug from her dear friend.

"Always, Bo. We'll all be there… wives, kids… everyone. We're going to make an American vacation out of it."

"That's so cool!"

He nodded, "It is. Hey! Look who has finally arrived! It's the women of the hour!"

Bo looked up to see Tamsin entering the tent with a disgruntled Lauren in tow. The taller blonde looked at Bo and shook her head. She turned to see her partner taking her place on a table, a massage therapist almost instantly going to work on her legs. Tamsin walked over to Bo,

"Nadia really did a number on her head before the match, after the match and then outside of the testing tent. I intervened… Lauren is not happy with me, but a girl has got to do what a girl has to do, ya feel me?"

"What the hell is going on, Tamsin?"

"That's Lauren's story to tell, Bo." She looked over at her partner, "And clearly she isn't ready to tell it."

Bo sighed, "Well, congratulations on the win. Gold medal match, eh?"

"Yea. It's unreal. I just… I can't believe we're actually going for gold. I just wish it was anyone other than Brazil. They're incredible this year."

"Well, so are you and Lauren. Don't psych yourself out before you've played the game."

Tamsin nodded, "Okay, I'm gonna get my legs taken care of now. They're on fire. Are you guys gonna wait for us for dinner?"

"That's the plan. Is Grumperella over there still up for it?" Bo asked.

"She'll pull it together, I'm sure. Maybe you guys should meet us back at your hotel room?"

Bo nodded, "Give her a little head space?"

Tamsin smiled, "I hate to say it, especially since she should be able to talk to you about anything, but I think she's sort of stuck in her own head right now."

"Okay. I'll just say goodbye and let her know we'll be waiting for you guys unless you call. I want to give her an out if she needs one."

"Bo, I don't think she needs…"

Bo shook her head, putting a hand up to her friend, "Tamsin, the truth is, I don't know what's going on, what she's thinking, what she's feeling or what actually happened between her and this Nadia. What I do know is what I saw today. She had dinner with her and didn't tell me. Nadia asked her to start over and she didn't tell her about me. Today, the woman damn near kissed her at the net after flirting with her before the match and in both cases, if it weren't for you intervening, I'm not so sure they wouldn't have fallen into each other's arms."

"Bo…"

"I'm okay, Tamsin… strangely enough. I was a mess earlier, but right now, seeing her so… broken… I just want her to be okay. She has an out if she needs one. The gold medal is the most important thing. I will not be the one responsible for fucking up her head to the point where you guys lose. No pressure. I want you guys to have your best match, win or lose. I'm Team USA, Team LT all the way. Now, I'm gonna say good bye and then take Kenzi back to the hotel. Text us when you know what's going on, okay?"

"Okay." Tamsin sighed, moving towards Kenzi as Bo moved around the table and headed towards Lauren.

She stopped for a moment at the post to push back the tears that threatened to spill. Mustering up her courage, she approached the blonde,

"Lauren? Sorry to bother you."

Lauren turned her head and opened her eyes, "Bo?"

The brunette squatted down, gripping the edge of the table for balance, "Yea, it's me. Congratulations on the win. You guys were awesome."

Lauren gripped Bo's hand on the table, "Thank you. You'll never know how much your voice helped me today. I got… well… I sort of got discouraged and… just… thanks, Bo."

Bo nodded, "You're welcome. Listen, me and Kenzi are going to go back to our hotel room. If you and Tamsin still want to do dinner, I told her to text one of us. Take your time and please don't feel pressured to come out if you don't want to. Do what you have to do for you, okay?"

"But… I want to… I mean… I promised you dinner and…"

"Lauren, look… I don't know what went on out there between you and Nadia today, but I know something is going on. You will tell me when you're ready. Until then, you do you and I'll go do me, okay?"

"Bo… I don't want you to…"

"Lauren… worry about you and whatever it is that you're dealing with. I'll be in my room. Just let us know if you are or aren't doing dinner, okay?"

"Okay."

Bo turned to walk away, but Lauren gripped her wrist, "You're not going to kiss me goodbye?"

"I… uh… I didn't know if you wanted me to. I mean… I know you're confused about Nadia and… well…"

"Bo…"

"it's okay, Lauren." Bo leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "Rest and enjoy your massage. Just try to text us within the next two hours. You know how grumpy Kenzi gets when she doesn't get fed."

Lauren smiled, "We'll text you."

Bo turned to walk away, but Lauren held tight to her wrist, "I love you, Bo."

"I love you too, Lauren." Bo smiled before Lauren released her hand and allowed the brunette to leave.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Deja you!" Kenzi said, sarcastically as Bo sat with her head in her hands on the side of her bed.

"Kenzi!"

"What? This is all too familiar, BoBo! We're sitting here waiting for the phone to ring when clearly your girlfriend's head is in a bad place yet again! You know, you either love someone or you don't! You don't go all 'Bo, I love you' for months and then suddenly start to question everything you feel when some ex shows up at the Olympic games after not talking to you for almost a decade!" Kenzi yelled, then paused, thinking, "Of course, maybe she's been talking to her all along and you just didn't know it!"

"Not helping, Kenzi! Look! I understand the ex factor, okay? You do remember Katie, right?"

"Yea, the bitch who has our original logo!"

"Well, the bitch can't use it either, at least we made sure of that much. For her, it's just a little squiggle on paper. A reminder of what she can't have." Bo replied, lying back on the bed, her legs dangling below the mattress.

"Yea… my sister's heart. That belongs to a leggy blonde who has yet to release us to eat some food!"

Just then, Bo's phone chimed, leading Kenzi to run for it, "Finally!"

"It's Tamsin. They want to eat dinner down on the beach. We're supposed to grab a blanket and they'll bring the food."

"Okay. Did they say where? It's a big beach." Bo replied.

"Apparently, the beach right outside of our hotel. They're almost here. Let's make tracks, BoBo. I'm starving!"

"You're always starving, Kenz." Bo replied, grabbing the blanket from the extra stack of linens in the closet, "And not a word about Nadia, okay?"

"What? You don't want me to bring up the proverbial elephant in the room at dinner? Afraid I'll make it even more awkward than it will already be?"

"Kenzi, please? Just… be nice!"

"Oh, be nice to the girl who has my sister wrapped in knots."

"Kenzi."

"Fine, fine! I'll swallow my frustrations. One of these days, I'm gonna have an ulcer and it will be all your fault, BoBo." Waving her arms she exited the room giving her sister a list of reasons she'd have an ulcer, "You pull me out of college, you raise me in a shack, you die on me, you come back to life as an invalid, you fall in love with a crazy woman, you have seizures, falls… geez… it's a miracle I'm alive at all."

The door slammed in the brunette's face just before she was able to walk through it. Bo released a heavy sigh, as she juggled the blanket to one side so she could open the door,

"Love you too, Kenz."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Come on, BoBo. The sand is hot on my feet!" Kenzi was jogging across the sand towards the umbrella near where they'd spotted Lauren and Tamsin in the water.

Bo had stopped short when the more petite blonde had breached the water, head back, eyes closed until she stood erect in water that just graced the bare hips of her bikini clad body. She couldn't seem to pull her eyes from the sight of the blonde's wet, tanned body. Her abs rippled as she ran her hands through her wet hair, pushing it back off her shoulders as her strong arms flexed under the effort.

She stood, paralyzed, as the blonde made her way towards shore, stopping to pick up a towel and wrap it around her torso before following Tamsin to where Kenzi was lining up their beach chairs.

She sighed and continued towards the small group, wondering how awkward things were going to be over the next several hours… if she even got that much time with the blonde.

"BoBo! Bring that cooler! These ladies need water!"

As she made her way under the umbrella, she lowered the cooler to the ground and pulled up the lid,

"We thought you might want some ice cold bottles of water. We grabbed six of them and put them on ice."

She looked up at Lauren who gave her a small smile, before lowering her eyes to the cooler,

"That was very thoughtful. Thank you." She said.

"Toss me one, Lewis." Tamsin said, taking a seat next to Kenzi and putting a bag between them, "We brought Americana!" She sang, causing Kenzi to move to the edge of her seat,

"Oooh! Tell me you brought a cheeseburger! Mamma needs her meat!"

Tamsin slapped her hands away, "Uh… here's how we're gonna do this. Lewis and I know what meal is in each container, but as you'll notice, there are no identifying marks on any of them. We're gonna lay them out and then play a little game to see who gets which one."

"Games take too much time! I'm starving here!" Kenzi replied.

"Starving are the children living in poverty across the globe, Kenz. You're a skinny little thing, but you are hardly starving." Tamsin smirked, "You'll survive five minutes."

"Fine. Let's get this game show started then."

"Okay then, I'm going to take the last dinner because I like them all. Lewis likes all but one of them. We both agreed that you and Bo would like any of them and so would. Get our your phones, ladies. We all have the same plan and the same kind of phone, so we should be on even ground here. The first texted answer I receive to each question gets pick. There will be three questions. Ready?"

The three women nodded and held their fingers at the ready to text their answers as Tamsin began,

"The first question refers to your favorite Team USA pair, me and Lewis. For our first game, what color uniforms did we wear?"

Lauren looked at Tamsin for a moment, "Lewis!"

"What? We wear them for practices and games! I don't remember what we wore today let alone two weeks ago!"

Tamsin shook her head as the first text message arrived. She smiled,

"Bo! Red is the correct answer! You get first pick!"

They all watched as Bo stood and picked up the container closest to Kenzi. Giving her sister a smirk, she turned and walked away. The raven-haired sibling gave her ass a smack,

"No need to gloat!"

Tamsin laughed, "Question number two… Who won the Brazil vs. Japan soccer match?"

Kenzi and Lauren stared at their phones for a long while before they each typed an answer and sent it on to Tamsin.

"Kenzi is correct! The winner was Brazil!"

"Yes! Give mamma some meat!" Kenzi rubbed her hands together as she lifted each container before finally settling on the one she thought was the heaviest, "You must be my meat! I just know it!"

"No peeking yet, Kenz. Wait for the last question. Lewis, if you get this one right, you pick from the two remaining containers. If you get it wrong, I get the next pick."

Lauren nodded as Tamsin read the next question,

"What is Bo Dennis' current world ranking in the WSL?"

Lauren sighed, whispering to Tamsin, "Really? How am I supposed to know that?"

Tamsin whispered her reply, "Shit! I thought it was a no brainer for her girlfriend! Don't you ever talk about her career?"

Lauren didn't reply, but instead, sent her best guess. She sat, staring at the message she sent for a long moment realizing that, aside from the time they spent at Bo's physical therapy place, she hadn't once asked Bo about what was going on in her career since… well… ever.

"Nope! Sorry, Lewis. A flattering guess, no doubt, but due to her injuries and absence from the last several competitions, Bo Dennis is currently ranked number four in the world standings."

Lauren looked at Bo as Tamsin stood and picked her container, "I'm sorry, Bo. I should be more aware of what's going on in your career."

The blonde looked away, her fingers fumbling with the edges of her phone case. Bo had to admit, it stung a little that her girlfriend had no real knowledge of what was going on in her professional career beyond her rehab, but she knew she was focused on an Olympic medal, so she chose to take the high road. Placing a gentle hand on the clearly embarrassed woman, she spoke quietly,

"Lauren, it's okay. You're focused on what you need to be focused on. Besides, my career has sort of been on hold lately. Now eat… you have to feed that volleyball machine of yours."

She looked up at Bo, "I really am sorry."

The brunette gave her a small smile, "Eat."

Lauren nodded and picked up the container. She knew it wasn't okay. Nothing about it was okay. She literally felt sick to her stomach at the realization that since meeting Bo, she had made pretty much everything about her. Even in helping her recover, she hadn't really supported her efforts to get back into competition. Sure, she'd helped her get back on a board recreationally, but if she was really supporting her, she would have been looking at WSL news online, getting to know all of the other pairings and… well… doing everything Bo had done.

She opened the container and frowned. It was the one meal she didn't want. She chuckled to herself, thinking that it was probably what she deserved after not supporting Bo. She watched as two hands took her container from her lap, replacing it with another. Looking up, she saw Bo smiling at her,

"I know you don't like shrimp all that much."

"Bo, it's okay. I lost fair and square."

"Lauren, I'm not going to let you eat something that's going to make you gag. You love crab cakes, so I'm guessing this is one of the meals you put together. Besides, you need the potassium in the greens so you don't cramp. I read all about it after your little incident the first week."

' _Of course you did.'_ Lauren thought to herself. She sat for a moment, staring at the brunette as she twirled her pasta on her plastic fork. Bo had been so good about being there for her since they'd met. The brunette always tried so hard to be cooperative, patient, kind and understanding with Lauren's schedule at the hospital, her training times, her moods and her fears about what she did for a living. Despite all Bo had been through, she had treated Lauren with respect, asking with nothing other than her presence in her life in any way she was willing to give.

"Lewis!"

Lauren looked up at the sound of Tamsin's voice, "Wh-what?"

"Kenzi asked you what you thought about the match today."

Bo gave her little sister a glare and received a shoulder shrug in reply. She didn't want Kenzi starting anything with Lauren. The blonde was clearly not herself tonight.

"I guess the final score is all that matters now. We're in the finals for a gold medal. It's pretty cool."

"Pretty cool? That's all you have to say after all this time and effort trying to get to a gold medal?" Kenzi asked, taking another bite out of her burger, "Thanks for getting a burger, by the way. I can't believe I picked this container!"

The partners smiled before Lauren replied, "I don't think I ever really thought we would make it to the gold medal match, Kenzi. I mean… I know it was a dream, but… well, the reality of it… we got lucky. I don't know if we would be here if our number one team was still in the running."

"Hey! Don't take away from what we've accomplished, Lewis. We were the stronger pair. Think about all we had to overcome that they didn't have to deal with. We earned our spot in the finals and I will not have you downplaying our current standings."

Lauren nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry. No one else had to deal with the drama at home with Lachlan and Evony, the lack of scrimmages, the dehydration or the attempt on our lives."

Tamsin pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "And being followed around by frick and frack back there is a real fun time too."

"If nothing else, they're a deterrent to bitch and bozo trying anything else. They're keeping you safe, so don't complain too much about them. They are doing their job so you guys can do yours… bring home a medal…" Bo said, realizing in that moment, the pair was guaranteed at least a siliver, "Oh my gosh! You guys can't do worse than a silver medal! You're Olympic medalists! That is SO COOL!"

Bo's smile beamed brightly, causing the other three women to smile and laugh. Tamsin and Lauren exchanged high fives,

"Oh yea, partner! We just have to show up and play to earn a medal! I can't believe we actually did it!" Tamsin smiled at Lauren, her eyes tearing up a bit.

"I know… I mean… all these years of playing together and training… all the hard work and sacrifice…"

"We did it, Lewis. A gold would just be icing on the cake." Tamsin leaned over into a shared embrace with her partner as Bo and Kenzi looked at each other, smiling.

"Awwww… and we're here to witness the behind the scenes moment, BoBo! We should be recording this moment… it would go viral on the net!"

Tamsin turned and pointed a finger at her friend, "No video! You promised!"

Kenzi laughed, "I'm just kidding T-bear. Relax yourself and eat your veggies so Dr. Lewis doesn't scold you."

They all laughed and resumed eating their meals before Kenzi brought up the match again,

"That match today was definitely touch and go for a while there. I couldn't believe how long it took for you guys to put them away. That curly haired chick rejected your hits like it was her job."

Tamsin mumbled, "Yea, rejection is definitely her thing."

"How's that?" Kenzi asked.

Tamsin's body went rigid as she realized her friend had heard her comment, "Nothing."

"Come on, TamTam… dish about this chick."

Tamsin sighed, leaning over to whisper to Kenzi, "It's Lauren's story to tell, Kenz. I can't."

Kenzi whispered back, "You better not let my sister get set up for heartbreak, Tamsin."

Tamsin's whisper was more insistent this time, "I cannot control Lauren's heart, Kenzi so don't put their relationship on me."

"So there is something going on?" Kenzi asked, shocked and a little louder than she should have said it.

"I didn't say that!" Tamsin replied almost in an equally loud tone.

Lauren finished the last bite of her meal, well aware that Tamsin and Kenzi had been talking about her and Nadia since her partner's not so quiet whispered snark about rejection. She sighed, realizing that the time had come for her to talk to Bo before she had to leave. She stood and turned to face the brunette,

"Walk with me?" She asked, extending a hand to Bo.

Bo smiled, unaware of what Kenzi and Tamsin had been talking about, but from Lauren's body language, she could guess. She took the offered hand,

"Of course." She smiled.

Lauren looked back at the seated pair who were still arguing, "We'll be back you guys. Don't leave, okay?"

Her eyes met Tamsin's who nodded and gave her friend a sad smile as she watched the pair walk away.

"What is going on, Tamsin?" Kenzi stood, her hands on her hips.

"It's between them, Kenz." Tamsin replied, picking up the trash and putting it back into the paper bag.

"Oh, so you and Lauren know but I can't know _before_ my sister comes back here in tears?"

"I don't think Bo is going to come back in tears, Kenzi and no, I don't know much about what's going on. I only know the history between Lauren and Nadia."

"Oh, so you didn't notice what was going on today on the court, because I gotta tell you, Bo sure as hell did." Kenzi's voice strained as her eyes filled with tears, "She's been through enough, Tamsin! She can't take much more and if Lauren is gonna break her heart right now, I'd rather just run after her and take her home right now. She can focus on her recovery, the grand opening of the business of her dreams and get ready to return to the championship circuit instead of sitting here focusing on the dream of a woman who doesn't deserve her time!"

"That's not fair!"

"it's not? She didn't even know her ranking in the WSL, Tamsin! She knows nothing about Bo's life other than the fact that she was orphaned young, she almost died and she'll do anything Lauren asks of her. She's like a fucking lost puppy around her and I'm terrified she's losing herself to this love she feels for your partner! Aside from medical support and sex, what has Lauren really done for her?"

"Bo understands that the Olympics have to take priority right now, Kenzi! Shit, it's two more days and then Lauren can give Bo all the attention she wants!" Tamsin stood from her chair, the two of them now standing face to face.

"She doesn't need her attention, Tamsin! She gets more attention than she wants! She can't even walk down the street here without someone asking for her autograph! She's been dodging reporters who are asking questions about her and Lauren. She tries to keep her personal life private, but she's a fucking celebrity, Tamsin. You have no idea how hard it is for her to be here! Why do you think she hides in her hotel room unless she's surfing or in therapy?"

"She didn't have to come!"

"Yes, Tamsin! She did! She had to come because it's what a girlfriend does when they love and care about someone! They fly across continents, oceans and pay a ton of money to do whatever it is they need including readying the entire boring rule book about volleyball so she can truly understand the game!"

Tamsin paused, "She did that?"

Kenzi sighed, turning to fold up her chair, "Yes. She's the only reason that I have a clue what's going on in the games you play. She can explain everything. She even researched all of the teams. She knew who your toughest opponents would be and what their strengths were. She knew their last names and their heights. I know, because she made me quiz her on the plane."

"Wow." Tamsin said in reply, "Where are you going?"

"I can't be around you right now. I'm leaving you and Lauren to pick up the pieces from their conversation because I know she only wants me here to handle the mess she leaves behind. Well, you break it, you bought it! She can handle Bo's heartbreak. I handled the first and second week silent treatment."

Tamsin placed a firm hand on Kenzi's forearm, "Kenz. Wait… please."

Kenzi pulled her arm away, "What."

"She wanted to explain her reaction to Nadia today and… well… and let her know that she was meeting her later tonight."

"Fuck! I knew it!"

"Kenzi…"

"No! You listen! She's gonna lay in her hotel room bed all night wondering what they're doing… wondering if Nadia is getting to try out those special Hotpants lips and get personal with her lady bits. It's not right! Bo has done everything she's asked her to so she could allow her to concentrate on playing… well, instead of taking time away from Bo to concentrate on playing, she's been taking time away from Bo to concentrate on playing around with Nadia!"

"I'm not playing around with Nadia, Kenzi. I'm seeking closure."

Lauren's voice sounded from behind the young raven-haired surfer. She spun around to see her sister, clearly upset, but her hand was firmly entwined in Lauren's.

Bo gave her sister a sad smile, "It's okay, Kenzi."

Kenzi glared at Lauren and then Tamsin, before looking up at the hotel as she spoke with conviction, her back to the group,

"I swear if you hurt my sister, archeologists will spend decades… decades… trying to find you. If I don't just give you up to Evony and Kristy, I will rip you apart limb from limb and toss you out into the ocean for the tides to take you where they may… and remember… I've known about tides since I was three years old."

"Kenzi, I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my plate and…

She turned to face Lauren, "Did you die? Did you lose your ability to walk? Did you lose your job? Did you lose your dream? Don't tell me about your plate in front of my sister! She's almost lost everything and now you bring an ex into her life!"

"Kenzi!"

"No, Bo! I've been silent, now it's Kenzi's time to vent!" She turned towards Lauren, "You've been so absorbed in your own shit that you haven't bothered to take the time to get to know me beyond our first month hanging out in the hospital together. If you had, you would have asked me how my sister was. If you had done that, I would have told you that you've been so focused on your own shit, that you haven't bothered to be more than a doctor or nurse to her."

"Kenzi!" Bo yelled, stepping in front of Lauren, but Kenzi was undeterred, "That's enough!"

"Enough? I'm just getting started, dear sister of mine! I'm the one that always has to pick up the pieces from people who enter your life like a tornado and leave the path of destruction that is your heart in their wake!"

"I'm fine! I…"

"No, Bo… you're not! I've been watching how this has hurt you… your grand gestures of sacrificing your own needs for blondie here without her even asking what you've been working on in the shed!"

Kenzi turned to Lauren, "Did you know that she's making new boards inspired by the two of you? Yea, the whole LT line is based on a take-no-prisoners approach to surfing. It's funny that she'd name it the LT line when that's the way she used to surf before she had to worry about you being afraid of her getting hurt!"

"Kenzi!" Bo yelled, gripping her sister's arm, but Kenzi pulled away, tears welling up in her eyes as she shook her head, unwilling to relent. She turned towards Lauren again,

"You know, I've met Olympians and none of them cast their families aside, asking them to put their own dreams on hold so they can live their own…"

She picked up one of the blankets and through it over her shoulder, before looking between the two of them,

"…If there's one thing you both should have learned from all you've been through is that life is short… we're never promised tomorrow… yet you are both living like we are. Well, I hope Bo can die knowing that you lived and achieved your dreams even though she never got to live her own because her final months of life were all about sacrificing for you, Lauren."

"Kenzi! That's enough! You're done!" Bo scolded, "It's my choice and I am still working towards my dream while I'm here! My business is being built as we speak, I'm in PT two to three times a day in a better facility than I ever could have been in at home and I've made connections with a great doctor and therapist who have offered me a great business deal… as they have you, my dear sister!"

Kenzi laughed, "Yea and what happens to all of that when she ends up walking off into the romantic Brazilian sunset with Nadia tonight? Will you be able to come back here and do business, visit our brothers without having memories of how your heart was broken here? This was our place, Bo… our family. I was all for you two making new, pleasant memories here but now I'm worried it will be nothing but pain in the end."

"I trust her." Bo said, tightening her grip on Lauren's hand.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't. Trust has to be earned and right now, I'm not seeing a reason to trust her when she always puts you second." Kenzi said, glaring at Lauren, as she approached Bo and brushed a tear away from her cheek as she continued,

"Because I've seen way too many tears stream down my sister's face since we've been here and while you may trust her, what she doesn't know is what will happen while she's with Nadia tonight. You may think these tears are because of how I'm treating your girlfriend right now, but the truth is, you know that a lot of what I'm saying is true and you're hurt by that realization. Do you want me to tell her how tonight will go? Do you want me to give her a visual of what you'll be doing while she's off laughing with her ex?"

Lauren defended, "I won't be off laughing with her. God, Kenzi you make it sound like I'm going on a date with my ex tonight."

The surfer laughed as she turned back to Lauren, "Let me ask you. Does Nadia know it's not a date? Did you tell her you were getting together to seek closure?"

"Well… no… but…"

"Not a date, eh?" Kenzi smirked.

"She wouldn't have seen me if she knew I planned to put an exclamation point on our ending!" Lauren explained, her voice desperate as she turned towards Bo, but the brunette's eyes moved away from the blonde, her face twisting with doubt, "Bo?"

Kenzi continued, "You see, my sister is madly, deeply, eternally in love with you. I've never seen her like this… ever… and I've been with her and through a lot more with her than you have. You haven't really taken the time to get to know her, Hotpants… sure, you know her history and you even know about her past love… congratulations, by the way… you got her to open up a massive can of worms with that one…"

Kenzi picked up two folding chairs and threw the straps of their bags over her free shoulder before turning back to Lauren,

"But what you wouldn't know because you haven't really taken the time to really get to know my sister is that while you're out with Nadia tonight supposedly getting the 'closure' you need for yourself, you will be leaving this woman you supposedly love to sit and wonder if that curly haired Canadian maple syrup model has gotten you to kiss her yet… if you've held hands… if you've looked at her the way lovers look at each other… if you're out for a romantic walk on the beach as she convinces you that you should give it one more try… or if you've gotten to the 'your room or mine' part of the night's events."

Kenzi started to walk away, but turned back to her, "But don't worry… I'll be there to hold her while she cries... all… night… long. But… you go do what Lauren has to do… after all… these three weeks are all about you having to do what you have to do to win a medal. I just wasn't aware that a night out with your ex the day before the biggest match of your life would help you to do that… I would think that night would be reserved for the woman you claim to love… so exactly who is that?"

In that moment, Bo wanted to jump to Lauren's defense… she really did… but Kenzi's words had challenged something inside of her… challenged her trust in Lauren. Maybe that's what she would need to survive this night. They really hadn't been together for long and… well…

Bo's thoughts grew quiet as she watched her sister turn away and rush past Tamsin, bumping into her shoulder so hard she knocked the blonde off balance. She noticed that Lauren stood still, staring at the sand below her.

Bo sighed before moving in front of the blonde,

"I'm so sorry about her outburst, Lauren. She had no right to say those things and I will be talking to her when I get to the hotel. You just do what you need to do tonight. I'll be fine."

Bo didn't really believe anything she was saying other than she wanted Lauren to do what she needed to do. One way or another, Bo needed closure on the issue of Nadia and she knew the only way they could get past this was to go through it no matter how painful the idea of tonight might be for as she sat alone in her hotel room… waiting.

Lauren raised her eyes to meet Bo's, "She's right, Bo… everything she said… she's right. I was thinking those same things… well… not thinking them… gaining an awareness of them, I guess."

She turned to Tamsin, "I'll meet you back at our room. I want to talk to Bo before I go. Take frick the guard with you. I'll take frack."

Tamsin looked back at the two security guards, "As if I'll have a choice. He follows me everywhere I go."

Lauren gave her a weak smile. She went to speak, but Tamsin added, "I'm going to go talk to Kenzi, and then I'll be back in my room."

"Tamsin…" Bo began, but the taller blonde cut her off,

"No, Bo… I need to talk to her…" Tamsin said with sincerity, "What I need to say is between me and Kenzi, okay? I'm not happy about the tongue lashing she just gave Lewis here, but I have some other things I want to say, too."

Bo nodded, "Okay, but I want to talk to her as well."

"Tamsin, can you tell Kenzi I said thank you?" Lauren asked.

The two women looked at the blonde like she had two heads, "Excuse me?" Tamsin asked.

"Tell her thank you. She was right and I needed to hear everything she said. I needed to hear it before I met with Nadia. I needed to hear it because if I'm going to be with Bo, I need to be better." Lauren replied.

"Lauren." Bo began but Lauren shook her head,

"No, Bo. Please… I have to own my own shit."

Tamsin nodded, "Okay then. Well, I'll take guard frick, these two chairs and the blanket, Bo."

Bo nodded, "Thanks, Tamsin."

The brunette stood quietly next to the blonde knowing that Kenzi was right about one thing. The uneasiness about where Lauren was going tonight was already starting to settle in. She called out to Tamsin,

"Tamsin? Can you tell Kenzi I'm going to be a couple of hours? I'm going to run over to the clinic and get a little more pool time before bed."

"Sure." Tamsin said, "Later Lewis." She turned and walked away, leaving the couple standing alone.

Bo turned to Lauren, "I guess I'll see you around then."

"Bo…"

"It's okay… you go do your thing and I'm gonna go do mine."

"I'll call you later." Lauren said.

"It's probably better if you don't." Bo said, her eyes downcast.

"Bo?" Lauren asked.

"Look, Lauren… I know you have to get going, so I don't want to get into a long-winded conversation here. You're going to be late. You said your piece when we were walking and I understand the whole you need closure thing. But now, I'm gonna say my piece."

"Bo…"

"Lauren… you weren't the one who had a bomb dropped on her about secret meetings with an ex last week followed by sitting in the stands and watching you interact with said ex… that was all my experience. Something happened and you apparently don't have time to discuss that with me because you needed us to have a group dinner followed by a meeting with your ex before you could give me your time so you could explain what happened both last week and on the court today."

Bo's hair blew into her face as the wind kicked up. She turned towards the ocean, now noting the beautiful sunset that was beginning. She chuckled to herself,

"Looks like the two of you will have a nice sunset walk for your little get together."

Jealousy flared along with anger as Kenzi's words now resonated with her. Lauren was putting Nadia before her and it hurt. They were supposed to be a couple… a team. How had they gotten here? What was this control Nadia seemed to have over her girlfriend?

"Bo, it's not some romantic…"

"Lauren, just stop… please…" Bo sucked in a breath as tears threatened to spill. Her throat constricted as her emotions boiled over, "For some reason, she got to you on that court. I noticed every reaction, Lauren. She flirted, you blushed. She flirted more and you became stiff. Your shots were off, especially the ones that went at her. It was almost like you didn't want to beat her… like you felt bad for trying to win."

Bo sighed, "You couldn't hold back your reaction even though you were in a public arena. You lost your composure and I have to admit that I'm just a little angry when I think about that fact. You made me promise you – no distractions. The one time I asked you for a short two to three hour distraction was days before your very first match. It was one night where I had accomplished something big and thought you'd be happy for me… it was one night that I asked for you to meet my friends."

Bo's anger flared at the memory… anger was something she hadn't allowed herself to feel at the time because she'd allowed Lauren to convince her she had been wrong to ask for anything for herself. She sighed thinking of the double standard that she was now confronted with,

"That one night, you got so angry at me for doing something that had nothing to do with your Olympic dream that you didn't speak to me for over a week. Today… and apparently on some other days that I'm not privy to yet… Nadia comes along and draws your focus before and during the most important match of your life and you're speaking to her just a few hours later. Somehow, this woman has power over you and your decisions. Somehow, her needs are coming before mine."

"Bo…"

"Please, Lauren… don't… you can't talk your way out of this one. Kenzi was right about one thing… this is going to hurt, so just go do what you have to do. Please don't call me tonight. I'm going to go lose myself in that pool and refocus my attention on surfing. If you're still mine tomorrow, I'll be at your match the following day and we'll talk when we get home. If not, I'll have taken my first step towards getting over you."

"Bo, please… I'm not…"

"Don't say it, Lauren. Don't tell me you're not leaving me because if you do, it will be another broken promise in my life and I don't know if I can handle another broken promise in my life. I've done very well avoiding all situations that would have me relying on promises from anyone since my last relationship ended. I broke a promise to myself when I got involved with you and now I may be kicking myself in the ass for doing it."

"Bo… please…"

Bo leaned in and kissed Lauren on the cheek, effectively ending the conversation, "You have to go or you'll be late."

"I don't care…"

"Yes… you do. Besides… I want this over with one way or another."

She gave Lauren's hand a squeeze before releasing it, "Take care of yourself and stay safe wherever you go because the crazy chicks could be anywhere. I really hope you find what you're looking for."

Lauren's feet remained rooted to the spot as she watched Bo take off down the beach. It was odd that in that moment, her first thought was that she'd never seen the brunette run. It was amazing to think that when they arrived here, she was relying on a cane. It had escaped the blondes' attention that she no longer needed it… not only that, but now that she thought of it, Bo could actually balance, bend, squat, sit, stand and run… run…

' _She ran from me.'_ She thought to herself.

"What am I doing?" Lauren said, turning into the wind as tears streamed down her face. She looked up the coast, watching as Bo's figure became smaller and smaller, the distance between them increasing with every stride. She turned back towards the water and sighed, watching the orange sky take on tints of red. It truly was beautiful. She looked up to see Bo's figure all but gone from sight. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and turned to head back towards the Olympic Village and the meeting that she hoped would give her the answers she sought.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Grace? Nick? Peaches?" Bo called out, finding the lobby empty for a moment before Nick came around the corner.

"Bo! Hey, surfer girl! What brings you by this late?"

Bo smiled a soft smile, "You said you might have an eight o'clock available tonight?"

"Yea, but I thought you'd be out celebrating with the Doc. I snuck out of the med tent today to see her match. I'd never been that close to a professional volleyball court before let alone an Olympic one. The energy was just off the charts… and that comeback was just… brilliant… just brilliant!"

Nick considered his patient for a moment, "So… why are you here? Everything okay with the Doc?"

"Uh… sure… she's just… well… she's off with… with an ex tonight." She rolled her eyes, "She's seeking closure or something."

Nick rubbed his neck, "Oh. You okay?"

Bo shook her head, "I want the hardest workout you can give me with the biggest roughest water you can give me… what does that tell you?"

"That I'm glad you came here where I can control the situation rather than hop on some unfamiliar rented board in the big waters off the point."

Bo laughed, "You may have just taken me on as a patient in the last three weeks, but you sure have gotten to know me well, Nick."

"To know the patient…"

"… You have to know their mind first. Now I understand your philosophy."

Nick smiled, "Sometimes a patient can be their own worst enemy… especially when life throws their emotions into the shitter with all of the other disappointments and struggles they're dealing with… and you've had many in the past year, Bo. You sure you're okay?"

A stray tear betrayed Bo's tough exterior, "Knowing that…" Bo looked at the time on the fitness band Nick had her wearing before looking up at him again, "…Right now she's with an ex she had thought she might marry? I'm just perfect, Nick."

Nick nodded, "Let's talk for a bit."

Nick led Bo over to the loveseat in the lobby, allowing her to take a seat before he joined her,

"Okay, so… rule number one… you don't get in that water unless you can focus on the rules of the pool. The first rule of the pool is…"

"Safety first." Bo replied.

"Right. So, would it be safe for you to get in the water right now?" Nick asked, "Rule number two… be honest with yourself so you can be honest with me, Bo."

"I'm not tight at all… but mentally, I'm angry and honestly, when I'm angry I surf… all my life… my parents died, I dove into surfing. I couldn't pay the bills, I surfed. Kenzi broke her arm and we didn't have health insurance, we splinted it with duct tape and I surfed. The roof on our shack caved in, we went to construction sites and found old roofing tiles to repair it, then we surfed. It's my outlet for my emotions. It's actually how I developed my style… to be honest."

Nick looked surprised, "Really? I mean… when I see you surf, I think it looks like you're caressing… or… well, this sounds weird… but it looks like you're making love to the wave, not attacking it."

Bo smiled before she broke out into a chuckle which became a full blown bought of uncontrollable laughter. The laughter came hard, triggering tears that eventually became hysteria as Nick pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried… hard. She hadn't allowed herself to feel this in a very long time. She hadn't cried like this since she lost her Dad.

"I've got you, Bo. It's okay. Let it out and then you can tell me what this is all about."

Being given permission to cry was something Bo had never experienced. She was always told to be strong… first for her Mom after they'd lost her Dad, then for Kenzi after they'd lost her Mom, then for Kenzi when she'd had to give up her Master's, then to surf to win so she could pay the bills and put Kenzi back into school. As a surfer, she had to battle the men to get waves to practice on… there was no time or place for crying out there… she had to be tough whether practicing or competing.

Quietly, in almost a whisper, she repeated every single thought to Nick who just held her and listened before saying,

"Crying will now be part of your regularly scheduled physical therapy… and for tonight, I'm going to allow you to surf angry since I'm fairly certain we can control your wipeouts if you go down. I want to see Bo the angry surfer so I can decide which one has a better chance of winning. I'm going to videotape your session and then Kenzi, Manny and I are going to sit down and discuss what we see between the two styles."

"Two styles?" Bo asked.

"Well, I have previous footage of you… the one who makes love to the wave she's riding. I want to compare that to angry Bo who attacks the waves. Maybe between the two we can find the style that gives you the best chance at winning competitions. After that, I think we can get you in the right mind set to pull the best scores. Mind over matter, right?"

Bo smiled a soft smile, "Can I surf now? I'm tired of crying and it's not doing much to distract me."

Nick smiled and nodded, "I just want to say that I don't think that Lauren is the type of girl to cheat, Bo."

"I would normally agree with you Nick, but her reassurances to me were vague at best. If she had absolutely no interest in Nadia, I think a few things would have happened. First, she would have told me that her ex was at the games. Second, she would have told me she was having dinner with her before she met up with her the first time. Third, she wouldn't have had dinner with her… it would have been a 'Hi, how ya doing' sort of conversation followed by going back to 'focus on winning a medal' like she's been claiming she was doing."

Bo stopped to stand and pace, "Fourth, she would have told Nadia about my existence and who I am in her life and fifth, she would not need closure and the meeting tonight would be drinks to meet me so she can show Nadia she has actually moved on. She didn't slam the door and she's had more than five opportunities to do just that, Nick."

The therapist nodded, "I really have no argument for any of that… but for your sake, I wish I did."

"Gee… thanks." Bo said, her shoulders slumping.

Nick stood and draped an arm over Bo's shoulder, "Come on surfer girl… let's go surf the hell out of some radical waves."

"Radical?"

"Yea! I Googled surfing slang. I thought if I'm going to start working with surfers that I should know the lingo, dude. Ya feel me?"

"Oh please don't talk like that around any surfers."

"What? Why not? You don't want to catch some rad waves, dude?"

Bo shook her head, "Just… don't… please don't… you'll embarrass me… yourself… Team USA surfing…"

Nick laughed as he moved to the control panel to turn on the control panel and display, "Okay, okay… I'll just let it happen naturally from hanging around my clients, okay?"

"Fair enough." Bo replied, "I'm just gonna hit my locker and pull on my suit."

"Take your time. It's gonna be a little cold at first since we turned down the temp on the pool. Sorry, but I thought you weren't coming."

"No worries. It'll be like taking a contrast bath. Cold to hot." Bo smiled a genuine smile.

Nick was happy to see the lighter look on his client's face. The truth was, Bo was becoming more like a sister to him than a client. She had spoken about Lauren like the world began and ended with her for weeks. He truly hoped that things would work out between them, but he knew all too well that love was fickle.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The small group of therapists that had still been in the clinic with Nick had gathered at the big wave pool to watch Bo workout. She was attacking the waves like the Bo of old and Nick hadn't missed getting even a second of it on film, handing the control panel off to one of his therapists while he had another one film so he could work directly with Bo.

"She's amazing, Nick!" Tony shouted over the music that was cranked to full blast at Bo's request.

"She's really in the zone, Tony. I've never seen her like this." Silently, Nick thought to himself that he should have Lauren make Bo angry more often. His main concern that her upper body form was a bit loose and she was definitely surfing tighter and harder. She wasn't as smooth, but then again, he didn't really know how the sport was judged. For that, he would need Kenzi, Manny and his brothers.

"Three more minutes in this cycle, Bo!" Nick shouted over the music.

Bo gave him a thumbs up, letting him know she'd hear him before she cut back up a big wall and down again,

"Pipe!" She called out, requesting the large pipes the machine was capable of generating.

Nick hesitated knowing that hadn't progressed to pipes yet. He looked up when she called out the request yet again, then looked back to Zack who was controlling the wave forms at the control panel. He gave Nick a hopeful smile since they'd all been wanting to see Bo… or anyone, really… surf a pipe. After watching Bo for a few more moments to be sure he didn't see any signs of her strength waning or cramping, he gave Zack the thumbs up.

"Pipe coming, Bo."

Bo eased back off to the rear of the wave so she could re-enter and have the speed to enter the pipe. She watched as it formed, a smirk and a smile appearing on her face.

Nick smiled, "I've never seen that expression from her before."

"I have… she's in the zone."

Nick turned at the sound of the familiar voice, "Kenzi! Hey girl! We weren't expecting you."

"Yea, well I just got my ear chewed off my Tamsin before she finally explained to me where my sister was. I thought I'd better come and make sure she wasn't going to set herself back six months in her recovery."

"As if I'd let that happen." Nick replied, leaning over the railing of the tank.

"You let her get into a pipe."

"She's good, Kenzi. You gotta trust me."

"Yea, well my trust is in short supply these days." Kenzi replied.

"Well, you'll have to work on that then. If you can't trust others, you likely can't trust yourself. If you can't trust yourself, you can never be everything you want to be on a surfboard in open water, Kenz. I may not know surfing, but I know the mind… work on trust… it's something both you and Bo have to do to take your game up a notch. I know that life has given the two of you plenty of reasons not to trust, but all of those things are in your past."

"Not all of them." Kenzi replied.

"Bo told me about Lauren."

"She did?" Kenzi asked, surprised.

"She let a lot out… thoughts, feelings and a shit load of tears. She'd good, Kenz. Look at her… she's amazing."

Kenzi nodded, "She's surfing like the old Bo… the Bo that used to surf with my Dad. She looks… fearless… like she has nothing to lose."

"That sounds dangerously like you're saying she's surfing reckless." Nick replied, concern lacing every word.

"Nah… you ain't seen reckless until you saw her surfing before she met Lauren. The only thing that mattered was first place in the WSL championships… no matter what."

"Mmmm… sounds scary."

Kenzi nodded, "It was. Since she drowned, she's been… different… more cautious… well, for a while, downright scared. This is much better."

"I need you and Manny to look at this video footage and compare it to some other footage. This thing with Lauren tonight has brought out a different surfer."

"Angry Bo is on that board. You can tell by the way she attacks the waves. Notice how there's no break between tricks? She's relentless like this. Remember that in this pool, it's about staying up as long as possible for conditioning sake. In the ocean, it's a short-lived ride that you have to score as many points as possible on because you may not get another good wave the rest of the competition."

Nick nodded, "I didn't think of that. Maybe it's time to get her out in the ocean again."

Kenzi nodded, "Maybe a combination of both? Just add an hour in the water before or after the pool?"

"Makes sense." Nick replied, looking out the window, "Too late tonight."

Kenzi shook her head, "I could call the guys and have them all here in fifteen. We night surf all the time here. They line up their cars, headlights on to give us a little light and we go for it. There's no reef here, just sand. It has its dangers, but it makes you focus on feel rather than sight… Zen surfing."

"I see." Nick said, "Still sounds dangerous."

"We won't hold you responsible." Kenzi replied.

Nick shrugged, giving a thumbs down to Zack who brought Bo down from the wave,

"Hey! I was having so much fun!" Bo whined.

Nick laughed, "Sorry, but your sister's here and she talked me into a night surf with your brothers. You game?"

"Really?" Bo's face lit up, "You're okay with that?"

"She assures me this is safe water for that… it's your call."

"Pipes are rare here and there's no reef so… I'm totally game! Make the call, Kenz!"

Bo jumped out of the pool, "We'll need full body suits, though. The water will be a little cold. Will you give me a good stretch before we go out?"

"The guys are in!" Kenzi shouted, "I need a board and a suit!"

Nick smiled, turning to his therapy team, "Who's staying?"

Every hand went up, earning a smile from their boss, "Okay, I need two full suits for our clients, two boards with tethers and get out the large flood lights and generators we use for the soccer fields. Set them up so they point towards the water. Give us as much light on the ocean as you can."

"Flood lights?" Bo asked.

"Better than car headlights." Nick replied with a smile as she shut down the pool and turned back the water temperature once again.

"Awesome!" Kenzi replied, taking the offered wetsuit from the employee, "Where do we change?"

Bo smiled, "Come on sis, I'll show you."

The two slipped back into the locker room as the rest of the crew did what was necessary to prep the beach area. In the locker room, the sisters dressed in silence until Kenzi spoke,

"Okay, about the elephant in the room…"

"You were mean, Kenzi. I asked you to stop and you didn't. I'm upset about that. On the other hand, you said a few things that I should have said to Lauren myself and you said a few things that I needed to hear so that I could find some balance in this relationship. If Lauren and I are still together after all of this, I need you to apologize to her for you outburst… not for what you said, but for how you said it. I will also need you to never do that to her again."

Kenzi nodded, "I got that from Tamsin… basically a mind your own business thing."

Bo shook her head, "I will always be your business, Kenzi. That's something both Tamsin and Lauren will have to understand. You are my sister. You have a right to speak your mind and they need to hear you… they don't have to take your advice or agree with you, but they do have to respect my relationship with you enough to listen to you. We all asked you to remain silent for too long. Your verbal diarrhea was just that… you had to hold in your shit for way too long and it finally just came pouring out."

"Ewww… grossest analogy every BoBo… I mean, you're right… but it's still gross as hell!"

Bo smiled, "I love you, Kenzi and yes… I'm in love with Lauren… probably in a slightly unhealthy way at this point, but as always, pounding away at waves on a surfboard helps to clear my mind. I have some perspective now that I didn't have before. I want a balanced relationship with Lauren and if she chooses to continue with this after tonight, I think things will be different."

"Good to know, BoBo."

Bo chuckled, "It's funny that just over forty-eight hours ago, we thought our relationship was in a good place. I guess it's true that relationships are always changing and evolving… or they cease to exist."

Kenzi nodded, "Yea. The only question now is which relationship will Lauren choose to allow to change and evolve."

Bo nodded, growing quiet for a moment, "Right."

She sighed, her thoughts going back to the dark place she'd been in before she entered he pool, but Kenzi didn't allow her to remain there,

"Ready to go to church?"

Bo smiled widely, "Yea… I think some time with Mom and Dad is just what the Dennis sisters need tonight."

"Can I get an Amen?"

"Amen!" Bo laughed as the pair walked out of the locker room and out the back door.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi and Bo entered the brunette's hotel room laughing excitedly as they talked about their experience night surfing. Everyone had a blast and they couldn't wait to do it again. There was a full moon in two nights, so they'd made a plan to give Bo's body a day's rest before going again.

"I can't wait! Ah, Kenz it was so good to be out there again." Bo collapsed onto her back on her bed, arms outstretched as she stared at the ceiling.

"You were definitely in your element, BoBo."

"I remembered why I started surfing again, Kenz. The feel of the waves… just leaving everything behind… every time I go out there, every time I get on a board again, I get a little of myself back… I mean… the real me, not the person I became when all of the competition and financial pressures hit us."

Kenzi smiled, lying back on the other bed, "I just feel… happy… so happy right now."

"That's just the lingering adrenaline rush we're having but I know what you mean. If I died right now, I'd die happy as a little fish in a big pond."

"Well, I'm here to say I can grant that wish."

Both women sat up bolt straight as Evony's voice echoed through the room, "Not the being a little fish in a big pond, but I can send your very human body to a happy grave… that way, even if I go to a prison grave, I can live the rest of my days in a cell knowing that I had my revenge."

Kenzi swallowed hard as she watched Evony point the tip of a gun to her forehead,

"So, who first… you Little Miss 'Up and Coming Surfer of the Year'? Oh, that's right… you probably haven't heard the news yet… you will die having won at least that title."

Kenzi would have loved to celebrate that news, but she was too busy worrying about never getting the chance to surf again at the moment.

"Maybe we'll do big sister first…" Evony walked across the room, waving the gun at Bo who was looking around for signs of Kristy, as Kenzi begged for Evony to spare her sister's life.

Evony continued, "… if you're looking for the Brazilian hotties that were serving as your guards, they're off chasing my partner in crime. By now, she probably has them searching through the throngs of athletes lining the streets and buildings of the Olympic Village. It's a great place to hide, really. We've been there for weeks, it's just too bad it took us so long to gain access to the Team USA dorms."

Bo's stomach dropped, "What did you do?" She gritted her teeth as she spoke and looked towards Kenzi whose face had turned pale.

"I took care of the other dynamic duo while you two were busy having fun with your little night surfing event. You know, those boys were once my friends! It was you that made them turn on me! You and your little sob story!"

"NO!" Kenzi yelled, "NO!"

Bo's stomach dropped while she thought of any harm coming to Lauren, but right now she had to believe it wasn't true. All of their food was being tested before being eaten and there was no way Kristy would have gotten past the army of Brazilian police and guards that had been protecting the threatened duo. Their government did not want the scandal of a murder at the Olympics and since their success had made them even more popular, security had only grown in the past three days.

Instead, she focused on the woman who was threatening the life of her little sister, trying to keep her attention on her. Maybe if Evony went for her, Kenzi would be able to take her down while she was distracted. They could survive right? They'd been in worse jams than this, hadn't they? Well, maybe Kenzi would live on at least. She shook out her thoughts and replied to her foe,

"Us? Evony, we are not the ones that reported you to the committee! That was the woman who you willingly led on and used for years! You can say what you want, but all of this… everything that was taken from you was done so by your own manipulative and conniving ways! Hell, even what was given to you wasn't really yours!" Bo said, the volume growing with each word.

"I worked my ass off to earn my spot!" Evony shouted, leaning in towards Bo, waving the gun in her face.

"Oh, come on Evony! Your old girlfriend admitted to inflating your scores! It was investigated at the highest level! Dammit! I am not dying because you cheated and got caught! Everything that happened was on you! Hell, if anyone should be pissed here it's me! I got screwed for years sitting behind you in the standings!"

Bo sighed, remembering that the woman was unstable and had a gun. She didn't need to antagonize her further and if Lauren and Tamsin had been poisoned or an attack was in progress, she may still be able to help them. She steadied her resolve and lowered her voice, as she tried to respond with some semblance of composure,

"You know, I was just saying to Kenzi the other day that I only just realized that without you sleeping your way to the top, I would have been ahead of you all along."

She sighed, making direct eye contact with Evony,

"You took years away from me… years I should have been making money to support Kenzi and I. But instead, you lived off your girlfriend while earning even more money in WSL paychecks and endorsements… endorsements that would have been mine. You had more than enough money, driving fancy cars, going out to fancy events, wearing Gucci, Jimmy Choos and every other designer under the sun. Meanwhile, Kenzi and I survived on Fruit Loops and Cheerios!"

She looked up at the woman and spoke from the heart, "We all used to be friends. Don't you remember that? But once you rode a WSL board member's bed sheets to fame, you wouldn't so much as buy your old friends a drink at our old watering hole. Suddenly, the people who you used to laugh and surf with weren't good enough for you. You hurt us… and now we're supposed to die because you got what was coming to you."

Kenzi's voice quivered as she spoke, "You sucked, Evony. We sat and watched as you moved up in the rankings and ran off with the lifestyles of the rich and famous crowd ignoring the people who were always there for you. While you were eating filet and caviar, our idea of a hot night out with great food became a plain pizza and a warm six pack followed by dreams of the boots we had on layaway for six months before we scraped enough money together to actually wear them!"

"Awww… you poor souls. All the more reason for me to put you out of my misery!" Evony yelled, cocking the weapon.

Bo slid over to Kenzi's bed. If they were going to die, she wanted Kenzi to be able to feel her skin against hers so that she would know she wasn't alone. Her eyes gazed around the room, looking for any way to gain some sort of advantage that may get them out of this mess. She was ready for poisoning. They were checking everything they ate and drank if it didn't come from a lid that cracked open. She wasn't ready for a gun to her head.

Kenzi looked at Evony, her eyes watering as she sat waiting to die. She stared down the barrel of the gun as it moved closer to her head but spoke to her sister,

"She really doesn't remember, Bo. She forgot that you gave her a surfboard to finish a competition when hers was ripped to shred on the reef at the pipeline. She forgot the week she lived with us when she and Vex broke up and she had nowhere to go. She forgot that we were the reason she was finally allowed to surf the break with the gang of natives that took us in."

Bo nodded, "She forgot that we were the ones who helped her get her start… helped her pay her medical school tuition in that last year when she broke her leg at Mavericks."

"We told her she was surfing too close to the rocks, but she didn't listen. And despite the fact that she was excruciatingly stupid, we still took care of her ass until she could get around on her own."

"Ungrateful bitch." The words spewed from Bo's mouth like venom leading Evony to move the gun from Kenzi to Bo as she'd hoped. She was not going to let Kenzi die for something that was really between her and Evony. The brunette looked up at her executioner,

"Go ahead, Evony. Pull the trigger and then spend the rest of your days locked in a cell trying to rationalize murdering two of the people who were always there for you."

Kenzi caught on to what Bo was trying to do, "Of course, while you're pulling the trigger on Bo, I'll be pushing your ass out on to that balcony. I hope pulling that trigger is worth the express flight… I mean… you haven't suddenly sprouted wings lately, have you?"

Bo smirked, "And, if you shoot my little sister first, you better believe I will be beating the shit out of you before I toss your sorry ass off the balcony."

Bo stood, making sure Evony would not be able to stand and put any distance between them. If she were able to move further away from them, she would be able to get two shots off before either of them could take her down.

Evony stood, moving the gun back and forth between the two as they sat looking at each other, trying to silently create a last ditch plan to survive. But before anyone could make another move, there was a knock on the door. For just an instant, Evony's gaze was drawn away and neither girl wasted a moment moving at the woman, hands reaching out for the gun. The door burst open just as the gun went off.

"Freeze!" The men called out before moving quickly towards the group of women on the floor.

Subduing a screaming Evony, the guard noticed the trail of the blood pouring onto the carpet. Cuffing the brunette, he called out to his partner,

"Preciso de uma ambulancia! Pressa!"

The American security detail turned to another officer, his eyes wide with panic, "What's he saying? What did he say!"

The Brazilian security guard replied, "He said he needs an ambulance. Someone must be hit. He said to hurry."

The men turned back to the scene, staring for a moment before one of the American security officers pulled out his cell phone,

"Yes, it's Jenkins… Yes, she got here before us… Shots fired… Ambo on route to the scene… I'm not sure… I don't know, but you better notify the emergency contacts… who?... shit… they okay?... good, good… okay… okay… right. Out."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tamsin stood with her arm draped over her teammate's shoulder.

"You're okay, Lewis… you're okay."

"Thank you for coming back when you did, Tamsin."

The pair watched as Kristy was loaded into an ambulance, two police officers joining the paramedics inside and two police cars following the medical vehicle as it departed the village housing where Team USA was staying.

Lauren's gaze moved around the crowd of stunned faces, many of them coming over to them to check on their well-being. They continued to be gracious, assuring everyone they were okay, but deep down inside, Lauren couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to ignore Bo's wish and get to her hotel room now.

"Tamsin, we need to go to Bo and Kenzi's hotel. Evony wasn't here and Kristy said…"

"Lauren, the police went there like ten minutes ago. They're not going to let us leave and you know it. We are here under the USOC's jurisdiction, so our personal needs come after their need to keep their athlete's safe. It's too dangerous for them to let us go there and you know it. You don't know where Evony is… besides, Kristy could have been lying just to draw you out for her wacked out bitch of a partner.

"I have a bad feeling, Tamsin. I can't explain it. I just have a bad feeling." Lauren looked down at her phone. She'd been trying to call both sisters for the past three or four minutes and there was no answer.

"It's called guilt, Lauren. You feel guilty for putting a meeting with Nadia before spending time with Bo tonight."

Lauren sighed, "Tamsin, guilt is brought on by a person knowing they were doing the wrong thing, but doing it anyway. My guilt is well earned! Fuck! I'll never forgive myself if anything happened to her and the last thing she felt was that she was less important to me than my ex! If I really loved Bo…if I really wanted her to know and believe in that love, would have pulled out my cell after dinner, called Nadia, told her we were through and that I was madly in love with Bo! Then I would have hung up the phone and deleted her contact information, never to speak to her again!"

"But you didn't and from your statement, that sounds like you're questioning whether or not you love Bo."

"No! That's not it! I'm questioning my actions and how they didn't match my words or my heart! I was an idiot!" Lauren said, flipping her hair out of her face.

"So… are you going to tell me what happened?" Tamsin asked, trying to keep Lauren distracted from what might be happening down by Copacabana beach.

"We walked, we talked, we came back here… and then… look… it doesn't matter anymore! We were both tired, we both have practices in the morning and she left. Before I had a chance to lock the door, Kristy walked in and just as she was waving the gun in my face, the police rushed the door. She turned towards them, they took her down, but she got one shot off that ricocheted off the brick fireplace and hit her in the chest. End of story."

It was not lost on Tamsin that the blonde was still shaking and pale. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage as she pulled her tighter to her side.

"You forgot the part where your Doctor Lewis persona kicked in and applied direct pressure to save the woman who fucking tried to kill you."

Lauren lowered her eyes and shook her head, "Well, Hippocratic Oath and all… it's just…"

"A reflex?" Tamsin asked.

"I guess." Lauren replied, silently, "I need to see Bo."

"Is that your guilt talking again?"

Lauren exploded, pulling away from Tamsin, her hands in fists on either side of her head, "Fine! We kissed! It was one kiss and the minute it happened, I knew it was wrong… it felt all wrong! I just felt… dirty."

"Dirty?"

"I don't know, Tamsin. It's just… the things she was suggesting, the way she was touching me before we kissed and… I don't know… there was something sexual in the kiss that wasn't the least bit sexy to me. I was trying desperately to figure out why it didn't feel like it used to when I suddenly realized it was because I don't want a sexy kiss!"

Lauren mind was replaying the events of the evening. Nadia pushing her back onto the couch and her allowing it… the way her hands traveled over her body before their lips met… the moment she felt the woman's hands begin to slide beneath the waistband of her sweats… the moment she pushed her off of her, sending her flying to the other end of the couch… desperately trying to wipe the kiss off of her lips as she realized it wasn't who she wanted… it wasn't Bo… it wasn't event close to Bo…

"Tamsin, I want a kiss that screams a deep, mature and passionate love that is honest, sincere and unconditional. I want true love… a love I can trust… a love that comes without expectations, love that takes me as I am, complete with my quirks, faults, crazy schedule, science obsessions, little OCD moments and excessive work ethic. I want a love that doesn't demand that I be something for someone else, but instead expects that I'll be me because it's exactly what I'm supposed to be."

Tamsin stood, silently thinking about every word that her partner had said, "If only that kind of love existed."

Lauren looked up at Tamsin, her eyes glassy, "It does. It's the love that Bo gives me. She gives me everything… she let's me be me… she reminds me of my strengths and allows my weaknesses. She gives me all she has to give, yet expects nothing in return and I've taken advantage of that. I have to be better… I'm determined to love her… to love her better."

Tears streamed down her face, as she continued, her eyes staring out into the darkness, somehow hoping Bo could hear her thoughts, "I just hope she can forgive me for everything that happened tonight… forgive me for allowing Nadia to get a little… handsy… and… the kiss."

Tamsin's anxiety shot through the roof, "Kiss? She kissed you? Did you kiss her back? How handsy? Shit, Lewis!"

"I know, I know! But, she barely touched my skin and she definitely didn't get any important skin, if you know what I mean."

"Lewis, you're an idiot."

"Will she forgive me, Tamsin?" Lauren asked.

Tamsin shook her head, about to speak when their attention was pulled to the voice of a young police officer,

"Miss Lewis? Miss Torrent?"

The pair turned towards the officer and answered in unison, "Yes?"

"If you'll come with me, please? There's been an incident at the Belmond Copacabana Palace. I believe you have friends there who were involved in the incident and listed the two of you as their emergency contacts."

The pair embraced in a tight hug, standing hip to hip. Lauren could not speak, paralyzed with fear, so Tamsin asked the question that was on both of their minds,

"Are they okay?"

"I only know that the other suspect in the attacks on your life gained access to their hotel room when they were present. She was armed as your assailant was. I'm sorry, but I don't have any other information. The car is waiting to take you to the hospital."

"Oh God! The hospital?"

"Please… if you'll come with me." The officer replied yet again.

Tamsin nudged her friend forward, finally getting Lauren's legs to move. The officer opened the rear door of the vehicle and allowed the duo to climb inside. Before the door closed, Misty called out to the pair,

"Lauren? Tamsin?"

Tamsin turned to their coach, "It's Bo and Kenzi… they're taking us to the hospital. Evony got to them. We don't know what happened."

"We'll meet you there." Misty said, nodding to the officer to close the door. She watched, helplessly as the car pulled away. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see her coaching partner had joined her.

"I'll drive."

"How much more can these two have to endure?"

"Whatever they must, Misty. They're fighters and, more importantly, they're survivors. Come on, let's go do what we can for them."

Making their way back to the Team USA vehicle, they both looked up to see Lachlan standing in the street, staring blankly at them.

Misty shook her head as Karch spoke, "Why are you still here, Lachlan? You do realize that you are partly to blame for two shootings tonight, right? Four American women placed in danger on foreign soil… danger that you helped to bring to this country. We all know it. Why don't you just man up and own your part in this shit storm?"

They watched, silently, as he nodded before walking about five yards to his right where a group of police officers were standing. They were stunned as they listened to him speak to the group that included members of the USOC,

"My name is David Lachlan. I am here to turn myself in for my part in the conspiracy that threatened the life of four American women. Olympians Lauren Lewis and Tamsin Torrent, and WSL Surfers Ysabeau and Kenzi Dennis. I wish to offer my testimony about my part in the threat as well as serve as a witness to the plans of my ex-wife Evony and her co-conspirator Kristy Engels."

The President of the USOC moved towards Lachlan and held out his hand. The former USA Team 2 coach unzipped his staff jacket and removed it, holding it out to the tall man who accepted it, and then nodded to the officers.

Misty and Karch watched, mouths agape as Lachlan was cuffed and put into the police vehicle, chancing a glance at the two before they closed the door.

Karch shook his head, "You know, I almost feel sorry for the guy."

"His wife was his worst enemy."

"Ex-wife. Well, at least he turned himself in and they were caught before any of the girls were killed." Karch replied.

"We don't know that yet." Misty said, her eyes showing the worry that had now returned.

"Shit. Let's get to the hospital." Karch said, opening the door to the vehicle.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	7. Chapter 7 Riding the Storm

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the warm welcome back. So… I hate to hold up the story, but some things must be said at this point...

First, I must again give a trigger warning for some of the content in this chapter and then a bit in the next. It's pretty dark. There's some graphic stuff coming. If you have any PTSD issues around war or violence, please skip where the trigger warning is marked and proceed to where it ends. It will be "recapped" in the next chapter in a less graphic form.

Second, sorry if I have grammar/spelling errors… I'm trying to push chapters out while I have some time and, while I won't rush the storyline, I may rush the proofreading because… well, come on… it's a tedious job! That's why pros have editors!

Third, most stories I read make Bo the "bad guy" or the "cheater"… I thought it was Lauren's turn for a change… it's my only explanation for why I'm doing what I'm doing with Lauren other than it seems we're all in agreement with regards to how she's behaving… that's all I'll say until you read on. As for Kenzi/Tamsin, still on the fence about that… it will go where it goes. Just as in real life, we all have to deal with couples that get together when we can't imagine it! It happens in fan fiction, books and movies all the time, so you'll have to go with it!

Fourth, I have paid homage to one of my guest comments from Chapter six… I found it to be a perfect comment that adds some much-needed comic relief at a tense moment, so I gave it to Kenzi as a line, revised a bit, but see if you can find it, guest reviewer!

Some final thoughts/answers to questions I never got a chance to answer during my long hiatus…

I am not a Volleyball player or Surfer, but I am a former athlete who knows a lot about various sports... I'm doing my best to get the feel and the "lingo" right. I'm not Hawaiian and it's a state I have yet to see (but a girl can dream). I am not an Olympian (and my medal ceremony in this story is probably not being held in the proper location or at the proper time frame. I am truly sorry to my international fans that were cheering for their own countries to make the finals against Team LT. Sadly, only one team can play them and I just had to go with Brazil since they are, after all, pulling off the big show in a month!). And yes, surfing IS actually scheduled to be an exhibition sport in 2020!

I do know a lot of medical stuff for my job, but not so much that all of this hospital stuff will be perfect… some is fact, some is fiction, but hopefully not too far fetched if any doctors or nurses are reading! I claim creative license!

Finally, something that is part of my job… the Violence Wheel and the Non-Violence Wheel that Bo will introduce Kenzi to in this chapter are very real tools that I often use to educate people. If you or someone you love is a victim of domestic violence or assault, I hope you will use these tools to help yourself or others. Please don't lose hope. You don't have to remain a victim of violence. Please reach out. You are not alone in this issue. Most countries have domestic hotline numbers. In the states, if you fear your Internet use is being monitored, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224. If you can safely access a computer, you can go to .org.

Best wishes, Cuddles

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 **Chapter 7: Riding the Storm**

Tamsin and Lauren were escorted into the emergency room waiting room where they found Kenzi sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, which were pulled against her chest.

Tamsin ran to her, "Kenzi, oh thank God you're okay!"

She wrapped her arms around the young girl, who unraveled herself and gripped the blonde in a desperate embrace,

"They won't tell me anything! There was so much blood! They won't talk to me! They won't tell me! I need… I need… Oh, God Tamsin… she can't… I can't… please… please… no… she's all I have left… she's… she's my everything… she's my mom, my dad… she's my sister… she's my best friend… oh please… she can't die… she can't!"

"Shhh… shah… it's okay…" Tamsin looked over her shoulder to see Lauren, face pale, frozen in the spot. She sat down on the bench next to the raven-haired girl and spoke, her eyes glued to Lauren's,

"Lauren is here, Kenzi. She's a doctor. They'll give her information since she's Bo's emergency contact. Just… don't go jumping to conclusions, okay? We don't know anything yet."

Kenzi heard the words, though Tamsin was speaking them for Lauren's benefit as well, trying to lure out the Doctor in her friend… the same doctor who had saved the brunette once before.

"Why don't you lay down here for a bit? You must be exhausted, Kenz. I'm going to go talk to Lauren for a minute. We'll see what we can find out, okay."

The younger girl did as she was asked, curling up on the bench, her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her own body. Tamsin took off her Team USA jacket and draped it over her friend, placing a light kiss on her temple. Brushing a stray hair from her face, she pushed back the tears so she could deal with a stunned Lauren.

She walked towards her partner who was standing rigid with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"Lauren? We need you to use your magic doctor powers to find out what you can about what happened to Bo."

"I… I… I… uh… right… of course…" Lauren replied, squeezing her eyes shut, before opening them and pulling the waistband of her jacket down. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets and turned half way towards the door, "I'll just… I'll be back."

She exited the room, Tamsin walking behind her part way to make sure she didn't pass out or stop somewhere else. Once she saw she was at the nurses' station, she stood and watched the interaction before she was buzzed back into the ER.

Standing alone in the doorway, Tamsin took a deep breath, "I wonder if life will ever get easier." She whispered to an empty corridor.

She caught sight of a beverage vending machine and decided some warm tea might be good for Kenzi. As she waited for the cup to fill, she noticed the arrival of her coaches.

"Hey." She nodded, taking the tea from the machine. She moved to the counter and added a pack of sugar, chuckling at the memory that the raven-haired girl usually poured half of the dispenser into her cup. It was odd since she didn't usually sweeten her coffee as much.

"Tamsin? Are you okay?" Misty asked, putting a tender hand on her shoulder.

"How can I be okay, Misty? Someone tried to shoot my partner tonight and almost succeeded despite an army of police and security tailing us around for weeks. Someone did shoot my friend and her little sister, who I happen to love, is laying in the lounge terrified that she is about to lose the only family she has left! I am far from okay, Misty! I mean… how much more do we have to take?"

"Nothing, Tamsin… you have nothing more to take. In truth, Karch and I would be fine if you and Lauren dropped out of the Gold Medal match, grabbed your silver, got on a plane and headed home to spend a week in lounge chairs at Bo and Kenzi's house. You deserve it and everyone knows you do… but you won't do that, Tamsin."

"We won't? Try me! Because right now, it's sounding like a very good plan!" The blonde spat back, her eyes now releasing the tears she'd been holding back as she turned and headed towards the lounge.

Just before the doorway, she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder. She turned to see Karch staring down at her. His kind eyes showing sympathy, yet his grip somehow channeling strength into her body,

"You won't quit, Tamsin… because even though things seem hopeless right at this moment, Bo is going to live. Once you talk to her, she isn't going to let you miss that match… she won't let you and Lauren give up on your dream… not when you're this close."

"What if she doesn't live? How will Kenzi…"

He shook his head, "If she doesn't live, you and Lauren will still play that game because it's what Bo would have wanted. Kenzi will sit in the stands because it's what Bo would have wanted. And no matter what medal you get, you will stand on the podium and Star Spangled Banner or not, when that flag is raised, the four of you will think of Bo and how she supported you through your dream. She'll be looking down on all of you, happy that you finished this journey together."

Misty added, "But, I think we're all on the Bo's gonna live and she's going to expect a gold medal in exchange for taking a bullet."

Their heads turned as they saw Lauren exit the ER and sit on the chair immediately outside. She looked stunned,

"Lauren?" Tamsin asked.

The blonde looked up at her teammate and coaches, "She's was taken directly to surgery. The ER staff isn't sure what's going on. One nurse believes that the bullet was lodged in her skull… I gave them her medical history… the past trauma to her brain… I don't… I don't know if…

Tamsin moved quickly to her side as the blonde continued, "Lauren, she's a fighter and you know it."

"Her brain has just finished healing, Tamsin. I don't know… I mean… if only I knew if it was a hollow point or soft ammunition… I mean… those do the most soft tissue damage… if it was small caliber… then, I mean… she may have a shot… a shot… ironic use of terminology when talking about a gunshot wound… she dove at her… Evony was holding a gun on her and she dove at her… they both did, but Bo got shot… she could have gotten shot anywhere, but it had to be her head… it's like the fates want her brain and they're not letting it go… why can't she get a break? Why?"

That was it… the blonde broke down, allowing the tears to fall as she leaned helplessly into Tamsin's embrace. The blonde looked up at her coaches,

"Can you give this to Kenzi please? Tell her that Lauren couldn't get any information because she was taken directly to surgery. Tell her that I'll be in soon."

Misty nodded, "I'll go… Karch can stay here until she calms down, then you can come in to sit with Kenzi."

Tamsin nodded, leaning her head against Lauren's. She knew there was nothing she could do until the doctors came out and reported on Bo's condition. Until then, this is the way they would all remain.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Dr. Lewis?" A gentle hand was placed on a sleeping Lauren's shoulder. She sat up from the chair, standing immediately to greet the doctor.

"Yes, yes… I'm so sorry. I'm Doctor Lewis… Lauren… Lauren Lewis."

"Good morning, Lauren. I'm Dr. Manuel Santiago. I believe you know my cousin, Hale."

"Yes, yes. I know him well."

Manuel smiled at Lauren, "Well, we couldn't figure out where all of the bleeding was coming from when suddenly, a nurse appeared and gave me the medical history you provided. Thank you, by the way."

"It helped?" Lauren asked, a bit surprised.

"Well, we couldn't find a bullet at the location of the bleed, but the blood kept coming. We packed the wound and scanned her skull. It turns out your patient had a small, benign blood clot outside of her skull. The bullet didn't actually enter the skull. Rather, it grazed the bone and opened up the clot. The blood quickly spread beneath the skin. Once we were sure the blood wasn't coming from a vessel, we allowed it to drain."

"That's it?"

"Essentially, your patient was grazed by the bullet at the site of the old blood clot. We supposed there was some residual bleeding that went undetected and formed in a pouch. The bullet simply finished cleaning up the old injury for us. I suspect that had the clot not been relieved, it eventually would have put pressure somewhere and she would have had symptoms, but… well… we'll take some more scans in a few hours to make sure it's all good. From there, it will be simple wound care… and maybe some fashion tips."

Lauren chuckled, "I take it you had to shave part of her head?"

Manuel sighed, "Sorry, there was no way around it."

Lauren nodded, "It's okay. Knowing the location of the clot, ponytails and creative hairstyles should take care of hiding the bald spot until it grows back. Thank you so much, Doctor. That is very good news."

He nodded, "Well, we can't have one of the most brilliant stars to ever grace a pipeline sidelined again now can we?"

"You know Bo?"

"Come on, Doctor Lewis! Who doesn't know Bo Dennis! She's the American darling of the surf world. Kind, generous, pleasant, polite and compassionate on land but she has a take-no-prisoners style on a board that is unmatched. Personally, she's my favorite, but don't tell my fellow citizens that! I'd be kicked out of Brazil for life!"

Lauren laughed, "Your secret is safe with me."

"I take it you don't follow surfing much?" Manuel asked.

Lauren shook her head, "I actually just started learning about the sport after meeting Bo."

"I know that… well… there are some people in both of our countries that do not look kindly on same sex relationships, but… well… I'm not one of them. I heard that you are possibly more than friends with our favorite surfer girl?"

Lauren nodded with a smile, "Guilty."

"No guilt needed, Lauren. I'm just surprised you didn't know of her popularity."

"To tell you the truth, I've been so preoccupied with playing that… well… I just… no, I wasn't aware."

"My wife ran into her a couple of weeks ago. She and her sister were shopping in town and were practically mugged by adoring fans who wanted them to sign anything they could find to have signed…" he laughed, "… store receipts, brand new jeans, shoulders, backs… chests." He chuckled.

"Chests?" Lauren's face flushed with jealousy.

"Well, women are aware that your… uh… friend… tends to lean towards dating those of the female persuasion and, well, frankly women don't seem to care that her sister appears to be straight. They hit on her anyway."

Lauren had an odd feeling of separation listening to Manuel talk about the Dennis sister's popularity. Maybe Kenzi was more right than she had given her credit for… she really didn't know much about Bo's career and standing here listening to this stranger go on and on about Bo's stats, wins, losses and greatest moments made her realize just how much she had failed to give to their relationship.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be back up in no time and giving you many more memorable rides to remember her by."

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I tend to go off when I talk about surfing. I had dreamed of being a professional surfer as a child, but I was never good enough. I now live vicariously through those who achieved my dream like Bo and her rivals."

Lauren nodded, "It's okay. So… what are you thinking about recovery?"

"No problem at all. It's essentially just a wound. Would you like to see the scans?"

Lauren nodded, "If you could let me give her sister a quick thumbs up and let her know she's in recovery, I'd love to see them."

"Of course, of course."

Lauren ran back to the lounge where Kenzi's eyes immediately locked with her own, "Superficial wound, nothing to worry about! I'm going to go look at the scans just to be sure, but it appears that the bullet grazed an old blood clot that had formed from her last injury… that's why you saw so much blood. It misled the surgeons, but they worked it out. She's in recovery – I'm just going to go check the scans. I'll let you know when you can go in to see her. All good?"

Kenzi was crying as Tamsin rocked her in her arms, both women grinning from ear to ear,

"Thanks so much, Lauren. Go find out what you can and let me know when I can see my big sister!"

Lauren nodded, "Why don't you two go get something to eat in the cafeteria? It will probably be another hour or so until you can go in."

"Will you go in with her? You're a doctor, so they'll let you, right? She hates hospitals and someone should be there when she wakes up… someone she knows. Will you go in?"

Lauren nodded, "I'll go in, Kenz. Go eat."

The pair nodded before her gaze moved to her coaches, "Thank you both for being here. Okay if we back up our practice a bit?"

The two stood, "How about a three o'clock light serve and hit practice just to keep you loose, then an early dinner and early bedtime?"

The players agreed and said their goodbyes before all went their separate ways.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren sat watching the monitor while her fingers ran back and forth over the back of Bo's hand. She looked back at the brunette's face, her fingers moving to her cheek, tracing along her jaw, her index finger loitering on the very spot where the adorable dimple would appear when she smiled her brilliant smile,

"I hate seeing you in this bed again. I absolutely hate it. I thought we were done with hospitals."

The silence filled the room with the exception of the sound of the heart monitor. If she were home in her own hospital, she would turn off the dammed sound, but here she was a guest so allowed it to continue. In an odd way, it was a relief to hear the annoying steady beep knowing that several hours ago, she feared she would never again bare witness to the sound of her lover's heart.

She laid her head on Bo's chest, cherishing the sound of the real thing, blocking out the sound of the machine. Her mind was in chaos, filled with worry over telling the woman she loved about what had transpired with Nadia, yet also filled with plans for how she would demonstrate her newfound conviction to love this woman everything she had to give.

She heard a soft moan and lifted her head to see eyes struggling to open. She laughed when she found her head being pulled back to her chest and her heart filled with love when she heard the simply whispered word,

"Stay."

A tear trailed down Lauren's cheek as she whispered her reply, "Always."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Twenty-four hours later, Bo was being wheeled out of the hospital, complaining about not being permitted to walk.

Dr. Santiago laughed, "It has been very nice meeting the Dennis sisters. You are quite a pair and I look forward to your return in a few weeks."

"Do you really think I'll be able to return?" Bo asked.

He added, "As soon as your headache goes away, you're clear to surf again. Just remember that you are required…"

"I know, I know… waterproof adhesive covering over the wound, bathing cap, helmet and post-surfing wound care, yadda, yadda, yadda. Lauren will take care of it all."

Manuel continued, "An infection…"

"Will put me out of the competition for months… an infection could become MRSA… got it… I promise, Doc." Bo waved her hand.

"Kenzi, you'll make sure…"

"I got it, Doc. I won't let her disobey doctor's orders. She lives under my thumb until those stitches come out."

"Take care, ladies!"

"You too, Doc!" Kenzi replied as Bo waved.

Bo looked up at her sister, "Food. I need real food."

"We're meeting Tamsin and Lauren for an early breakfast before their match. I can't believe they're playing for the old medal."

"I know… it's amazing. I just hope everything that's happened doesn't effect their play."

"I think the relief of not having to worry about bitch one and bitch two anymore has given them a little extra burst of energy. Oh, and I never told you… did you hear that Lachlan turned himself in? He's going to testify against them!"

"Ohmagosh! That's awesome!"

"Yup."

They were silent for a moment before Bo confessed, "I feel sorry for her, Kenzi. She lost her way. I wish I could pinpoint the moment that it happened. Maybe if I'd been less angsty and more…"

"None of this is on your, Bo. She's a grown-ass adult and responsible for her own actions, though a little mental health support would have been a great idea."

"Yea, there's just not enough of that in our world. A little counseling after she was put on probation by the WSL might have prevented her from being kicked out."

The pair nodded as they hopped into the waiting cab. Bo sighed, happy to be free from the constraints of another hospital bed. She was tired. Truth was, she had relived the moment Evony had pointed the gun at her head over and over again. The stone cold look in the big brown eyes, the blaring sound that caused her ears to ring and the burn of the bullet grazing her skin before pain forced her into unconsciousness.

Then there was Lauren. There was something about the way she'd been acting the past twenty-four hours. They had kept the talk to superficial topics, with Lauren asking her a lot of questions about her surfing career. The blonde had taken a sudden interest in the way they scored the WSL championship. While she was happy Lauren was finally taking an interest, it seemed to be a cover for the conversation the blonde really wanted to have. Bo decided she would wait until their final match was over… maybe later tonight Lauren would finally tell her what was on her mind.

The car turned into the parking lot of a local restaurant that Kenzi had learned made a great American style breakfast. Bo was craving eggs… she didn't care how they were made but an omelet loaded with veggies and topped with cheese would be a great start right now.

They were seated in the restaurant and looking at the menu when Bo excused herself to go to the bathroom. Kenzi was staring out the window when she noticed a pair of women enter the restaurant. She realized instantly that one of the women was none other than Nadia.

"Shit." She whispered, hiding her face just in case the woman had any clue as to who she was. As far as she knew at this point, Lauren hadn't talked to her about Bo but she wasn't sure. For her part, Kenzi was much more worried about how her sister would react if she saw Nadia.

Luckily, when the pair sat down, the curly haired woman sat with her back to them. Good. That meant that she and Bo would be sitting back to back. Now, she just had to make sure that when Tamsin and Lauren came in, that Bo's girlfriend would sit next to her so her back was also to Nadia. Of course, maybe they should just leave now. She still had enough time to divert the pair to another restaurant. She could tell Bo she saw a roach on the floor… or a mouse… or a spider…

"You ready to order?" Bo asked as she sat down.

"We have to wait."

"For what?" Bo asked.

She smiled as she saw the two blondes press their faces to the glass next to their table, "Surprise!" Kenzi yelled as she pointed at the window.

Bo laughed at the two before she leaned over and planted a kiss in the very spot where Lauren's lips were loitering, waiting for her. In a bold move, Kenzi did the same to Tamsin, causing the blonde's eyes to go wide as Kenzi giggled. The pair ran into the restaurant and sat down beside the two women.

The waitress arrived at their table and took the drink orders as things settled down between the four women. Tamsin smiled brightly at Kenzi, before leaning over and whispering in her ear,

"Does that count as our first kiss?"

Kenzi whispered back, "Oh, darling, if we ever have a first kiss, you won't have to ask."

Tamsin blushed and opened her menu before she looked up towards Bo and Lauren, her eyes inadvertently catching sight of the back of Nadia's head between her two friend's faces. She swallowed hard before looking down at Kenzi's hand which had gripped her own. Following the young woman's arm up to her eyes, she saw her head shake, signaling not to mention the presence of Lauren's ex.

Tamsin gave a quick nod before smiling and turning back to the couple across from her. She sure as hell hoped this didn't backfire on them. She knew Nadia would probably give anything to get into Lauren's head before the gold medal match. The brunette would love to see them get silver for two reasons… one, because they got beat and two because Lauren had turned her down. Shit.

The waitress arrived with their drinks and, after setting them all down, pulled her order pad from her apron and her pencil from behind her ear,

"So, what can I get for Team USA this morning?" she smiled brightly, "I'm from Florida, originally. I met my husband Pedro there and we eventually moved here after we were married since I don't have much family in the States. I'm still red, white and blue proud though. What sport?"

Tamsin smiled, "Beach Volleyball. We're in the finals this afternoon."

"Oh my! Going for a gold medal! That's fantastic! My husband will be furious!" She smiled, "We have a healthy medal competition that takes place in our household every summer Olympics and every World Cup Soccer tournament. Of course, he calls it Football, but we all know what the real game of Football looks like, right girls? Go Tampa Bay!"

The four women all laughed at the waitress' enthusiasm before the all began to give her their orders. Once finished, she smiled,

"I'll bring a couple pitchers of water over here. I'm sure you girls will be finished with those glasses faster than green grass through a goose!" And just like that, she was gone, leaving all four women staring at each other.

"Faster than green grass through a goose?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren laughed, "Green grass will send most animals into intestinal distress very quickly."

Kenzi pretended to vomit, "Eeww, I'm gonna hurl! She doesn't have to discuss the bowel habits of geese while I'm about to have my breakfast! Who says something like that?"

Bo, Tamsin and Lauren all laughed before answering in unison, "Southerners."

"I thought they just said things like ya'll, all ya'll and down yonder! My goodness it's like I just learned that a whole 'nother country lives in my country!"

Bo laughed, "Kenzi, we've spent enough time in southern coastal towns to hear plenty of southern expressions."

"Faster than green grass through a goose?

Bo shrugged, "Okay, well that one is a bit new, but…"

The interruption was unexpected, to say the least, but all four eyes traveled up to the tanned woman with long curly hair standing next to her equally tanned teammate with long blonde hair,

"Hi Lauren." Nadia smirked before turning to Bo, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Nadia, Lauren's girl… I mean… ex… girlfriend."

She extended a hand to Bo as the other three women watched nervously. Bo stood before accepting her hand, shaking it firmly,

"Hi. I'm Bo. Bo Dennis. Lauren's current girlfriend."

Nadia smirked, "Yea, good luck with that. She's real young in relationships, you know. It's only ever been me."

"Until now." Bo smiled, releasing the woman's hand and turning to Nadia's partner, "Hi, I'm Bo. This is my sister Kenzi. You guys had a great game the other day. I hope you pull off the bronze. You deserve a spot on that podium, for sure."

"Casey." She nodded towards Kenzi, "Thanks, Bo. We'll be doing our best. It would have been nice to be in the finals, but a medal was the goal, so we'll be going for it. Uh… aren't you two those surfers we've been hearing about around the village?"

Lauren watched as Bo became very uncomfortable. She turned to Casey, "You've heard of them?"

"Well, I'm not a surfer. I've never followed the sport, but it's huge here. I plan to get out on a board as soon as we're finished playing. It looks like so much fun. I was amazed to see kids in diapers sitting on the front of boards on the beach."

Kenzi smiled, "Yup. That was Bo and me with our parents growing up. I promise that if you get on a board, you'll never want to get off."

Casey smiled, "Well, I don't know if that's true, but I think I'll definitely enjoy it. I love anything that gets the adrenaline pumping."

"So does Lauren, don't you, Lauren? Like anything that gets the old heart racing, right?" Nadia pushed, causing Lauren to hang her head in embarrassment.

Tamsin stood up, "What's your game here, Nadia? You trying to get into my partner's head again? You lost, Nadia. We won and we're going for the gold medal. If you ever really loved Lauren, you wouldn't fuck with her right now. You'd be behind her all the way and hoping for her to bring home gold, not be a petty, selfish bitch who just wants to fuck with her dreams."

Nadia stepped up to Tamsin. The two were so close they were sharing the same breath,

"I'm fucking with her head?"

Tamsin gripped the woman's arm. Leaning in, she whispered in her ear, "I know what you're doing. Lauren told me what you did last night. I've seen you in action before, remember? You say things… mean things to make her lose her confidence… things that make her believe that you're the only one who will ever really want her… the only one who truly finds her beautiful… and then you start with the light touches here and there… and then a kiss on the cheek… then you start telling her how much she can trust you… how you were wrong… how you want her back… how you're her destiny and that she'll never find a love like yours again. I've seen it all before… same Nadia… same routine."

The two stared each other down as Tamsin continued, "Well, if you really do love her, you won't start any shit right now. You'll let her eat breakfast, go through her mental routine and play her match at her best. She deserves that after all she's been through… and you, better than anyone, know what I mean by that."

Nadia replied, "Okay, so… I do love Lauren and you're right. I'll back off and let her keep her head in the game… though I'm not really sure which game she's playing right now." She looked at Lauren, and then back at Tamsin, "You know this thing with Bo won't last. She'll come back to me. She always does."

Tamsin wanted to scream in the woman's face that Lauren would never come back to her, but she knew better than to push it with her. Right now, the woman would likely just walk away and let her be. Better no to say anything.

"So you'll be going then?"

Nadia pulled her mouth away from Tamsin's ear and took a step back, "Good luck, Lauren. I'll see you soon."

She turned to Bo, "Later surfer girl."

She brushed past her partner and headed out the door as Casey spoke, "Sorry about that. It's like they say, you don't always to get to pick your partner in the Olympics. Thank God you get to pick your partner in life."

Bo smirked, "They say that, do they?"

"Look, Nadia's a bitch from hell, but she can play Volleyball. I don't condone what she did with Lauren last night or just now, for that matter, but the girl can play."

Bo looked at Lauren, wondering exactly what Nadia had done with her last night while she was getting shot.

Tamsin interjected, "Just go, Casey. Go win your damn bronze medal with the girl who can really play… she's a fucking player and your comment is only meant to do what she just promised me she wouldn't. You're trying to figure out a way to break Lauren's mind so she can't play."

Casey smirked, but before she could utter another word, Bo turned towards her,

"You know, you really should just go." Bo said, moving into Casey's personal space, "Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work. Lauren and I talked about everything that happened with Nadia. You're not going to break her. She's worked too long and too hard to get where she's going today and no ex, ex's partner or even current girlfriend is going to do anything to hurt Team USA's chances for achieving a life long dream."

"Seems to me you're making to leave slower than a month of Sunday's, Team Canada. Why don't you shove off now and let me get to my customer's." The waitress' voice sounded with firm conviction from behind the standing women.

Casey stepped back, allowing the woman to begin laying the plates down. The waitress stood and turned towards the blonde,

"Jose? Can you step out here to clear an aisle for me?" She spoke softly to Casey, "That's code for take out the trash which is code for there's rude customer who needs to be escorted to the door."

She nodded towards the kitchen where a dark-skinned man who stood about six foot four was heading towards the waitress, his tattooed arms slick with sweat and rippling with muscle,

"Ma'am? Are you having trouble finding the door?"

Casey laughed and shook her head, "Nope. I think I can find it all by myself."

She looked over her shoulder at Lauren who caught her eyes and immediately lowered her head. Bo watched her girlfriend withdraw in a way she'd never seen before and it worried her. She placed a soft hand on the waitress' shoulder, thanking her for her help before quietly saying to Tamsin,

"I'm just going to run to the bathroom. I think I need a second."

"Bo…"

"It's okay, Tamsin. I'm not going to do anything that would jeopardize your chances for playing the best game you can." She looked over her shoulder, "I've never seen her like this."

"It's Lauren's story to tell, Bo. But I will say that this is who Lauren becomes when Nadia is in her life. I'll get her back together before the match. You may not have realized it yet, but when Lauren's on the court, she's a whole different person."

Bo watched as Tamsin sat down, her eyes drifting to where Lauren was still sitting, head down, hands in her lap, and not touching her food. She leaned over,

"Breathe… eat… relax."

Lauren looked up at Bo, tears in her eyes. She blinked, allowing one to fall from her left eye, and then one to trail slowly behind from her right. Bo wiped them both away,

"I'm going to the bathroom. You're going to put whatever happened last night and just now behind you. We will deal with all of it later. Right now, you need to fuel up and I need to pee."

She smiled, kissing the top of the blonde's head. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be kissing her lips for quite some time.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo used the bathroom and then stepped out the side door of the restaurant. Pulling out her cell phone, she searched her contacts. Finding the one she wanted, she hit send,

"Hey."

 _Bo! How ya doin', girl? My flight landed about two hours ago! I can't wait to see this game!  
_

"Yea, well, I think you better run into our favorite team much sooner than later."

" _What? Why?"_

"You know about Nadia, don't you?"

Silence.

"Hale?"

" _Yes, Bo. I am well versed in the tragic history of Lauren's life with Nadia. Why are you bringing her up?"_

"She's on Team Canada."

" _Yea, but we knew that. We talked about it. She was all good with it."_

"Well, someone failed to mention all of that to me. Apparently she had several meals with her while we were… well, she was pissed at me or… now that I think about it, maybe just avoiding me. Anyway… something happened between them last night and then… well, we're out to breakfast right now and Nadia was here with her total bitch of a partner…"

" _Casey."_

"Right, like I said, total bitch of a partner… they started some shit and said a bunch of stuff that to me is very cryptic, but I'm sure Lauren got the hint. Anyway, I excused myself to the bathroom so I could call you because right now, Lauren looks like she just lost the sixteen year old puppy she's had since she was in diapers."

" _Shit."_

"Hale, they're gonna lose this match if you can't get her head back in the game. Any medal sitting at her house, any mention of the Olympics will go down in her personal history as a constant reminder of how Nadia got to her on the most important day of her life."

" _I'm not going to let that happen, Bo. I can't let that happen. Look… this is Lauren's story to tell…"_

"I swear, Hale, if one more person keeps me in the dark by telling me it's Lauren's story to tell me, I'm going to scream."

" _Bo, I'm a licensed Psychiatrist! I cannot disclose confidential patient information without written consent and you know it!"_

"Fine! I know! Look, can you just give me a hint here… I mean… I think I know a little something about what I'm seeing right now. Can you just clear your throat if Lauren was in an abusive relationship with this Nadia chick?"

There was silence, before Hale cleared his throat.

"Thanks, Hale. Look, we're at an American diner, two streets over from the main street in the Olympic Village. It is literally a total hole in the wall called _Darla's Diner_ and… holy shit! I just realized that the owner of the restaurant is our waitress! Anyway, she's from Florida, married to a man here. She's eccentric and just chatty enough that I think I can keep the girls here talking to her long enough to give you time to get here. We'll beat it out of here and leave you with Lauren."

" _And Tamsin."_

"Tamsin?"

" _Tamsin knows everything about Nadia. She's been involved in all of our sessions from the time Nadia left. It was Tamsin who helped get Lauren to open up to me and disclose… uh…" Hale cleared his throat._

"Throat clearing… got it. Okay, I'll drag Kenzi away when you show up. How long do I have to stall?"

" _I need about thirty minutes… forty five tops."_

"Okay then… third booth on the left by the window when you walk in the door."

" _See you soon, Bo. Thanks for the heads up."_

"Lauren's gonna kill me."

" _I doubt that. When you say that this match is the most important day of her life, you're wrong. The most important day of her life was the day she met you."_

Bo stood still, the phone against her ear as it went silent. She was frozen to the spot. Lauren was in an abusive relationship. She was abused. She's withdrawn, she's shy, she's afraid of… well… a lot of things, she was very slow to having their first sexual encounter, she was meeting with a woman who she claimed to hate… who claimed to have hurt her… who she sought closure with. Watching her curl up and die before her very eyes while she sat in that booth was heart wrenching. What did Nadia do to her?

She took a deep breath, replaying the last twenty-four hours… she woke from surgery with Lauren's head on her chest. The blonde immediately went to pull away like Bo wouldn't want her there. Why would she think I wouldn't want her there… because she did something that would push me away? Of course, as a doctor it could have been as simple as she didn't want to put pressure on my chest. Lauren had engaged in small talk, ever the mindful doctor only leaving when she and Tamsin had practice followed by a strategy meeting and a good night's sleep.

Bo had learned from Kenzi that when they'd gotten back to the village, their belongings had all been moved to another room… a very nice hotel room, actually. Apparently, their room was now a crime scene. Misty and Karch had told Kenzi that they feared the blood would be too much for the girls to handle, so they had them moved and Brazil was paying the bill. They felt horrible that they'd allowed both Kristy and Evony to slip by security with their little scam, phoning in tips on each other at perfectly timed intervals while they waited in empty rooms nearby that they'd gained access to, thanks to Lachlan.

Tamsin seemed to have recovered with a sense of relief, but Lauren seemed more traumatized than ever. She couldn't really talk about what had happened with Kristy. Bo had been there when the detectives had come by her hospital room to get all of their statements. Lauren's memory of what happened was sketchy at best. She knew that Nadia had left the room just before and at the mention of her departure, she had watched Lauren twitch uncomfortably at the mention of her name.

Bo sighed. This was all too much to handle and she was starting to get a headache again. Of all the places to get shot, she had to take another one to the head. She guessed it was a blessing of sorts since apparently the clot could have caused other problems had it moved. She knew that she had to have yearly brain scans for the rest of her life because of the likelihood of issues from her drowning, but she never could have imagined one because of a gunshot wound from someone she'd known for more than a decade.

She pulled out her phone and decided that rather than try to signal to Kenzi and Tamsin, she'd message them and explain. She messaged Kenzi first, thinking it would look too suspicious if both of their phones went off at the same time.

Bo: Kenz… if anyone asks, this text is from Vex asking you if I would want slate or granite flooring for the store because I didn't answer his text… he texted me last night and I did reply… I picked slate, by the way. I wanted you to know that Hale is on his way here. He's going to meet with Tamsin and Lauren for a session before they have to leave for the courts. I'll explain later, but when I tell you I want to stop by the clinic, so we're going to go… go with it, okay?"

Bo: Tamsin… Hale is on his way to the diner. He wants you to stay while he talks to Lauren. Clearly you know more about what's going on with Lauren and Nadia, but I know the body language of a woman who has abused when I see it… I'm just sorry I didn't see it sooner. Kenzi can tell you the tale later of how we can recognize it. We're going to leave when he gets here. I want to go see Nick anyway, so it's a good excuse to leave you guys alone. She needs you and Hale to help her ready herself to play. Whatever happened, it's clear that I am not the one to help with this.

Kenzi: WTF! What the hell is going' down, BoBo? Lauren looks like a shriveled up prune sitting in her seat. She looks like Aunt Madison did that night that she showed up on our doorstep with all of her clothes in a trash bag.

Bo: I know, Kenz. That's why Hale's coming. I called him. I've gotta get to the table now. I've been gone too long. I just stepped out to call him and to get some air.

Kenz: Cool. Your breakfast is getting cold.

Tamsin: Thanks, Bo. I was actually trying to figure out how to get a message to him. I may have to break a promise to Lewis and chat with you about history even though we both promised each other to never speak of our pasts.

Bo: It would be a relief to know something. The dark is a shitty place to live.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The four women had just finished eating when Darla arrived at their table,

"All finished, ladies?" She looked at the plates, "Did my food offend your taste buds?"

Lauren looked up to see the waitress looking down at her, hands on her hips, "No ma'am. I'm just not that hungry."

"Nonsense, child. You're about to play for the gold! Think of the workers in those mines trying to find the perfect piece to forge that medal you've likely worked most of your life for and you'll find a way to push that food down. It's gonna be a hot one out there today. You need your fuel! Jose!" She called.

Jose hustled out of the kitchen, "Go and heat this up for the blonde shy one here. The girl is so skinny, if she stood sideways and stuck out her tongue, I'd think she was a zipper!"

Tamsin spit her water out across the table at Bo who was mid-swallow of her own while Kenzi just burst out laughing. Lauren's eyes went wide before her face melted into a small frown. She looked up at the woman,

"Good one, actually… and believe me, I've heard all of the skinny jokes… and the toothpick leg jokes and the scrawny bum jokes and the scrawny boob jokes… for most of my youth, teen and adult years. It just never gets old, so it's nice to hear something new."

"Aw, go on sugar. I don't mean no offense. I just wanna fatten you up a bit so you bring us that gold! I'm down in the medal count after my husband's soccer team and that damn lady pole-vaulter both took gold! Their indoor Volleyball teams are favored to win both men's and women's. That crazy husband of mine spent $400 each for two tickets for my girls because they were just dying to go."

"I guess you'll be keeping your diner open 24 hours for the next few months, eh?" Bo asked with a smirk.

"Now what makes you think this is my diner, darlin'?"

"Well, your name tag says Darla and this is Darla's diner. I'm thinking there's not many Brazilian's that would go by that name… it's not very Portuguese." Bo laughed.

"True, true. You're sharp like a tack, little girl. So glad you're not as dumb as my youngest. If that boy had an idea, it would die of loneliness."

Jose arrived holding Lauren's plate with a towel. Handing it to Darla who took it with a bare hand,

"Now, careful with that plate scrawny boobs, it's hot."

Kenzi burst out laughing, "Oh. My. God. I love you! Will you adopt me?"

"And take you away from this one? Don't you see the way she looks at you, darlin'? You dill her pickle, little lady. It wouldn't be right for me to take her from you."

Tamsin blushed under the scrutiny of the southern woman who slapped her with her towel, then threw it back over her shoulder,

"Oh, don't worry blondie. I'm not one of those crazy southern Christians who think you lesbo's are the spawn of satan. I think all of the young 'uns these days are right screamin' love is love. Amen! Jesus Christ was all about love… I say spread it around as long as it's the real thing."

She turned to Lauren, "Now, that woman that left here takin' after you, scrawny? She's slicker'n owl shit. Don't you go trustin' her. She was over there schemin' and plannin' with her girly pal. You just stick to this girl here."

She nodded towards Bo, "Her heart's a thumpin' gizzard every time she looks at you. Whooeee. She sure had a burr in her saddle when that woman started in on you."

The girls were only catching half of what Darla was saying, but it sure was entertaining.

"Well, if you won't adopt me, will you at least pull up a chair and talk to us for a little while? We've still got some time to kill before my sister has to go meet her physical therapist and these gals have to do whatever you do before you're about to win a gold medal."

"Sure thing, honey. We'll all sit and talk while we watch blondie go from scrawny to mighty on my four egg omelet!"

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Four eggs?"

"Aww, I know you only ordered two, but you're playing a huge match. You needed the extra protein! I stuck some spinach in there too. You'll barely even taste it. I ground it up and mixed it in with the peppers."

Lauren's face twisted, causing everyone to laugh, "Oh, come on, Lewis. You started chowing on that thing as soon as she put it down. You don't even taste it. I'm glad we finally found a way to make Popeye eat her spinach." Tamsin quipped.

"Lord only knows how that little girl grew those big biceps without spinach." Darla shook her head as she mumbled, "… so skinny you can't even see her shadow, that one."

Bo and Tamsin laughed while Kenzi patted Lauren's hand giving her a sympathetic frown.

"Drink your milk too, darlin'. Keep those bones strong so they don't snap like twigs!"

Lauren put her knife and fork on the plate. Wiping her mouth she looked at her friends, "I am just now becoming incredibly curious as to how I ever made it this far without Darla's nutrition advice and four egg omelets!"

Kenzi laughed, "Well, if you win the gold, you'll have to come back here and show it to Darla so she can post her picture on her social media page."

"Social what?" Darla asked.

"Oh. My. Gosh. You don't have a Facebook page?"

Darla shook her head, "We do okay, darlin', but I'm not one of those people who buys a new boat because my other one got wet."

"I'm totally starting a Facebook page for you right now! You'll have customers rolling in the door!"

Bo looked at Darla, "Our parents died when we were young and I had to take Kenzi out of college. She was going to get a degrees in Computer Science and Marketing, so it's sort of her thing."

Darla began, "But I don't know how to…"

Lauren pulled a phone out of her bag and handed it to Darla, "Here you go. I'm sure Kenzi will stop back once she has everything set up for you and show you how to use this."

"I can't take that! I know those devices are expensive." Darla said, waving Lauren's gift away as the blonde tried to explain,

"Actually, it was free. I was just keeping it as a back up if I lost mine. Team USA gets a lot of gifts from people who are willing to put their names on our uniforms. Unfortunately, gifts don't always pay our bills. Trust me when I say this phone will get shoved in a drawer when I get home and sit there for a very long time."

Lauren gave the woman a kind smile as she accepted the gift. The truth was, after the interaction with Nadia and Casey, Lauren wasn't sure she would ever be able to get out of the booth she was sitting in. She felt paralyzed and helpless. This woman's spunk and energy had given Lauren the shot in the arm she needed to recover from the incident… well… not recover, but at least sit a little taller.

"I'll help you out, Darla. I can stop by tonight after your dinner rush and show you what I've put together for you. Prepare to hire more staff, lady! Kenzi Marketing, Inc. is gonna have the line out your door, down the street and around the block! Believe me when I saw that my sister and I have sampled the finest cuisine in these parts have to offer, but we would come back here every day for breakfast! As a matter of fact, that's all I'll ask for in payment for my services. A free breakfast every time I'm here."

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded.

"No, no, darlin'! Your little sister is right." She leaned over and whispered to Bo, "I may not be as sharp as your Olympic friend there, but I know enough to know that if I hired someone to do what your sister's doing for me right now, I'd be paying more than my mortgage on this place."

"That is true, although Kenzi can eat a lot of eggs. And my sharp friend over here… she's a Doctor. That's why she's super smart… and she thinks too much."

"Well, I hope she can get out of her own way. Somethin' happened to that girl, I'm tellin' you. Somethin' ugly. Her secrets run deeper than the Bayou and darker than deep space."

Bo's face twisted into a frown. She knew that Darla was right, she just didn't understand how she could have been so close to Lauren all of these months and not seen it before. Maybe she'd been too close to see it. Of course, she was quickly learning that her girlfriend wore a coat of armor twenty inches thick and she didn't willingly drop any layers.

She paused for a moment to take inventory of her girlfriend's life… dead parents, raised by an Aunt who worked three jobs so she must have been alone a lot, she told me she was a geek and went to college at sixteen which means she was likely bullied… like… a lot, college she was a skinny, scrawny girl with little or no muscle at age sixteen… she just doesn't have the body type for it, she probably dove into her books and only met Tamsin because of volleyball, speaking of volleyball, it was probably her only social time… if you could call a team sport a social activity, meets Nadia only because the woman went after her on a dare, used for sex for three years… I mean… Lauren is great in bed so why would Nadia give that up?

She sighed, trying to figure out the Nadia part, and then it hit her… Nadia probably cheated on her for years... maybe waiting out the day she became the rich doctor, only that wasn't in the cards for quite some time because she decided to take the opportunity volleyball afforded her, Lauren finds out Nadia cheated… not to mention finds out about the bet… good for her for standing up for herself… probably the first time in her life she did that. What happened next? Oh yea, Afghanistan… can't imagine that brought happy times. Working in a MASH tent in a war zone… lots of death… eventually takes those skills to a stateside ER… sees more death… only meets me because I was dead… more death.

Bo remembered the night Lauren was so upset by the death of a young man… she remembered the connection she felt to the hospital because of Trick's family and how overcome with grief she had been that she hadn't been able to save the boy.

"I have to tell you, Darla… I don't know what you do to your eggs, but they are the fluffiest things ever!" Tamsin replied.

"Shhh… not too loud… I put a little big of pancake batter in them… the baking powder in the batter makes them fluffy and gives them a sturdier taste."

"You don't say?" Tamsin said, "I never would have thought to do that!"

"You didn't grow up in Florida, child."

"That's very true." Tamsin replied with a bright smile. She was still thankful to Darla for being so accepting of the idea of her and Kenzi… maybe she saw a connection between them… the same connection that Tamsin had felt, but obviously Kenzi hadn't… yet… well… if ever. She sighed as she turned towards Kenzi's voice,

"Okay. You're all set up! Now, I need more of those southern sayings… what was that one about owl shit?"

Lauren finished her plate just as Jose arrived at the table with a fresh pitcher of water. Filling all of the glasses again, he took Lauren's plate. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, her thoughts drifting back to her past life with Nadia… how it had all started in a whirlwind, crazy wild sex and blind devotion until Lauren had begun her sessions with Dr. Andrea Menninger of the Stanford Clinic.

Psych evals were mandatory for all prospective physicians to the military as was emergency training in preparation for her being stationed somewhere in or near Iraq. She learned very quickly that everything she'd learned in medical school about emergency medicine would be useless in a warzone. Sterile fields were things that dreams were made of in the deserts of war. Bacteria was what her world was made of and the soldiers would either survive or not based on the health of their lymphatic system. Instead of antibiotics, she would go into the mess tent and adjust the daily rations to create a diet for a healthy immune system.

Dr. Menninger had pulled at Lauren's psyche until she finally spilled all about her home life… her parents, her aunt, her teens, twenties and everything in between including and ending with Nadia and what had happened each and every night they were together after the first six months. It started so slowly that Lauren didn't even realize that her life had become like quicksand. Nadia did her a favor by getting caught cheating.

Her public display hadn't been some stroke of bravery as Tamsin had thought. Instead, it was a public display that would satisfy the masses and remove any expectations that Lauren would stay… she had public support and it seemed to work… for a while. Tamsin didn't need to know what had happened since. She was proud of Lauren and Lauren needed that from her partner. If Tamsin believed she was strong, she could be strong… at least on the court and at her job.

Lauren turned and looked out the window… Iraq, which became Afghanistan, which became a MASH tent near the front lines… at least that's what they'd been told. It turned out there was no line. The war was everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

A frenzied relationship with a soldier who had been worried about the brilliant brainchild of the US government to deal with gays in the military, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', had pushed them into secret rendezvous in areas away from the safety of the military forces. The nightmares that Bo thought were all about her surfing accident were much more than that… there were plenty of ghosts in Lauren's darkness… and now… they were all here to haunt her.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So, are you gonna tell me what's going on? We've been walking for six blocks and you haven't said a word about anything other than your need for ibuprofen and that was three blocks back."

"Dr. Mansfield."

"What about him?"

"He'll have ibuprofen."

"And he'll want to give you a physical."

"I don't care!"

"Okay, geez! What the hell crawled into your panties and pinched your clit?"

Bo stopped, sighing and dropping her hands to her hips, "I think Lauren was in an abusive relationship with Nadia."

Kenzi sighed, placing her hands on her hips, mirroring her sister, "Like Aunt Madison?"

"Yes, only Lauren lived to tell about it. Aunt Madison… God knows Mom tried to get her out of there."

"Mom did get her out of there, BoBo! She went back, like an idiot!"

"Hey! You don't get to pick on the victim of domestic violence! Kenzi, we had a great life with great parents, no matter how short-lived that was. We had a perfect example of what true love was."

Kenzi's eyes teared up, "I miss them every day."

Bo stopped, two steps ahead of her sister, not realizing she had stopped. She turned and went back to her, pulling her into a hug,

"Hey… hey… I'm sorry I snapped. I'm just… it's just… the Lauren stuff… I don't know what to do, Kenz. I mean… I think I'm starting to realize that the woman I love may be pretty screwed up in the head. I'm just not sure how to handle this… I'm not sure I can handle this."

Kenzi looked up at her sister, "Are you gonna leave her?"

Bo shook her head, "I don't know, Kenz. After this match, maybe later tonight… we'll talk and we'll see where things stand. She's hiding something… I think she's actually hiding a lot of somethings now that I've put all of our conversations together. I think I was just so busy with my recovery and trying to decide about whether I was ever getting back on a surfboard that I just wasn't really paying attention. I feel a little bad that I thought I was really paying attention to her, but I wasn't paying attention the way I should have… not in a way that our relationship would be healthy… for both of us."

Kenzi was quiet as she kept her head on her sister's shoulder, wiping her tears from her cheeks.

"You okay?" Bo asked, leading them to a bench beach side of the street. She flipped the backrest over so they could sit facing the ocean and guided her sister down. Draping her arm over the back of the bench, Bo spoke again, "What's going on Mini-Me?"

"Do you remember when Mom and Dad would dance in the living room?"

Bo laughed, "We would pull the coffee table out of the middle of the room…"

"… and the leg would fall off…"

Bo laughed again. She nodded, "… but we would just put it right back on and then move the two beach chairs that Dad called…"

"A poor man's recliners!"

"Right! Then we'd move the sofa back and Mom would put on Motown."

Kenzi sat up and broke out in song, "I know you wanna leave me… but I refuse to let you go…"

Bo replied, "If I have to beg and plead for your sympathy, I don't mind cause you mean that much to me…"

They both stood up and joined hands, pushing and pulling apart from each other as Bo led and Kenzi twirled under her arm, spinning around as their Mom and Dad had taught them,

"Ain't too proud to beg… sweet darlin'… please don't leave me girl… ain't too proud to plead, baby, baby… please don't leave me girl… don't you go…"

They laughed and laughed before they collapsed together back onto the bench,

"That was the best, Bo. They were so in love and it was real, ya know?"

"I know, Kenzi. It really was the real deal. It's too bad Aunt Madison didn't hold out for a good man like that."

"Yea, old Chuck was a conniving, manipulative asshat. I never did trust him."

"Well, he's serving two life sentences now, so he's something we won't have to worry about ever again."

"I really wish we knew what happened to Kennedy." Kenzi said, picking at a stray piece of thread on Bo's cut off jean shorts.

Bo nodded, "Every time I think about her, it's seems like another lifetime. I mean, we were thick as thieves growing up. Aunt Mad was always at the house and she always brought Kennedy out surfing with us."

"We were three peas in a pod… she was hardly a cousin to us." Kenzi replied.

"Yea, she was definitely more like a sister than a cousin."

Kenzi sighed, "And Aunt Mad was like a second Mom until… well… until she wasn't anymore."

"When was the last time you remember seeing her? I mean… other than at Mom's funeral." Bo asked, curious as to what Kenzi remembered. She was pretty young when things started to go south for their Aunt.

"Just that day she showed up at the door and Mom got her into that shelter. Before that, I just have these vague memories of baking cookies on the rocks at Mavericks."

"They were never fully cooked." Bo laughed.

"Yea, but they were sooooo good."

"She was convinced that the rocks would be hot enough to cook them if we just left them out there long enough." Bo reminisced.

Kenzi laughed, "Yea, but we could never resist them long enough to let her prove her theory. I'm surprised we're not all dead from salmonella."

Bo sighed, "We'll always miss them because… well, this sounds so corny, but they really enriched our lives."

"I won't tell anyone you actually used the word enriched. You should like Doctor Lauren." Kenzi mumbled.

"Shit. What am I gonna do, Kenzi?"

Kenzi sat up, "Well, we're the Dennis sisters and we're gonna do what we always do. We're gonna laugh, we're gonna surf like our boards are on fire, we're gonna follow through on our dreams, we're going to be good to the people in our lives even when Vex annoys the shit out of us and Dyson hits on you repeatedly. Now, none of that can happen if we just sit here and pout about our long lost parents."

Bo stood up, "You're right. Mom would be pulling us up off the benches right now and saying some meaningful quote by some meaningful author."

The pair stood in silence, staring at each other before Kenzi finally spoke first,

"I got nothin'."

"Me either."

"Okay, first stop, Dr. Mansfield. Then… are we really going to see Nick?" Kenzi pulled out her phone and checked the time, "The game starts in three hours."

"Mansfield first, then we'll see if we have time for Nick. He may not let me do anything since I was just discharged from the hospital."

"Good point." Kenzi said, her finger pointing skyward, "Let's go."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

As luck would have it, Nick had been asked to work in the med tent today, so when Bo and Kenzi arrived, they were able to talk to Dr. Mansfield and the physical therapist at the same time. Bo was informed that she wouldn't be working out for the rest of the week, but Dr. Mansfield helped her out by setting her up with an American neurologist that she could follow up with if she chose to stay in Brazil another week. If she gave her the all clear, Bo would be back in the wave pool next week. Regardless, she would continue with her workouts at the clinic but she would be undergoing continuous blood pressure monitoring to make sure there was no pressure on the skull.

As for staying the week, earlier in the morning, Bo had talked more than floors with Vex, finding out that there was a last minute plumbing issue that would delay completion an extra seven to ten days. While she was confused about how there could possibly be a new plumbing issue when all of the subfloors had been laid a week earlier, she didn't have time to ask as they had to meet the girls for breakfast.

After Kenzi found out about it all, she'd decided a week of training in Brazil was probably a great opportunity for both of them. She would get time in the wave pools and Bo could continue working with Nick. There was no denying the progress she was making and Kenzi insisted this was her sister's time… they had to go all in and make a final push for the championship. Lauren and Tamsin's dreams would be over – win or lose – by three or four o'clock. The Dennis sisters, regardless of relationship status, were going to live their dreams now.

Kenzi had to qualify for next year's WSL roster and championship, not to mention beginning to get her name out there for the Olympic exhibition. Bo's priority was placing in the championships… no longer just for tuition money for Kenzi, but now to have a name big enough to draw people to her company… and… after they'd all talked with Nick… their new school.

While they had some down time, the four put their heads together, adding Dr. Mansfield and Nick's respective business partners to the discussion via two cellphone conference calls. It was a miracle they'd been by chance able to get all of them together, but one thing that left Bo truly excited was the positive energy that seemed to permeate every fiber of her being throughout the conversation. Somehow, in the midst of twenty-four hours of darkness, there was finally light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time since the death of her Dad, Bo felt hope for the future of the Dennis sisters.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The stands were packed and that was saying something, since Kenzi and Bo thought that the pair had been playing in front of a packed stadium for weeks now. As they looked around, they noticed that six extra sets of bleachers had been crammed in courtside, which meant that all of them had to be pulled back a bit. When the pair had arrived with their VIP badges given to them by Dr. Mansfield from Tamsin, the two were escorted to a row of directors chairs that were lined up behind a long rope about five yards from the sideline opposite the official's stand.

"BoBo, these seats are amazeballs! We'll be able to see every fleck of sand on their bodies!"

Bo smiled, watching the two players from Team Brazil warm up, "Mmmm, I see… so you are noticing Tamsin's body."

"What? I mean… no! I mean… I mean, come on, they're wearing friggin' bikinis! It's not like you can avoid seeing skin!"

Bo laughed, "I don't know, Kenz… all I see is green and yellow over there and red, white and blue over here."

"There's nothing over here because Team LT isn't out yet. I wonder where they are."

Bo scowled, "I hope it wasn't a mistake… calling Hale, I mean. Maybe Lauren could have worked through it on her own."

"Are you kidding me? I told you… she was totally pulling an Aunt Madison. She was not coming out of that one any time soon."

"Kenzi, do not bust on our dead Aunt."

"I'm sorry, BoBo. I just don't get it!"

Bo pulled open her phone. Kenzi watched, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to teach you what Mom taught me when I went with her to take Aunt Mad to the shelter."

"Bo?"

"Yea?" Bo replied, but her focus was really on what she was googling.

"Where was Kennedy when Aunt Mad showed up?" Kenzi asked.

"Mom said she was staying with her old college friend. I never found out who that was. When Aunt Mad went back to Chuck… well… you know… that night… Mom said that Kennedy hid in a closet when it happened. Chuck left the house and she tried to wake up Aunt Mad. She called the police and when they tried to take her away, she ran. A few days later, Mom told me she was back with their college friend. I don't know who she was, Kenzi. If I did, I would have gone and gotten Kennedy. She would have lived with us after Mom died. I couldn't find her. I did try. Honest."

Kenzi nodded as Bo turned towards her, "Here, it's hard to see the image on my phone, but you can enlarge it and look at each box. Mom explained to me that this is called The Violence Wheel. She made me memorize it and to always remember that if I'm in a relationship where someone is treating me like anything described in those boxes, to get our right away, before they get too attached. Do you see how Power and Control are at the center of the wheel?"

"Uh-huh." Kenzi replied.

"Well, that's because violence against women or violence in any relationship… rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment… it's not about sex, it's about someone wanting to gain power and control over someone else."

Kenzi sat up straight and looked at Bo, "Like Nadia has over Lauren! I mean, come on, Bo… you had to see it. Lauren was cowering like a puppy beaten by his master. She looked like she felt trapped and I'm sure the fact that she was sitting between an angry you and a wall didn't help."

"That's how I knew, Kenz… this is what Mom taught me and it stuck. I'm just sorry I didn't see it sooner. Mom never taught you this?"

Kenzi shook her head as she read, "When did she teach you?"

"I guess I was about sixteen."

Kenzi nodded, "I guess she figured she didn't have to worry about me. You were never more than three feet away when we were teenagers."

Bo smiled, knowing the truth in her sisters words as she watched her turn and manipulate the image, reading each box. Meanwhile, Bo looked left, right and all over the stadium, trying to find the two missing players. Finally, her eyes settled on Misty and Karch. She turned her palms up, asking Misty what was going on. Misty just gave her thumbs up before placing a fist over her heart and nodding her head.

Bo mumbled, "What the hell does that mean?"

Misty pointed down below them where Bo finally caught sight of Lauren and Tamsin sitting side-by-side, stretching. They stood and began setting a ball back and forth with light touches, going through their five yard skills warm up. Above them, Misty and Karch kept watch with Hale now moving in next to Karch. He leaned in and whispered something to the coach who nodded and shook Hale's hand. The psychiatrist looked across the sand and nodded to Bo before he, too, gave her thumbs up. She sighed with relief before she turned back to Kenzi,

"So if this is the ugly side of a relationship, how do you know what's good?"

Bo took her phone and pulled up another image, "You know what's good when you listen to our Momma and memorize the Equality Wheel." Bo handed the phone back to Kenzi, "You see how the center of that wheel is equality and around the outside rim, it says non-violence. Relationships based on equality aren't about power over or controlling someone else. Mom said relationships based on equality are like taking a walk holding someone's hand all day, every day."

Kenzi smiled, "Mmmm… that sounds like Mom and Dad. They went everywhere together. When they had to work, they shared all the jobs… they always shared us. Maybe it's just because I miss them so only remember the good stuff, but I don't remember them ever fighting… like ever."

"I remember some intense conversations, but never any actual arguments. They were masters of communication, acceptance and the live and let live philosophy."

Kenzi nodded, handing the phone back to Bo, "Sis?"

"Yea?"

"I think that wheel sounds like me and Tamsin."

Bo tried not to let the shock of her sister's comment show on her face. She wanted to be supportive, but she also didn't want to see Tamsin get hurt. They'd become friends and she knew that her sister was still very young in relationships, just like Lauren was even though she was much older. Still, Kenzi had been through her share of heartbreak and she had great role models for what a healthy relationship should be. The younger Dennis sister had always spoken with conviction about how she wasn't going to date… she said dating felt like trying on shoes and a relationship should have something more to it than that. She said when the right person came along, she would feel it all the way to her toes.

Bo smiled, "Do you feel it all the way to your toes?"

Kenzi laughed, blushing, "You remembered?"

"How could I forget? You used to say it all the time when you were in college. Dating is like trying on shoes, BoBo. I don't need to smell ten pairs of stinky feet to find the man of my dreams."

"Funny that I'd ruled out women all along. Is it possible to have two gay children in the same family?"

Bo laughed, "I'm sure it's possible, Kenz." She was silent for a moment, trying to choose her words carefully, "Are you sure, Kenzi?"

"You're afraid I'm going to hurt her… that she's just an experiment."

Bo nodded, "The thought has crossed my mind. I mean… with relationships, there comes an expectation of sex. You've never mentioned an attraction to women before."

Kenzi nodded, "I'm terrified of the sex part… I mean… I have no idea what to do with a vag… I watched some YouTube videos on my phone…"

"Ohmagod! You watched porn to learn about lesbian sex?"

"Well, I had to start somewhere!"

"Geez, Kenzi! Start on my bookshelves at the house! I took a women's studies course!"

"They're all in boxes! Hello! Construction zone!"

"So read them when we get back!"

"I don't want to wait, Bo." Kenzi replied.

Bo shook her head, "Please… seven days… read for two days… then decide. If you don't find what's in the books… appealing… desirable… you'll know it should just be a friendship. Women connect on many levels, Kenzi. I'm begging you… don't destroy a beautiful friendship because you've suddenly got ideas."

Kenzi nodded, "You know what did it?"

"What did what?"

"Tamsin promised she wouldn't try anything physical… not even a kiss… until I made the first move. Well… today when they were both goofing off on the glass…"

"I saw… you pressed your lips to hers on the glass."

Kenzi smiled, shyly, "She asked me if that counted as our first kiss. Naturally I made a joke and told her that she would know when we had our first kiss because she wouldn't want it to end or something like that. Anyway… the glass was in the way."

"What?" Bo asked.

"The glass. When I did that… I wished the glass wasn't there. I stared at her lips for a good minute or longer and… I just… I wanted to kiss them. It just hit me. When I pulled away, her smile… it just lit up her eyes and… I don't know I just thought… my God, she's beautiful."

Bo smiled at her little sister whose eyes were tearing up as she continued, "When she sat down, I just wanted her to hold me… but I was afraid… I don't want to hurt her… but I held her hand under the table for a while. Then when Darla made that comment about us…"

"Tamsin clearly has eyes for you, Kenzi. But that doesn't mean you have to feel the same way. Plenty of people get caught in one-sided relationships. It happens every day. Tamsin will eventually move on and find someone else."

"But that's the problem… I don't think I want her to. Just thinking about another woman touching her or kissing her… I just can't go there."

"But when you think about the guys in your life? I thought maybe there was some sparkage there with you and Hale?"

"The guy with the multiple Fedoras? I dunno. He's nice enough and he's got fantastic abs, but… he's all shrinky and stuff."

"Shrinky? I thought he was rather well-endowed, actually."

"I meant…"

"I know what you meant, Kenzi. Look, it's your life and your friendship with Tamsin on the line here. I just really think you should wait a little bit longer. Maybe she and Lauren will stay the extra week. Besides, we're in Brazil and there are bookstores here. Maybe you can get a jump on that reading!"

"Ohmagosh! You're right! Wait!"

Kenzi opened her phone, "iBooks, Amazon Books, Kindle app… I've got electronic book options everywhere in here!"

Bo smiled, "Good idea. Here they come, Kenzi."

"Well, it's about time… and the crowd is not wasting any time. Where's my flag?"

Bo pulled the flag from the bag slung over the back of her sister's chair and handed it to her. Kenzi stood up, waving the flag, "U.S.A., U.S.A, U.S.A."

Tamsin chanced a glance towards the sideline where a ball happened to roll in that moment. Jogging over to pick it up, she smiled at Kenzi,

"Like your seats? Nice chant little Dennis."

The blonde smirked and ran back to the court, leaving Kenzi swallowing hard. She sank down into her seat as Bo watched, laughing.

"You okay, Kenz?"

"Uh… just… I'm a… just. Gonna. Read. Now." She turned and looked at her phone, then turned back to Bo, snapping her finger, "iPad… now."

"Now? The game starts in fifteen minutes."

"Trust me. I want to see what happens while I watch her play in her bikini, but I need some intel first."

"What?" Bo asked.

"I can't see the damn pictures, Bo! I need the iPad so I can see the pictures!"

Bo laughed and pulled her iPad from her backpack. Handing it to Kenzi, "Don't get yourself too worked up, Kenz. The sun is hot and I don't need you passing out on me. It would be embarrassing, not to mention a distraction for Team LT."

"Right. Whatever."

Bo turned her attention back to the court. She watched as Lauren began her service practice. She was playing like a woman possessed. Every serve was sharp, precise and powerful. She was angry and she was using that anger to fuel her game. She could only hope that she didn't lose control of it. Losing control of anger meant rage and Bo knew all too well that rage took away focus. Losing focus was never a good thing for an athlete in any sport.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Like their semifinal match, Tamsin and Lauren found themselves in a bitter duel for the gold medal. The crowd had been there for both teams one very point. Their rallies had been long and nothing short of spectacular. So much so, that Americans were cheering the Brazilians efforts and the home team was cheering the efforts of the visitors. The four women were putting on a phenomenal display of athleticism, teamwork, skill, and effort.

Everyone had been warning them about the heat, but all of the Americans were talking about how comfortable it was. Freedom from humidity wasn't something people got to feel much in many parts of the states, so for them, it was actually quite comfortable in what felt like the mid-eighties, Fahrenheit to Bo and Kenzi. They'd been to Brazil often for surfing and pleasure, but they had to admit, this was unusually hot for August in these parts.

The referee's whistle signaled the end of the time out called by Brazil. The two women capped their water bottles, wiped down one more time, tossed their towels on the chairs and re-entered the court. The game was tie at 25 points each in the final set. This was it… win or lose, the crowd had received a show worthy of the inflated ticket prices. As Kenzi reminded Bo,

"Hey… law of supply and demand, baby. You want it bad enough, you'll pay for it."

Of course, all Bo could think about was the young children who aspired to become players whose families would never allow them to see a game like this because the ticket would take food from the table for months. It was truly sad and she hoped that the ideas they had discussed for her school today would always remember moments like these… that money would never rule her motivations.

The strain showed on both players' faces as a familiar voice echoed through the crowd,

"It's time, Lewis! Take the choke!"

The crowd grew silent as all eyes turned towards a smirking brunette wearing a Team Canada jacket, her blonde partner smirking beside her, their arms folded across their chests. They had taken position in the stands right behind Brazil and it was Lauren's serve.

Tamsin raised her hand towards the stand and called for a time out. Instead of walking towards their chairs, though, she led Bo towards where Bo and Kenzi were seated.

"Look… look at her."

Lauren's eyes slowly lifted towards Bo.

"Now… I don't know where things are going to go with the two of you down the road, but what I do know is that you have watched this woman work her way back… literally from the dead!" Tamsin turned towards Bo,

"How did you do that, Bo?"

Bo immediately caught on to what Tamsin was trying to do. No matter what would happen down the road, she knew she had a chance to help the woman now who had saved her life. High road, Dennis…

"I had a Doctor and a friend who wouldn't give up on me. No matter what we became, no matter what we will become… you were there for me… just as I'm here for you right now. Don't let her take this from you, Lauren… I think we both know she's taken enough. Take that ball and shove it down the line… when it hits the sand and the referee signals a point, you look at her… long, cold and right in the eyes… you let her know that you've won… regardless of how this game turns out… she lost… you won… she will never own you again, Lauren. Be the strong, passionate, Doctor who wouldn't let me surrender… who wouldn't let me die… who made my heart beat again… who made me breathe again… be her… she's there inside of you. No matter what the final score… you show her… here… now in front of all of these people… she's wrong about you… she's always been wrong about you."

Lauren's eyes moved to the sand, moving back up when Bo spoke again,

"Lauren… for your parents, for your Aunt, for Trick, for the Hospital, for Misty, for Karch, for Hale, for Tamsin, Kenzi… for me… we're the ones who matter, Lauren. Take our belief in you… take our strength… and show them all. Show the man who took your parents away… show the bullies in high school… show the woman down there who bet on you, cheated on you and yes, abused you… show her snarky ass partner… you are Lauren Lewis and you have the number one serve in all of beach volleyball… shove that fuckin' ball down her fucking throat, Lauren. Go. Do what you came here to do."

Tamsin handed the ball to Bo as the whistle blew signaling the end of the time out. With a slap on the ass, Tamsin moved to the net. Bo watched as Lauren stepped back behind the service line and the women of Brazil set up their serve-receive formation. For a long moment, time seemed to stand still as the crowd grew silent. Bo could hear Nadia and Casey talking a laughing somewhere in the background, but the only thing she could do in this moment was hope that Lauren was blocking everything out as she was.

Bo smiled when she saw Lauren look up across the net. There was a fire in her eyes… a fire she hadn't seen before.

"She's gonna do it." She whispered.

"Oh, boy she's pissed." Kenzi said, "It's a good thing Nadia is behind all of those people cause I'm not really sure if Lauren's going for that corner or Nadia's face."

They watched as Lauren took her approach… toss… then the thud of the ball sounded. They watched as the ball blasted over the net, barely missing the top edge before sailing with breakneck speed between the two players and landing right on the back line.

Tamsin jogged back and gave her partner a low high five, whispering, "One more time. Show that bitch it was no fluke."

Lauren glared over the net, seemingly taller, beads of sweat and sand crystals glistening on her body, her gaze like steel across the net at Nadia.

"Well, that shut her up." Kenzi chuckled quietly.

"One more, Lauren… just one more."

The crowd was silent. There were no cheers. There was no chanting for Team USA or Team Brazil. This was personal and everyone was well aware of it. Bo heard mumblings behind her of the sore losers from Canada. She hated that two women could misrepresent their country like Nadia and Casey were, but as her career flashed through her mind, she realized that there may have been times where she'd don't he same. Lesson learned… that wouldn't be happening again. She lived in a great country with great people no matter what the rest of the world thought because Hollywood, boisterous athletes and politicians usually led the image the rest of the world had of them. Most Americans were just like the people she saw in the stadium right now as she looked around.

They were all very average, just here to watch the greatest competition ever assembled in the world. It only happened every four years in summer. It brought people together, despite the fact that some competitions, like the one between Nadia and Lauren, would tear people apart. Bo made another note to remember to spend more time in the crowd at her next competition. Hell, she'd signed more autographs here than she'd ever signed at an event. Why was that? What was she doing instead?

Note to self… find out.

She turned her full attention to Lauren who had been talking to Tamsin. As Lauren stepped behind the line, Tamsin noticed the Brazilian women shift closer together. Tamsin folded her hands behind her and placed a single finger over her right cheek.

As Lauren took her first step forward, Bo noticed her foot was not aligned as it usually is,

"Shit… she's gonna miss…"

The next step followed suit on the toss before the thump of another serve was heard. Bo stood, her face showing the same shock on the faces of the Brazilian players as the serve went down the line into the back corner.

One player dove for the ball, reaching with every ounce and inch of length her body had to offer, but she landed, face down, the ball glancing off her hand and out of bounds.

"Point, USA. Game, Match to USA."

Bo and Kenzi stood holding each other as they watched Tamsin and Lauren staring at each other, Lauren's hands balled into fists like two drawn six-shooters at her waist before they finally ran to each other's. Tamsin hoisted her partner up at the hips, the blonde's body falling back, hands covering her face before she reached up to the sky.

Bo's eyes filled with tears as she watched the blonde whisper something to the clouds before blowing a kiss skyward. Bo could only guess it was for Lauren's Mom who she had mentioned once. Had they been close before she'd died? She never really said. Maybe it was for her Aunt? Did Lauren assume she, too was dead? There was so much that Bo didn't know about this woman… still… she loved her… what that would mean down the road, she did not know. Right now, she only knew that the woman needed a friend and that was something that for the next several hours, Bo could offer.

She watched as Tamsin lowered her partner and wrapped her in a hug. The two embraced for quite a while before they turned and walked to the net where the two women from Brazil waited patiently. It was only then that Bo noticed the crowd on their feet cheering for all four women. It was a moment she would never forget… two countries usually so far apart were chanting together,

"Team BRA-ZIL, U.S.A., TEAM BRA-ZIL, U.S.A."

On and on the chant continued as the players reached up and shook the hand of the official before exchanging hugs once more. Bo watched as the medal platform was brought onto the sand and officials moved into place.

"I hope to hell that Nadia and Casey didn't medal." Kenzi whispered.

"Me too, but I have a feeling they wouldn't have shown their faces here if they didn't."

"Shit." Kenzi mumbled.

"I'm so happy for them, Kenzi. I'm so happy that Lauren was able to stick it in Nadia's face. Maybe it will help her moving forward."

"Where exactly is forward, Bo?" Kenzi asked.

"I have no idea, Kenz. Right now, I just want to focus on being a friend for her. She knows I know now… my little pep talk gave it away. I don't know why I said it… it just sort of came out. I felt relieved."

"Yea, for a minute there, I thought you were going to send her crumbling to the sand where she would proceed to play Ostrich and embarrass the shit out of our country. Thank God you pulled it together. Dude, you were like Herb Brooks and the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic Team!"

"How do you know about an Ice Hockey Team?"

"Uh… Mr. Pal, my English teacher in high school used the quotes all the time and… duh… I watched the movie."

"You watched the movie because you had a crush on the hot young version of Kurt Russell when you were a kid." Bo smirked.

"He wore ugly plaid pants in that movie and his hair was plastered to his head. Not a good look for Mr. Russell."

"It was a movie, Kenz."

"It was still disappointing and besides, he's still a bit of a hottie as an old guy."

"Look, Kenz… they're waving to us." Bo smiled as she and Kenzi hugged and waved back, "They're adorable."

"They're bawling." Kenzi smiled.

"They've worked since they were eighteen for this, Kenzi… earlier, really."

"Sort of like us and surfing, eh?"

"Yea, but we don't send a limited number of Americans to the WSL Championships. They had to win three times to get here… the pro circuit, the US team scoring and then all of their matches here. Even then, they were never a favorite for a medal."

"Hey… they're the Miracle on Sand!"

Bo laughed as she watched Nadia and Casey get their medals, "Bitches be medalists. I hate when people who lack sportsmanship are rewarded in sports."

"Yea, but listen."

Bo looked around, "No one is applauding… no one… this is amazing! Go team crowd!"

Bo signaled to Tamsin and Lauren, holding her fingers up behind her ears and looking from side to side. The two elbowed each other as they realized what Bo was saying.

Suddenly, a burst of cheers from the entire crowd sounded across the arena for Team Brazil as they were given their silver medals. Tamsin and Lauren clapped and joined the crowd as the chant began in the same rhythm as the Team USA chant.

"Team Bra-zil! Team Bra-zil!"

Bo laughed as she noticed the six American men on the sidelines who S.T.A.T.E.S. written across their chests in red, one letter for every letter on each chest, their backs to the podium as they led the cheer for Brazil.

When they turned around and waved to the podium, everyone laughed when they realized that on their backs, now in reverse order to the crowd, they had spelled B.R.A.Z.I.L. the same way in green.

"Look… see what I mean? Now that's sportsmanship! That's what the Olympics are all about. American men cheering for both teams!"

Kenzi quipped, "Either that or they wanted to be able to wipe the STATES off their chest if the underdogs were getting their asses kicked!"

Bo laughed as they turned to see Tamsin, then Lauren bend down to allow their gold medals to be draped around their necks. They stood, waving their bouquet of flowers over their heads, feet firmly placed on the top step of the podium as their National Anthem began. Both girls placed their right hands over their hearts as they stared up at their nation's flag.

Bo thought to herself what special meaning that flag would have for Lauren today. The blue in the flag was for the skies over our lands, a sky she stared at each and ever night as the sun went down. It was her ritual. The stars, one for every state, a reminder of several she'd lived in during her life and finally, the red… the blood shed to bring our nation together that she could be standing here today… or maybe she was thinking about the blood, the sweat and all of the tears it took for her to be standing on that podium right now.

The irony wasn't lost on Bo that Lauren stood towering over Nadia in that moment and as the anthem drew to a close and the blonde glanced down at her former lover before turning away without shaking the offered hand, she hoped that Lauren had felt empowered by her position there as well. She hoped that Lauren would never again allow herself to feel powerless to anyone or anything… not death, not fear, not Evony, Kristy, Dyson, Lachlan, Casey and especially not Nadia.

Pictures were taken and hugs were exchanged among the Team USA staff and the two women. Reports flooded the sand, jockeying for interviews with the medalists… well… most of them. A single reporter moved towards the bronze medalists, giving them a quick interview before stepping away. Several news outlets stepped up to do film interviews with the pair. Bo laughed,

"Look, Kenz… all the gossip outlets are with the lovely bronze medalists."

"Hope they enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame. Remember that sour grapes chick from about eight years ago… what was her name, Nina something?"

"Nina Rodriguez! She spouted off about the judges scoring, weather conditions and event locations… she whined and whined and whined…"

"Yea, until they gave her some cheese with that whine and sent her on her way!" Kenzi laughed.

"What about her?" Bo asked.

"These two clowns remind me of her, only instead of whining, they tried to cheat their way to the top of the podium. When they couldn't win it, they tried to tear down the ones who took them down. Sore losers."

"Yup. Here they come."

"Finally! I'm starving." Kenzi smiled.

"News flash, Kenzi's starving." Bo smiled, giving Tamsin and Lauren each a hug before Kenzi did the same, "Awesome game… you guys were incredible! Amazing! It was the greatest experience ever. Did you see how the crowd forgot that two teams were playing and just started cheering for every great play? It was amazing!"

Tamsin laughed, "Yea, those five crazy guys who cheered for both teams with the chest paint? Total Californians! We autographed their right ass cheeks with Sharpies!"

"You did not!"

"Totally did." Lauren smiled, "They're apparently going to get our autographs turned into tattoos right now."

Kenzi laughed, "They should have had one of you sign one cheek and the other sign the other cheek."

Tamsin laughed, "They couldn't! They already had Team Brazil sign their left cheeks!"

"That is hysterical! Although I'm sure their future wives won't be too happy they have four girls names on their asses one day."

"Well, we're all Olympic medalists… maybe their asses will be their most valuable asset by the time they get married! Ass-ets… see what I did there?" Tamsin laughed.

The group looked at each other and then burst out laughing again.

Tamsin waved her arms, "Okay, well… we are officially not playing anymore and I have not had alcohol for almost a year, so we are going somewhere we can get a good beer!"

Bo nodded, "I'm not allowed to surf for a week, so I'll have a beer."

Kenzi joined in, "You know I'm always up for a beer, training or not!"

Lauren relented, "God, a beer sounds fantastic right now!"

"Well, let's go then, ladies!" Bo smiled.

"Oh, Manny and his brothers are going to meet us… they want us to come to their beach spot tonight. He said you and Kenzi could get us there… I mean… if you want to do that… with us." Lauren said, awkwardly.

Tamsin and Kenzi looked at each other, stepping away from the pair. Bo gave Lauren a hug,

"That would be fine, Lauren. We have a lot to talk about, so…"

"Bo, let me just stop you for a second, okay?"

"Okay." Bo replied, concerned.

"I just have a few quick things I want to say, and then I'd really like it if you would celebrate with us tonight. No matter what happens between us, you are a big part of that win today and every win before that. You will never understand how much you've done for me these past months, but I do intend to try to help you gain some understanding. During your little motivational speech, you mentioned… well… you know…" Lauren looked down at the sand,

"You were abused, Lauren. You can say the word." Bo lowered her eyes to meet Lauren's.

"That's just it, Bo… those words… I can't say them… I've never said them… even Tamsin didn't know the full extent of what had happened… not until today. I know you sent Hale to the restaurant… he told me. I was angry at first… of all the days for you to try to get me to open that can of worms, but… well… it turns out you were right. I'll explain more when we don't have people waiting for us to go to dinner, but… Bo… I've decided to check myself in to a mental health facility… I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Wh-what? But… well… isn't that a bit drastic?" Bo asked.

"Bo, my nightmares after you drowned… I lied… they weren't just about you drowning… there were children in Afghanistan, soldiers… one soldier in particular that I was… well, very close to… so much death and mutilation… I dodged the mandatory counseling in Germany and headed stateside saying I'd do it there, but I just dove into my work instead… then the whole Nadia thing… she's never stopped calling Bo… never stopped… never. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you… I didn't have any contact with her until we ran into each other here, but… her voice has been in my head… her face, her voice… in my nightmares…"

Bo watched as Lauren's body trembled. She pulled two envelopes from her jacket pocket. One was a crumpled mess, the other was pristine other than the centerfold she'd obviously made so it would fit in her pocket.

"We were late to the court today because I made several decisions. One was to enter the inpatient facility and deal with… well… I have PTSD, Bo and I need to deal with it before I can function as a normal human being again. Second, I want you to see the document in this envelope… I've filed harassment charges against Nadia and she should be getting served any minute now… a restraining order… until we go to court."

Lauren's hands shook as she looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Nadia's eyes went wide as she read the document she had just been handed. Her face contorted into anger, then rage as she began to scream threats at the blonde. They were quickly joined by Tamsin and Kenzi who had found Manny and his brothers. They all circled Lauren as they watched the police intervene and drag Nadia away, cuffing her when she resisted arrest.

Lauren chuckled, looking up at Tamsin, "I think the Brazilian police are going to start to nickname us Team Drama."

"Hey… this isn't funny, Lewis. The girl is a sick fuck. You should have told me a long time ago that she was…"

Lauren placed a hand on her friend's arm, "Not now, Tamsin… please… let me talk to Bo after dinner, okay."

Bo stood quietly, "Anything else I should know?"

Lauren sighed, "If you want, I will drop the celebration and walk away with you right now and tell you everything, Bo… the whole ugly truth… but I've been asked not to do that without Hale present."

Bo looked at Tamsin who nodded.

"Apparently, they're concerned that I'm too fragile to talk to you about all of this without someone there who can legally administer medication."

Lauren let out a nervous laugh, her eyes bordering somewhere between crying, hysteria and emptiness.

"Lauren…" Bo began.

"Look, Bo. I know you didn't sign on for this…"

Lauren looked at Tamsin, her eyes pleading for a little privacy. Tamsin got the hint, "Come on guys, let's go to the parking lot and wait."

Bo and Lauren watched as the group shuffled away, with Bo giving a nod to Kenzi to let her know it was okay to leave them alone. Bo turned back to Lauren when the blonde began again,

"I know you didn't sign up for a relationship with a crazy woman, but… well… we can't be an us until I'm a me… and we can't be an us if you don't know the truth about who me really is. I'm so sorry I started into this relationship with you… I mean… I'm not sorry about the relationship, or you… I'm sorry I brought all of my baggage to a woman's life who already had so much baggage of her own to carry."

"I travel a lot. Baggage is sort of my thing." Bo quipped.

"Bo, I'm serious. I've been utterly unfair to you in this relationship and it's not healthy. I'm not healthy, Bo. So, I'm going to do this for me… because I know it's the only way that I might have a chance with you. Any other way and I will eventually blow this relationship up… more than I already have."

"Lauren, you haven't done anything wrong…"

Lauren placed a gentle hand on Bo's chest, stopping her as she tried to hug her, "Let's talk tonight after dinner. Then you can decide. I won't continue in a relationship until you know everything, Nadia and my dreams are out of my life and I'm healthy enough to stand on my own. I want to be able to walk beside you, Bo… not lean on you every minute of every day. That's a terrible burden for a person to carry for their entire life and I refuse to do that to such a beautiful soul. Once I do all that I must do, then you can decide if I'm still someone you're interested in possibly sharing a relationship with."

"So, you're breaking up with me?" Bo asked.

"No, Bo… I am asking you for a break so that I can unload my baggage and come to you without a shipping and handling fee attached." Lauren smiled.

"So… you want me to wait for you to get out of treatment?"

Lauren shrugged, "That is completely up to you, Bo. But like I said, after dinner, Hale will meet up with us on the beach and I will tell you everything. After I do, I'll be going back to my hotel room and packing a bag to head back to the states to begin treatment."

"We can't have a night together to celebrate?" Bo asked.

"If that's still what you want after we talk, yes. I'll stay with you. If not, I'll leave as quickly as possible. Besides, I hear from Dr. Mansfield you're going to be very busy over the next few weeks."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Oh gosh! With everything happening, I didn't get a chance to tell you! They've asked me to stay here to train until the construction is finished back home… something about a plumbing issue delaying the completion for seven days or so."

"I see."

Lauren turned them so they could begin walking to the parking lot as she sensed a lighter tone coming for the conversation,

"Yea, it's Nick and the Doc and their partners… they're all going to invest in the school, adding a training piece, medical supervision piece and my people will be the coaches, of course. Tamsin said her Dad would probably help with maintenance of the reef off our property so we maintain good variety in our swells from beginner to expert."

Bo shoved her hands in her pockets, "It's so exciting, Lauren. I'm meeting Nick's team this week and then I'll meet Doctor Mansfield's team when they all come to Hawaii at the end of the month."

Bo sighed, "It's like everything is finally coming together in my life, you know? I mean… that championship still seems like it's another solar system away with this latest set back."

Bo pointed to her bald spot, but Lauren just shook her head and laughed,

"You can't even see it thanks to the pony tail and you'll only miss a week… two week tops in the water, Bo. You really were lucky that bullet just grazed the top of your skull."

Lauren's breathing became rapid before she blew out a breath, tears falling with a moment of hysteria,

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" She dropped to her knees, "I'm so sorry… I… I'm sorry. I just…"

"Hey… I'm alive and well… thick skull, remember?" Bo replied.

Lauren allowed the tears to fall, gradually reining in her composure, "Wow… it's moments like this that I wish there was always a hole nearby that I could crawl into."

Bo understood even more in that moment. Lauren was breaking and if she didn't get help, she would break completely. She couldn't let that happen. She had to let her go.

"It's okay. Listen, Lauren. I just want you to know that I support you taking this step… well… all of these steps. Confronting the things that have happened in your life is a good thing. I'm just sorry you never had any way to release this stuff until now."

Bo wanted to say she would be here waiting for her, but she decided to take Lauren's advice and wait… she had no idea what secrets would be released tonight and she did not plan to make promises she couldn't keep.

"Let's go celebrate that shiny medal on your neck." Bo smiled.

"Great idea." Lauren smiled, "But I'm going to take it off and put it inside our secret metal compartments in our jackets."

"There's a secret medal compartment?"

"Yea… thieves are everywhere, didn't you know?" Lauren smiled, "Actually, they're just really heavy and inside the front near the waistband is the place you can put it where it doesn't feel so awkward to carry."

Lauren re-zipped her jacket, "See? The material lies naturally and you can't tell I'm holding a medal. Best part, my neck gets some relief." Lauren rubbed her neck, "It really is heavy. You'll have to try it on later."

"Awesome. Hi guys!" Bo smiled, "Let's head out!"

Kenzi scowled at her sister who put two hands on her shoulders, turned her around and marched her to Manny's truck. Kenzi jumped in the front leaving Lauren and Bo to jump in the back.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Dinner had flown by with people all over the restaurant offering to buy drinks and food for the two gold medalists and their friends. Things got even crazier when the Brazilian teammates arrived at the same restaurant. Manny insisted they join the group and before they knew it, six large tables were pushed together and the whole crew were being introduced to Team Brazil's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, spouses and children.

Kenzi had pulled Bo into the bathroom just before they left. She checked the stalls to make sure they were alone and then locked the bathroom door so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"What the fuck, Bo! Tamsin told me about what happened with Lauren and…"

"Stop right there, Kenzi. I don't want to know what Lauren did… she's going to tell me when we go for a walk on the beach. We are not doing this, so stop right now. This is Lauren's story to tell, or did Tamsin forget that?"

"Tamsin is just trying to protect you, as am I."

"Well then, protect me by trusting me to do my part not to betray Lauren's trust. There's more to the story that what happened with Nadia and Lauren that night, Kenzi. I need to let her tell me. Hale pulled me aside in there and told me that there were things that even Tamsin didn't know."

"What the fuck, Bo! I mean… reality check here… you are the one that had the head injury, right? I mean… please tell me I'm not living in an alternate reality where Lauren is the one who actually had the brain surgery where the doctors accidentally removed her conscience?!"

"Kenzi!"

"What? She has a girlfriend… you! Did you forget?"

"No, Kenzi. Look… I'm asking you… begging you… let this go. Please. Just let me talk to Lauren tonight. You can here all of the details when I need to vent and contemplate afterwards."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Kenzi mumbled.

"Okay then. All those on Team Bo?" The brunette raised her hand as her sister frowned. When she didn't raise her hand to join her team, Bo pulled it up for her and gave her a high five, "Okay then. Let's go to the beach. And you… just say no to Tamsin! Wait, Kenzi. It's better if you do."

"I hear ya, I hear ya."

Team LT's group broke away from the group around seven so they could be at the beach and get the fire started by sunset. It was going to be a great night sky and they wanted to be there to see it ocean side.

Kenzi and Tamsin excused themselves to go for a walk in one direction, while Bo and Lauren excused themselves to walk off in the other direction. Hale had arrived about five minutes after the group and told Bo that he would be by the fire if she needed him after Lauren had insisted on having privacy to talk to Bo. Reluctantly, he agreed, but not before stepping way out of his professional comfort zone by handing Bo a loaded syringe. He told her that Lauren would be able to help her give the injection if it came to that. Lauren promised to explain to Bo what to do before they started to talk and off they went leaving Hale to ponder the ethics behind the situation.

Manny handed Hale a beer, "No worries, Hale. Bo had probably seen worse in her long and eventful life. Besides, our trucks can handle the sand here. If Bo calls, we'll be there in a flash.

Hale only nodded and settled back into the chair, looking down the beach as the pair slowly disappeared beyond the horizon.

 _ **TRIGGER WARNING… XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX… TRIGGER WARNING…**_

Bo and Lauren had walked for about a mile before the sky had begun to turn a brilliant shade of lavender with streaks of blue still remaining. They sat down, shoulder to shoulder, their arms wrapped around their legs, curled to their chests. Bo took note of the fact that they were both sitting with closed body postures… not exactly conducive to open communication, but it seemed most comfortable for Lauren. The blonde seemed like she was in desperate need of some form of security and she supposed the position was lending some semblance of that to her.

"The sky is beautiful here. I guess I won't be seeing my nightly sunsets for a while." Lauren sighed.

"You're not going to a dungeon, Lauren. You're going to a hospital. I'm sure being outside would be a good idea for you."

Lauren nodded, laughing under her breath, "That's if I don't end up in a straight jacket in a padded room."

Bo shook her head, "Come on, it's not that bad, is it?"

Lauren's reply had an edge to it that Bo had never heard in the blonde's voice before, "I don't know, Bo… is it? You know, from the time I was born, I was unwanted. I was an accidental pregnancy and my father never failed to remind me of it… of what I cost him in food and clothes, of how I cost him his freedom because he was chained to me and my Mom… you know, my Mom would whisper to me at night… she would tell me that my love of science was going to save lives one day. She told me that I was going to do great things. I don't remember much else, but I know it shaped me."

She paused, taking a much-needed breath before continuing,

"Once they were gone, my Aunt did the best she could. I thought that somehow, if I did really well in school, that my Mom would come back from heaven and visit me. She never did. It wasn't until Middle School that I realized the truth about death… that the priest at my Aunt's church who told me there was a guardian angel looking out for me and that my Mom was watching over me… that none of it was true. I was alone, a burden to my Aunt. Oh, she never complained, but every time I looked at her, my Father's words echoed through my mind."

She looked up at the sky, noticing the streaks of red now appearing where there once was blue,

"I worked my ass off knowing that the sooner I was in college, the sooner my Aunt could quit working the extra jobs, so double course loads it was. I never had a childhood and the one I had was spent being shoved into lockers, given swirlys in toilets, having my lunch stolen and being hit in the head in P.E. class. I hated those kids… I used to dream that I became a doctor and one of them came under my care desperate to live… and I laughed at them instead of treating them."

Lauren paused, "It's a miracle I have grown to have ethics in medicine. Anyway, my Aunt was struggling and I was costing her money… God how I loved going to movies with her… Sci-Fi Saturdays and Sci-Fi Sundays were the highlight of my childhood, but I knew that ever time we did that, she would have to work overtime to pay for it. I hated myself for wanting to go, I hated that I couldn't get a job and pay for her to go."

Lauren picked up a shell and chucked it out towards the ocean, "Did I mention I loved math too? I started to calculate exactly how much I would cost her each day and kept it in a journal." She chuckled,

"I have forty-two thousand, six hundred, ninety-seven dollars and sixty-three cents in a bank account in her name. The check for the full amount is sitting in a safety deposit box. If anything happens to me, the bank will continue the search for her. I hope that some day she can reclaim that money, with interest. I just… I don't know where she is… I don't know if she's alive or dead… I don't know if she's alone… if she's dead, I don't know where she's buried."

"Hey, hey… Lauren, I'll get Vex on it, okay? He has a way of finding people who don't want to be found."

"No, Bo. You don't have to. I just… I don't want you to… just wait…"

"I know… this big thing you have to tell me that's going to make me leave you…" Bo looked at Lauren who looked shocked, "What? I mean, clearly there's something you're avoiding telling me, but it's okay… I'll wait for the grand finale."

Bo didn't mean to sound so angry, but she was frustrated. Everyone seemed to be tiptoeing around her all night and she just wanted to get this over with. So far, she'd heard nothing that would make her leave Lauren, but everything that broke her heart and gave her more and more insight into the blonde.

"When I went to college, I was the poor kid in pre-med. I'm sure you can imagine that at Stanford, most of the students in that program come from fairly wealthy families, compared to me. I was shunned by the cool kids, which was pretty much everyone but me. It left me without a lab group… a single… so the professors in the classes that had labs would use me as their assistant… of course, then I was brown-nosing the professors. I still couldn't win… that was, until volleyball tryouts ended and I made the team… that's when I met Tamsin."

"You know the whole story about how Nadia and I met… how we ended… the parts in-between are where things get a little messy."

Lauren sighed, "I want to talk about Afghanistan first."

"Shit, come on, Lauren. I want to know about Nadia."

Lauren's eyes filled with tears. She turned, pretending to look up the coastline so she could wipe them with her sleeve, but Bo caught on,

"Don't cry, Lauren. I'm sorry… I just… this woman stormed into my life, all but destroys our relationship and I want to know why."

Lauren turned to face Bo, tears streaming down her face, "But don't you see? She didn't destroy it! I did! I'm the one… it's me… me… it's me who doesn't have my shit together! It's me who allowed it!"

"Okay, okay… calm down… I'm listening… you tell me what you want to tell me."

Bo backed off, remembering the last words Hale had uttered, "…don't press, Bo… just listen… if you press, she may fold… she can't fold, Bo… don't let her fold. It may be impossible to bring her back. Trust me when I say she's been through more than anyone knew and I have no idea how she has been a functioning human being without help."

Lauren sighed, "After Med School, I owed the military five years for my undergrad tuition. I was supposed to be stationed in a safe zone, but when things escalated there after 9-11, the President sent in more troops, which also meant the need for more doctors. I had gone through basic training years earlier, so when they handed me a uniform and a weapon, I… well, I told them I couldn't take it. I had taken an oath as a doctor to do no harm. Firing a weapon was not an option. Not treating the enemy was not an option unless given a direct order to withhold care."

Lauren shook her head, trying to sort out her thoughts, "The first night, our MASH unit was sent to the front lines. I've seen movies… there was always a line… enemy on one side, good guys on the other… but in this war, there was no line. You had to worry about every person who walked into camp, that under their clothing they could have a vest strung up with bombs."

Lauren looked up, swallowing hard as the memories came flooding back, "Shit. I'm used to these memories coming when I'm asleep in my bed… alone where no one else can be touched by them…"

"I'm not afraid, Lauren. I'm asking you… let me share your burden."

Lauren's head spun fast, "This isn't a burden, Bo! A burden is you dealing with your injuries! A burden is my Aunt dealing with our finances! A burden is you raising Kenzi without any knowledge of how to be a parent! This isn't a burden, Bo! This is a nightmare!"

Bo nodded, "Okay, okay… shhh… take deep breaths. I'm here when you're ready."

Lauren was quiet for a long while, then her voice moved across the wind as she spoke towards the ocean, it was flat and emotionless, like someone had turned on a switch and a computerized narrator was reading a story from a page,

"The first night, a woman came running into camp. It was dark… pitch black and she was carrying something. A soldier called to her to stop, but she kept coming. The translator couldn't make out what she was saying… she was crying and hysterical. He fired once… twice. Both shots to her head and she dropped. They turned on the flood lights… funny that they didn't bother to do that before they fired… but they were scared… they had trusted too much when they arrived and the bombers had been able to walk into camps and kill off entire platoons with one vest… the trust swung 180 degrees in the other direction and it became shoot first, see if they were a threat later."

She lowered her eyes, speaking into the space between her legs, "When the lights came on, I heard my name… then I heard it again… 'Doc… oh, God, Doc… come quick… Oh god, Doc… what have I done… fuck, Doc!'… I came to his side and found that the woman was a mother who was just trying to get help for her child… a girl probably no more than six or seven who had stepped on an I.E.D… 'oh God, Doc… she was just trying to save her kid and I fucking killed her! Oh fucking fuck! Damn this fucking war! Damn the fucking Taliban! Fuck! Look at her! Who the fuck would do this to a kid! She's just a fucking kid!'… I watched him try to clean the blood off the mother's face…"

She shook her head, looking up at Bo, the scientist now present, as her fingers gestured the movement of the ammunition, "You see, the bullets hit the perfect place to turn her into the perfect vegetable. She was still breathing and still had a pulse… the bullets had slice through her skull like a knife through butter, carving a perfect pathway through the memory control areas of the brain, but leaving the vital organ nerves completely intact. It was actually amazing, if I hadn't been holding a little girl whose legs were in the bag the mother had slung over her shoulder."

Bo gasped, covering her mouth. She looked away from Lauren as tears streamed down her face. She shook her head wondering what else the blonde had been forced to witness… what the people… the soldiers had been forced to witness…

Lauren's voice returned, "That was the first night… somehow, I managed to keep a journal, deciding that might keep me sane. Hale has it now. I told him he should prepare himself for our sessions… well, actually, I recommended that he hand my case over to a military psychiatrist because they're trained to handle the tales of battle. I'm concerned it may be too much for his very proper upbringing."

Bo reined in her emotions and nodded towards Lauren, knowing that the blonde was actually, probably right on that point. Not that his socioeconomic status mattered, but he had lived a privilege life far from violence.

"My journal became what I affectionately called my Log of the Dead. I wanted to pay tribute to them somehow… find a way to keep them alive so their deaths would not be in vain, but… by the time I'd finished three years in combat zones and moved to the final two in Germany, it came to realize that war is ridiculous. There is no honor, no glory… government officials sit protected in offices while they send young men, women and civilians out to their deaths to fight for them to have more land, more money, more power. They're just a bunch of bullies who never grew up. They used the soldiers to beat up their rivals and the doctors to give their families something to be thankful for or someone to blame if they don't live."

Lauren sighed, "While I was there, I met a woman. Her name was Ally. She came to my MASH tent one night with a wounded German Shepard pup. She nursed him back to help and named him Lewis because I'd saved him… of course, that became confusing, so she changed the name to Mash since it was the hospital where he was saved."

Lauren smiled, "When she went out on missions, I would take care of Mash. The three of us became an odd little family of sorts. Of course, with the former President's brilliant 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' plan, we were both afraid to tell the other how we felt. Finally, one night, I asked my senior officer if I could go for a run. He told me to take Private Marshall with me… that was Ally. So, off we went."

She shook her head, "I felt bad for running since she had to stay with me while carrying her weapon and a forty-five pound pack… not to mention wearing boots and a full uniform… it's not exactly cool there until after sundown. Anyway, she said she was conditioned for runs like this and… well, it became our thing. Finally, she told me and beneath the bright flares of bombs in the distance, we shared our first kiss. Romantic, huh?"

Lauren picked at the sand between her legs before her chin came to rest on one knee, her eyes cast out towards the ocean,

"We kept it up for weeks… I thought I'd been in love with Nadia at first, but what I had with Ally was so innocent… I knew it was different. I mean, we were realistic enough to know one of us would eventually be shipped elsewhere and we would never see each other again… or one or both of us would die in that hellhole… either way, we were in a horrible place and for a while, every night, we found comfort in each other's arms… until one night, we repeated a route we'd taken one too many times."

Bo watched as Lauren swallowed hard, tears rolling down her cheeks, "Ally was hit in an ambush. I pulled her behind a building. She handed me her gun and begged me to return fire, but… I just froze… she told me to give her the gun and run… but I couldn't. I watched as three men approached and began to fire… Ally pushed me inside a window and tossed the gun in after me. She was trying to crawl in through the window… I grabbed her arm and pulled as another shot rang out."

Lauren's mouth fell open as her hand reached out, "Her fingers traced my face… I heard my voice say 'no', but I don't remember speaking. She fell backwards out of the window. I looked down and found her gun… picked it up, stepped out into the opening and fired… I kept firing long after they were all down… when backup arrived after hearing gunfire, I was still holding down the trigger and somehow, Ally was in my lap… her eyes looked happy… relieved, maybe, I don't know."

Bo shook her head, "I'm so sorry, Lauren."

Lauren's voice was very matter-of-fact on reply, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Bo. You didn't get her killed. It wasn't you who fired too late. It wasn't you who insisted she take you out for a run."

Bo shook her head, "No, Lauren. It wasn't. But I have a feeling that Ally needed that run every night as much as you did. I can only imagine the amount of comfort people would crave in a situation like that."

"Well, it's nothing I could imagine until I was actually there." Lauren cocked her head towards Bo, "Do you know that my Book of the Dead has two hundred seventy six names in it? That's how many civilians and soldiers from either side died in my tent."

"And the Book of the Living?" Bo asked.

"Ah, they still have people to remember them since they're still here every day. They didn't get a book."

Bo shook her head, "But those are all of the people who lived to return to their families because you saved them, Lauren. And some of the dead died trying to save the people they cared about… people they swore to protect."

"I swore to protect life… I got my girlfriend killed and shot three men in cold blood."

"No, Lauren. Your girlfriend tried to protect you by doing her job and you tried to save her by stopping the men who were trying to take you both out."

Lauren shook her head, staring out to sea, "You see? War is stupid. No one wins… everyone loses. I'm alive, but I'm not whole… every time I close my eyes, I see their faces. If I'm not seeing their faces, I'm seeing Nadia's face."

Bo paused, "Will you tell me about her?"

Lauren laughed, "Sure… she's child's play after talking about the war… but are you sure you don't want to hear about my time in Germany trying to make the people who came in with half their bodies and limbs whole again?"

"Lauren…" Bo shook her head, "I'll listen to anything you want to tell me."

"Nadia was sweet… she was the first person who ever gave me attention… she was my first love and, well, you know what they say. You never forget your first, right?"

Lauren sounded drunk and Bo was getting worried. She was either exhausted or giving up. She wasn't sure.

"Should we take a break?"

"No, no… you want to know, so let's just keep going."

"Lauren…"

"Nope… I'm just a little tired." Lauren replied.

"Lauren, I think maybe this is too much for you. Maybe we should stop."

"It was a long match today. I think some water… maybe some sugar."

Bo nodded, pulling a bottle of water and a snickers bar from Lauren's bag. The blonde chugged the water, drinking most of it in one sip.

"Wow."

"I think I'm a little dehydrated, Bo." Lauren said, shaking her head, "Whoa… head rush… definitely dehydrated."

"Okay, well let's just take a minute."

Bo pulled out her cell phone, but Lauren stopped her, "Don't call Hale. I'm okay… I just need to hydrate and eat something… really. I haven't had alcohol for a really long time and I'm a little emotional… just… please… give me a minute."

They sat in silence for a long while, Lauren lying back on the sand while Bo watched her, concern carved into her face. Finally, Lauren sat up,

"I feel better, Bo. Really." She opened another water bottle and drank before pulling an apple out of her bag and biting into it. I really think the combination of dehydration, alcohol and low blood sugar just hit me when came under the emotional stress of recalling my past.

Bo nodded, "Do you want to go back?"

"No, Bo." Lauren reached up and traced Bo's face, "Don't you see, sweetie? There's no going back from this. You'll see me differently now. The tragedy that is Lauren's life… if there is to be a future for us, we have to go forward… go through this. Of course, if you've had enough, you can bail now. Like I said, you have a choice here. I am not who I said I was… I lied… lies of omission, but lies none the less."

"I'm still here, Lauren."

The blonde smiled, "So you are."

She spoke the words, but she wondered if Bo would still be here when she finished… would she still be here when she left a psych ward?

"Nadia was so sweet, kind and caring… and, well, I'd never had sex like I'd had with her. It was only recently that I'd come to understand that the kind of sex we had was the kind a woman allows if she feels she should be punished for something she'd done in her life."

Lauren turned and looked directly at Bo, "Do you remember that first night… when I cried?"

Bo smiled, "I do… you said they were happy tears."

"They were, sort of… but really, they were almost tears of relief… it was that night that I'd finally connected all of the dots… that I'd realized what it mean to be made love to… I'd never had that in my life. You see… with Nadia, the sex was always rough… there's no easy way or polite was to say this… we fucked… well… she fucked me… I tried to make love to her, but most of the time she would just want to get it over with. We didn't cuddle… God how I wanted to cuddle, but she would just say she wasn't a cuddler, then talk about how much work she had to do and leave."

Lauren shook her head, "Awww, I was so young and so naïve. I was what, seventeen? She didn't know… no one knew I was the girl genius who left high school early. The funny part is that I didn't see it… now that's young. Over time, she moved in… conveniently after she'd learned of my free room and board courtesy of the US Military… free meal stipend too."

She shook her head, laughing, "Free meal ticket, free rent and a good fuck anytime she wanted. I didn't ask for anything in return. I was afraid to…"

Bo nodded, "You were afraid she would leave you and you would be left alone."

"Yea, textbook childhood abandonment issues. When I finally became older, wiser and had taken my Interpersonal Relationships course, I realized I was being used. So, I started complaining about her not staying, started trying to change our sexual relationship, started demanding she help out around the house because I was carrying twice as many courses as she was and it was my dime."

"Let me guess, she exploded." Bo nodded.

Lauren smiled, her eyes looking at the pattern she was tracing in the sand, "She got in my face and started screaming about me… about how she took me when no one else wanted me… about how she took me to parties and introduced me to all of her friends… that I wouldn't know anyone if it wasn't for her…"

Bo was mentally checking off the blocks on the Violence Wheel that she had shown Kenzi earlier, just nodding as Lauren continued,

"So, I threatened to leave her and in exchange, she begged me to stay, told me she'd do better… she didn't and the cycle would repeat until she started to threaten suicide, to threaten to out me to my professors, that I'd never get an internship, she'd ruin me all the way through residency… but then I guess that gave her another idea."

Lauren shook her head, "You see, when she yelled at me, she noticed I flinched, just like I had with my Dad for years. I was always worried he would hit me, so I flinched, but do you know he never did? Not once."

Bo's eyes filled with tears, "But Nadia did."

Lauren blew out a laugh, "Oh, repeatedly. Until I finally pulled out the right card, reminding her that If she kept bruising my face, I wouldn't be able to go to class and I'd flunk out… she'd lose her free room and meal plan."

Lauren sighed, "So, the hitting stopped, thank God, but that's when the threats began and the sex got rougher… and unwanted on my part. She apparently realized that if I became a doctor, she would have money and so we started on a new deal… the one where she wouldn't hit me if I was getting A's and becoming the best doctor I could be to bring home the best paycheck… until I found out the paycheck was going to be for boozing and fucking other women while pretending to be at a job."

Lauren's temper flared as she practically spat out the words. She stood, taking a long sip of water before beginning to pace. Bo watched her carefully, her form now only lit by the lights on the streets far behind them,

"That's when I called her out in the bar. After she moved out, things were good for a while. I'd told Tamsin the beginning and end, leaving out the parts in between… no need for anyone to know I was practically raped in my own home by my girlfriend on a nightly basis."

"You were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, Lauren."

Lauren nodded, "Somewhere inside my big brain, the doctor knows it, but unfortunately Nadia caught up to me. She started making monthly phone calls, threatening me… to ruin me… to tell lies, leave trails of evidence… I was terrified. She was going to call the USOC, the hospital… so… I did as she asked."

"Which was?" Bo asked, remaining calm.

"I paid her… every month… for her silence."

"And that's why you're a doctor with no money."

Lauren nodded, "Pretty stupid, huh?"

Honestly, Bo would have hoped that as a Doctor, Lauren wouldn't have fallen into the Domestic Violence trap, but she wouldn't judge… her Mother had taught her too much about violence in the home in the years leading up to her Aunt Madison's death at the hands of a violent husband. The truth was, that until the court date… until Nadia was behind bars, Lauren would always be looking over her shoulder.

"Not at all… pretty understandable. So, you've been paying her all of this time?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "She needed more lately, claiming training was stopping her from working, but I know better. She never had a job. I kept mailing her the checks since we picked up sponsors… the hospital was a huge one. Trick really came through."

Bo nodded again, "So, why in the world would you meet up with her here?"

"More threats… Hale said it's emotional conditioning… threat, fear, submission, repeat. But Bo… that last night we met… she came in after dinner. She tried to…"

"Oh God, don't! She fucking put her hands on you!?" Bo stood up, unable to control herself, "Fucking tell me you did not let her put her fucking hands on you like that again, Lauren!"

"She pushed me down on the couch." Lauren was cowering in fear as Bo raised her voice. The image of Bo's angry face towering over her against the black of the night sky as she sat trying to explain echoed through her mind.

Bo turned to see Lauren's arms wrapped firmly around her legs, pulled tightly against her body. Her head turned away from her into her shoulder as she spoke,

"She was touching my face, my shoulders, my chest, then ran her hands down my sides. She kissed me, hard trying to force my mouth open as she tried to put her hand beneath my waistband. I… I just… it wasn't you… it was… it was dirty, I felt dirty… so dirty…"

Bo watched as Lauren began to slap at her arms and chest while she spoke, trying to brush away the dirt she spoke of,

"I pushed her off of me… I pushed her hard… she fell backwards and started screaming at me… she was standing over me like you are now… she was yelling and yelling… reminding me of how no one would want me… how I was used trash… her sloppy seconds for anyone who came along… she told me she would never leave me alone… that I would never be free of her… that she owned me and there was nothing I could do about it. She took all of my power… she took all of my power… she left… she took me with her…"

Lauren was rocking back and forth, shaking her head and mumbling. Bo picked up the phone and called Hale. Lauren hadn't even noticed. Bo sat down beside her, her heart breaking as she watched Lauren flinch and pull away in fear,

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I am not Nadia. I have power to spare and I'm going to give it to you. My power comes from these girls named Kenzi and Tamsin. And there's these guys named Hale and Manny and Doctor Mansfield and Nick and Miguel… you know them all, right?"

Bo continued to name names of all of the powerful men in her life, leaving Dyson out of the picture after their little exchange before they left. She watched Lauren gradually loosen her grip on her leg, her head turning a bit more towards Bo,

"Lauren, Nadia hurt you. She was a bad woman who did bad things to you. She did not take your power or you… you are right here… and today… you beat her."

Lauren looked at her, seemingly confused, but Bo continued as she saw Manny's truck stop. Hale jumped out and ran towards them. She held up a hand to keep him back. He watched and listened intently as Manny stood behind him. Bo waved Tamsin and Kenzi out of the truck, wanting them visible with the two men.

"Can you look in your secret medal pocket for me?"

"Huh?"

"Will you unzip your jacket just a little ways and reach down inside? There's a secret zipper you told me about in there. It's a pocket… it's where you put your power earlier today."

Lauren slowly pulled her eyes away from Bo, looking down into her jacket. She reached in and fumbled with the zipper.

"Can I help you? I promise I will only touch the jacket. Can you open it for me?"

Lauren nodded and opened the jacket fully, allowing Bo to open the zipper.

"Now, reach in there and take your power back."

Lauren lifted out the gold medal… she smiled, holding it to her chest as Bo spoke,

"You stood on the podium towering over Nadia while our National Anthem played. Afterwards, everyone celebrated you and your partner Tamsin. You defeated Nadia and her wicked sidekick Casey. Do you remember?"

Something seemed to click in Lauren's mind as she turned towards the brunette, "Bo?" She looked around, "Bo? It's dark!"

"Hey… it's okay. I'm right here. Do you remember where you are?"

Lauren looked at the medal, then Bo, then the ocean, then the sand, "We… we had dinner… we walked… we talked… I told you bad things… you yelled…"

"I'm sorry I yelled, Lauren."

"You looked like her."

"I'm not her. I got upset about what she did to you. I shouldn't have… God, Lauren I'm so sorry. I…"

"She's a bad woman, Bo. You need to stay away from her. I shouldn't have brought her into your life. I should have stayed with her to keep you safe. I couldn't keep Ally safe, but I could have kept you safe. I just needed to not love you… then I would have stayed away and you would be safe."

"Hey. Nadia is not going to hurt me. Look… I have the power." She pointed towards her friends, "They're your power too, Lauren. Do you see Hale, Manny, Tamsin and Kenzi? There are so many more people who love you and are going to help you, Lauren. Do you see?"

"Why would they want to help me, Bo? I'm not worth…"

"No!" Bo raised her voice and immediately saw Lauren cower as Hale stepped forward. She quickly apologized, lowering her voice, "I'm sorry… but you are worth everything to me… to us. Lauren, we're going to help you get better. Do you remember what you said you want to do tonight?"

"I want to sleep… just sleep. I'm so tired."

"You can do that." Bo replied.

"Bo?"

"It's me, Lauren."

"Will you hold me while I sleep?"

"I'll never let you go."

Lauren fell into the brunette's side allowing Bo to wrap her arms around her. She held her close, pulling her head into her chest as she allowed her tears to fall. Looking up at Hale and her friends, she shook her head,

"That woman is a monster. She's going to pay for this."

 _ **END TRIGGER WARNING… XXXXXXXXXX… POSSIBLE MILD TRIGGERS AHEAD…**_

 _ **Two Months Later…**_

"Kenzi, I'm home!"

"BoBo! God, I missed you, woman!"

Bo was rushing around the house, dropping her laundry in the laundry room, unpacking her toiletries, taking her dry suit and wet suits out of their bags to hang them in the mudroom until Kenzi stopped her with a hug.

"Kenz, I love you but I'm late."

"No worries, BoBo… Tamsin's already on her way back here."

"What?" Bo stopped, her face pale.

"That was the plan, right? You were doing the pick up and then coming back here?"

"Well, yea but… well… I thought I'd have more time to…"

"Bo, you're ready for this. You've been yap, yap, yapping about how ready you are for this."

"Yea, but now I'm terrified."

Kenzi pulled her sister down on the leather sofa beside her, "K Dennis, counselor at large is in session… have a seat on my perfect sofa."

"Look at this place, Kenzi… I mean… can you believe it? We have found paradise! Tamsin's engineers have worked through the perfect waterfront design, the school is filling up at the point, and the shop my God I saw the numbers you sent me last night… I'm amazed at the orders… I'll be in the barn all weekend… a barn… we have a freakin' barn where I have a staff of twelve workers building my designs, Kenzi! I can't believe that Ciara is actually a Sports Psychologist who loves both graphic design and Dyson!"

"A match made in heaven that gets you off the hook for a lifetime of Dyson saying he's your destiny." Kenzi rolled her eyes.

"It's just… the shop is amazing, the designs, the school, the orders…"

"Well, the orders have been flooding in since your brilliant comeback down at Mavericks, dear. It was sort of fitting that your first time back be with me at our old home, wasn't it?"

"There was something very special about that day, Kenz… definitely."

"And yet there was something missing?" Kenzi asked.

Bo nodded, "I'm okay, Kenz."

"Well, after Mavericks, we sold fifty boards… I mean, we sold out there… that took away twenty-five from our stock… we sold fifty more from online and local orders within the week of your win. Now, after the win in China, we have more than a hundred new orders… our T-shirts, swim trunks, dry suits… everything is selling, Bo. It's amazing!"

"I have one more six week class and my Masters is finished… well, after I take a little trip to M.I.T. for my exams." Bo smiled.

"I gotta hand it to Daddy Tam-Tam… pulling strings to get you finished at M.I.T. was awesome."

"Well, I think it's more because he wants all of his workers to come from big name school for the sake of his company brand, but hell, I'm not complaining!"

Kenzi smiled, "You promised him you'd stay for five years, right?"

"Yup. After that, we'll see where our little company is and I'll decide if I need to keep that job or not. Everything okay at the school while I was gone?"

"Jonathan did a 360."

"No fucking way!"

"He paddled in… the look on his face was sheer terror. He said he totally did it accidentally because he lost sight of the beach and the board kicked up because he thought he was on the opposite side of the wave. He made me promise not to tell you it was an accident. You know that boy has a mad crush on you. He desperately wants and needs your approval."

"Well, he's adorable and he has it, 100 percent… he just can't have anything else. I'm not a cougar."

"Well, he's not eighteen anyway." Kenzi quipped, causing Bo to cringe.

"Ewww… gross."

"What about the new kid… what's his name, Aaron?"

"Yea, he's having a little trouble adjusting, but Miguel flew in on Tuesday and decided to stay to help out. They connected and he thinks he might be able to get him on solid ground with a few of the other kids if he sticks for a few more days."

"Great. What did Manny say when he was here?"

"He loves it. He made some adjustments to the course requirements after the meeting with the state. We're now over compliant with state regs and requirements and he said they've promised accreditation paperwork within the week."

"Awesome. Any big medical incidents?" Bo asked.

"Nope, just the usual reef cuts and scrapes. The kids in the first aid class are caring for the wounds… under direct supervision of the med staff, of course."

"I love this idea of the Direct Care Program that Dr. Mansfield came up with." Bo smiled, looking over the medical reports.

"It was actually the woman on his team who came up with that idea."

"Okay then… good for her." Bo replied.

"That's all you have to say about that?" Kenzi asked.

"Yes. I'm nervous, okay?"

"Okay then. Laundry is good for the nerves, right?"

Bo nodded, "Laundry it is."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tamsin headed down the new, paved driveway to Bo and Kenzi's place, stealing a glance at her passenger ever once in a while.

"You okay?"

"Mm."

"Really, Lauren?"

"What?"

"That's all I get?"

"It all looks so different."

"Well, a lot has changed."

"I know it has, Tamsin. You don't have to keep reminding me."

"I'm not, I just want you to be… prepared."

Lauren nodded, "I'm as prepared as I'll ever be, Tamsin. It's time to rejoin the land of the living. I start work again next week on a modified schedule."

"I talked to Trick today. He said he is amazed, but absolutely no one knows where you've been."

"Yea, well we have Ciara and Hale to thank for that."

"An entire private island used for a mental health facility disguised as an invitation only vacation resort… and everyone who goes there keeps the secret."

"You saw the contracts I signed." Lauren replied.

"Actually, Bo saw them. You were in no condition to read and understand any of that."

"Yea, well… whatever."

"Bitter much?" Tamsin asked.

"I just thought that…"

"Lauren we've been through this… training, PT, two competitions…"

"I know, one in California and one in China… a ton of work at the store, furnishing their house, starting the school, meeting with the department of education, dealing with getting orphanage status or whatever that's called… I know… busy."

"She called you four times a week… religiously." Tamsin replied.

"Oh, so I'm her new religion? I thought that was surfing."

"Lewis, I swear to the Gods of the Volleyball court! She has been following doctor's orders and the request that you made to her the day she dropped you off!"

"I changed my mind the next day."

"Well, Hale and Ciara didn't."

"I was alone in there."

"That was the whole idea… for you to find you… to learn to depend on yourself… to believe in yourself… to regain your power and control over yourself and your life." Tamsin's voice expressed the need she felt for Lauren to understand the progress she'd made.

"I know. You're right and I have. It's just… the closer we get, the more I'm afraid that…"

"No… just stop at afraid… there doesn't have to be anything attached to it. Now, confront your fear."

"I have nothing to fear, I have only to trust."

"Right. Now, keep repeating that until you're alone with her and you can see it in her eyes."

"What if I don't? What if she sees me and… what if there's nothing left?"

"Then you'll pick up your life and forward, Lauren… you'll have everything you had before Bo Dennis walked into your life, but this time, you'll have hope and opportunity and freedom from the darkness."

As they pulled through the last stretch of trees shading the driveway, the sun shone down brightly onto Lauren's skin as she sat in the convertible. Tamsin glanced over at her friend,

"Welcome to the light." Tamsin smiled as her friend's eyes went wide.

"Very busy indeed." Was all Lauren could say.


	8. Chapter 8: The Calm After the Storm

**A/N:** Okay... a lighter chapter ahead. As always, thank you so much for the support, reviews and messages. Thanks for the surfing support and advice... I'm claiming poetic license for a lot of what I write in the world of pro surfing... because again, I am far from a professional in either of these worlds! I only know the basics by comparison. There is a Hawaiian who is currently at the top of the WSL standings, so maybe Bo should win! To my Aussie readers, I'll try to get Bo or Kenzi into a competition in the places you've suggested – we can "make waves" anywhere our minds can imagine them in the world of fiction!

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHAPTER 8: THE CALM AFTER THE STORM**_

"Bo, come on, we're supposed to be over there by now!"

"I know, I just... okay, okay... I'm ready."

Bo wasn't really ready... she wasn't ready at all. Why was Hale insisting on this? She had argued with him, but when he pulled the 'in my professional opinion' and the 'in the end it's my call' cards out, she didn't really have a choice... but that didn't stop her from giving him an earful of her opinion on the matter. So, here she stood trying to rein in her anger. Her own counseling session had done a lot to bring her back to some semblance of normalcy and, unfortunately, with that came her temper.

Kenzi had told her on many occasions that the 'old Bo was back'. By that, she didn't mean her cocky, confident, I'm gonna kick your ass surfer version... she meant the one that would ground her for a week without question when she was a kid if she so much as missed one homework assignment.

So, Bo took a few deep breaths and whispered to herself, "You're angry at Hale. Don't take it out on the whole fucking crowd... and don't rip Hale's head off when he tries to be a controlling asshat. He's just doing his job the way it should be done, Bo. So what if he's wrong." She mumbled the last sarcastic words just as Kenzi yelled to her again.

"Let's get your money maker shakin' big sis."

"I'm coming! Geez, Kenzi! Hold your fucking horses!"

Bo entered the living room of their newly renovated home to find her sister standing there with her hands on her hips,

"I know you did not just snap at me, BoBoFet. I am not the one who's late and I am not the one who schedule this lame-ass meeting."

"It's funny. I was just telling myself not to snap at anyone else for something that is Hale's fault."

"He's got a dick. What can ya do, BoBo. He may have all kinds of prestigious degrees, but he clearly does not understand women. I guess that's why he's still single."

"He's single because all he does is work."

Kenzi laughed, "And isn't that the pot calling the kettle black!"

"What? I'm starting a new business, a new school, I'm back in competition and I'm training... it's just..."

"All work, no play... like I said..."

"Okay, okay... but dammit, Kenzi... I'm having so damn much fun!"

Kenzi smiled, "Yea, well don't forget that after this meeting. Stay focused on your new life, Bo... remember..."

"I am not going back, Kenzi. That accident changed me in ways that I never thought I could ever change."

The pair walked out the side door of their home and onto the side porch. They hopped on their bikes and peddled down the trail to the meetinghouse. Bo looked up at the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. It was getting cooler out now as fall came, but her island was never too cold really. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy her first weekend off since Brazil.

"Are you gonna go to the pipe with me tomorrow? I want to try out those new boards."

"You're not gonna try them at the rec beach first?" Kenzi asked as she peddled ahead of Bo at a point on the path that was too narrow to ride side by side.

"Already did. It handled like a dream, Kenz. The resin still isn't right though. I know I can get a smoother ride."

"Then why are you bothering to test it at pipe?"

"Because it's still better than any other board I've made. This could be the one to use next week."

"Did you make two?" Kenzi asked with a big smile.

"Of course I did, but your hasn't seen the water yet. It's a little narrower in the nose like you like it, but I kept the rest like your favorite."

"Is it on the rack?" Kenzi asked.

Bo shook her head, "Not the one by the beach. It's on the one behind the house. I didn't want anyone using it."

"Okay. I'll try it out today and if I like it, I'll use it tomorrow in the big girl surf."

Bo took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air, then breathed out as she lowered her eyes and turned the familiar corner into the area that was now the main meetinghouse for their school.

It was a traditional Hawaiian design, built by some of the natives of the island who had really gotten behind what Bo was trying to accomplish. She knew she was living a jaded life on the island. Non-natives were not always welcomed with open arms, but her reputation for being fierce on the water, yet sincere in her intentions with people, had gained her favor in the community. It took a while when they'd first moved here, but when the story of her upbringing got out, her buddies at the break began to call her the 'real-deal'. Now that she was up and surfing again, she had been able to get the word out on what she was trying to do.

The pair pulled into the bike stop and placed their wheels in the bike stand before walking up the steps into the meetinghouse. They walked through the lobby and into the room where Hale was waiting for them. He stood to greet them with a smile and a hug,

"How are we today, ladies?" Hale asked.

Bo nodded, "Good. Good."

Hale looked at Kenzi, then back to Bo, "A little nervous?"

"I think it's more nervous anger, but I'm here." Bo snapped, "Sorry... I just..."

"I know how you feel, Bo but..."

"I know, I know... it's your call. Let's just do this thing, okay?" Bo said, irritated.

Hale nodded and waved them into the room where he had set up five chairs in a circle. Bo saw the arrangement and just shook her head, and whispered to Kenzi,

"Please tell me he's not going to make us use the talking stick, too."

"Bo, I swear if he hands you a stick, do not shove it up his ass."

The sisters shared a laugh as Bo replied, "I don't think I could get it up there if I tried."

Kenzi busted out laughing, drawing Hale's attention,

"Kenzi, why don't you get Bo some water? It'll give her something to do with her hands."

Kenzi laughed again, "Keep Bo's hands occupied... that's a very good idea, Hale."

She winked at her sister who turned towards Hale. Looking around the room, she started to feel sick to her stomach. This sucked.

"So, Bo... can you tell me what you're feeling right now?"

"Angry. Ready. Nervous. Afraid. Anxious. Excited. Terrified. Worried. Like I'd like to sit on the front step and do this my way. Should I go on or does that about cover it?"

Hale laughed, "Well, I'm sure that you'll feel much better in about five minutes."

"Five minutes?"

"Were you expecting us to start late?" Hale asked.

"Uh... no... of course not. You're always very... prompt. I just... well, the others are usually early."

"Why don't you have a seat." Hale asked.

"I'd rather stand." Bo replied, shaking out her hands before pressing them together again.

"Bo, here you go." Kenzi watched as her sister' face immediately drained of all color when she looked up, "It's just me, big sister. Look, you may wanna sit down before you fall down."

All of a sudden, Bo wanted to run. She wasn't sure how she felt about any of this. She had gotten her shit together in the past two months. She was back to being the kick ass surfer she'd always been since her parents died.

"Geez! I pulled my shit together in my early twenties to raise a teenager. I found a way to pay bills, put a roof over our heads, work my way up the pro surfing ladder with nothing but natural talent and my own will to accomplish my goals. In the past two months, I've stared down large rooms filled with suits, doctors and the board of education, not to mention handling some tough kids hardened by the loss of their families... you'd think I could handle..."

"One friendly Doctor?"

The voice echoed across the room as Bo turned, her eyes catching sight of the blonde she hadn't seen for two months,

"Lauren."

The blonde smiled, "Yup... that's still my name."

Bo took an awkward step forward, unsure of how to greet the blonde. She looked tired and... tense. Bo smiled, taking another step towards her, determined to try to seem... normal... even though this first meeting after so long apart was anything but. She wished they were alone, but Hale had insisted. She finally broke her stare and spoke, "It's good to see you."

Lauren nodded, "It's good to see you too, Bo."

Hale drew everyone's attention, "Well, what do you say we all sit down?"

Tamsin moved towards Kenzi, placing a light kiss on her cheek before sitting next to her and whispering, "How's she doing?"

"Nervous and majorly pissed at Hale. How's Lauren?"

"Nervous and majorly pissed at Hale." Tamsin replied before the pair turned towards Hale who began,

"Okay, so... it's been a while for the two of you. We're meeting here today..."

"They know why we're meeting here, Hale." Tamsin said, annoyed that he was having this grand re-introduction against the wishes of both Bo and Lauren. She and Kenzi had begged Hale not to make this more awkward for them than it was already going to be. Bo had just wanted to meet her in a coffee shop or on the beach, but he had flatly refused. Right now, Tamsin was going to do her best to get him to move it along before one or both of them either vomited or ran out of the room.

"Okay, well... as you both know, you've been in separate sessions working through the various things the two of you needed to work on to get to a healthier place in your respective lives..."

He looked at the blonde, "Lauren, as I've told you in our sessions, after the last night in Brazil, Bo was left with some pretty heavy items on her plate from your life which triggered some things about her own past, as well as some confusion about the relationship the two of you had built. She's been working with Ciara since she's come home and they've been spending a good deal of time together..."

Lauren slapped both of her hands on her legs, "Okay... I get it... everything Hale said... everything Tamsin said about moving forward on my own..."

She turned to Bo, "So, you fell in love with Ciara and I'm history. It's okay... Let me just make this easy and give you the out you're looking for..."

Bo stood, and came to stand in front of Lauren, "No! No! Lauren, why would you... no!"

The brunette watched as Lauren's body language changed, her head turning away into her shoulder. She immediately took a cleansing breath and knelt down before the blonde,

"Lauren... I'm sorry. Please... I am not Nadia! Please don't be afraid of me... I would never hurt you." Bo pleaded, her hand reaching out, but then pulling back, unsure if she should touch the blonde. She and Ciara had talked about PTSD... all of the do's and don'ts...

"No? Well, what's with the big Ciara and you speech that Hale led with then?" Lauren's head snapped up, the anger on her face a shock to everyone in the room, "I know you aren't Nadia, Bo. But I won't be treated like she treated me ever again!"

"Okay... well... it's nice to see you standing up for yourself... now... if you'll allow me to explain about the conclusion you are jumping to, Doctor Lewis?"

Lauren went to yell back, but one look from Hale and she sighed, "Fine." She put her hands on her lap and slid back into her seat. Bo remained in front of her as she spoke,

"First, that was Hale's speech, not mine... I would not have led with Ciara. He's a shrink, what did you expect?" Bo laughed, causing Lauren to smile a bit, "Look, Ciara is my therapist... that is all. There hasn't been anyone since you. I haven't so much as gone on a date. I've been too busy and had too much on my mind to even consider dating. Besides, after all we've been through, even if you had told me we were over before you left Brazil, I still wouldn't have dated anyone for a very, very long time."

"Why not?"

"Lauren, we were in a relationship. One that I thought would be long term. I thought I was in love with a mentally healthy, Olympic athlete and doctor who had her shit together both personally and professionally. You've gotta give me a break here, because thinking you had the whole truth and nothing but the truth from a woman you see a future with is a little rough when you find out she had not just one, but three skeletons hanging in a very dark closet."

Lauren nodded, "I deserved that."

"I've learned a lot about PTSD and Domestic Violence while you were gone... well, I had some knowledge of both before this, but I promise I will try to be patient. You've been through a lot and I want to be part of your support system. Not someone who drags you back down."

Lauren nodded, "I don't want to be treated like a fragile flower, okay?"

"Okay." Bo replied.

"So... you really didn't even go on a date?" Lauren asked.

"Hell no. When you're exposed to the sappy twosome over there every day of your life, love is the last thing you go looking for..."

"Hey! We are not sappy!" Kenzi defended, "We are the coolest couple ever!"

Kenzi and Tamsin high-fived each other as Bo shook her head and looked at Lauren,

"They are totally sappy."

Lauren laughed as Bo continued,

"Besides, I'm in full training mode, so I'm pretty much just surrounded by Vex, Val, Dyson, Ciara and my staff every day."

Bo watched as the blonde's eyes went wide at the mention of Dyson's name, "And no... I have not regressed and bedded Mr. Mopey. He's all Ciara's now." Bo smiled.

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Dyson and... really? That's... wow..."

Bo nodded, "Yea... Mr. Scruffy with Miss Prim and Proper. We didn't see it at first either."

"Us? How about Ciara?" Tamsin asked.

"Ciara be like... does he own anything other than jeans, T-shirts and surf gear?" Kenzi laughed.

"But, we all went out one night before I left for a competition and... well, they got to talking and just hit it off."

"So they're really a couple, then?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "It's actually really great. Dyson is no longer running around brooding about how I'm his destiny and you're the root of his devastation and Ciara... well... she's just Ciara only happier. She really brings out the best in him... you might actually like him now." Bo smiled, "Of course, that may be pushing it."

Hale pointed to the chair that Bo had evacuated, "So... can we continue?"

Bo glared at Hale, before she sighed and sat back down in her chair, giving the psychiatrist a sarcastic, "Sure, Hale." Before he spoke, she looked at Lauren, "We good?"

Lauren nodded and gave her a small smile as they turned their attention back to Hale who continued,

"So, you've both made progress and Bo has been..."

Bo stood up, "Look... I'm sorry... actually... we talked about that in counseling too! I should not apologize for things when I don't really think I'm at fault, so I'm not sorry. I don't mean to rain on your parade Hale... wait... that's not true either... I do mean to rain on your parade. You are about to tell Lauren all about my progress and then I'm guessing you're going to tell me all about Lauren's progress. The bottom line here is that we've both been discharged from care with Lauren continuing to meet with whomever she wants from this point forward, and me continuing to meet with Ciara as needed, correct?"

"That's correct." Hale replied, "But...

Bo interrupted, "Okay, so my head's on straight, her head's on straight..."

Lauren quipped, "Figuratively speaking, of course. I'll never be straight."

"Cute." Bo smirked before turning back to Hale, "So, if you don't mind... I'd like to show Lauren what's happened with my life and let our conversation go where it may, okay? Then she can come back and talk to Kenzi if she wants to or doesn't want to. Her car is parked here, her house and car keys are hanging by the door, so if at any time she wants to go... it's her call, right? I mean... if she needs you, she can call you, right?"

Hale hesitated, "Well... I just want to be sure..."

Lauren interjected, "Hale, you know I love you, but the birdie needs to go free." She walked to Hale and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be okay... honest. I'm around friends here, unless something has changed."

She looked over her shoulder at Kenzi and Tamsin,

"You know we've got your back, Lewis." Tamsin replied.

Kenzi threw her hands up, "Finally! I've been sitting here staring at a friend whom I didn't even get to say hello to! Talk about awkward!" Kenzi smiled, standing from the couch and walking towards the blonde, "It's really great to see you again, Lauren." She held out her arms, "Hug?"

Lauren's shoulders relaxed, "I so much want a Kenzi hug."

Lauren reached for the younger girl and smiled over her shoulder at Tamsin. Kenzi pulled back and smiled at Lauren who had tears in her eyes. Lauren whispered, to the young surfer, "Tamsin's really, really happy, you know. Thank you."

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine." Kenzi smiled and kissed Lauren on the cheek, "Now, go get to know my new big sister and her new family."

"She's that different?" Lauren asked.

"I'd like to say she's BoBo 2.0, but really, she's BoBo 1.0 pre-accident and Lauren drama... no offense."

"None taken." Lauren smiled.

"Of course, it doesn't really matter what I think about BoBo, does it? Whether friends or lovers, I think the two of you are going to like the new "you" that you've each become. Now go... you're gonna be shocked and amazed at what we've been doing." Kenzi clapped her hands together quickly before putting up both her hands,

"Wait! I almost forgot. I got you a coming home present." Kenzi ran over behind her chair and pulled out a bag. Handing it to Lauren she smiled,

"You're gonna love this, Hotpants!"

Lauren smiled, and peeked in the bag before pulling out a dry suit top with a message on the front, "Designed by Bo and Ciara, guaranteed to fit even Scrawny Boobs."

Lauren burst out laughing, causing Bo's eyes to tear up a bit across the room. She hadn't heard such a sincere and uninhibited laugh from the blonde in all of their time together. Tamsin stood and moved to Bo, draping an arm around her shoulder as they both watched Kenzi explain the shirt to Lauren.

"Do you remember Darla from the diner?" Kenzi asked.

It took Lauren a moment, before the memory kicked in, "Ohmagosh! What was that saying? As fast as green grass through a goose!"

Kenzi joined Lauren as she chanted the phrase, and then explained, "Well, this design is in honor of Darla. Look at the tag and logo."

Lauren laughed as she read the tag, looking over her shoulder at Tamsin and Bo, "Scrawny Boobs! Oh geez! It's trademarked?"

Bo smiled, "Yup. Kenzi handled it all. Look at the design."

"Are they geese in green grass?"

"Yup and owls and tigers... oh, but you don't know that one yet. I'm doing all of Darla's marketing and she learned how to use the phone you gave her. We promised her that you would message her on Facebook once you got back from your Island vacation."

"My what?" Lauren asked, her eyes gazing at every face in the room.

"You really don't remember the contract, do you?" Tamsin asked.

Lauren shook her head, her eyes downcast, embarrassed by some of the memories she'd lost of that twenty-four hour period in Rio.

Bo moved to her side, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder,

"Hey, Lauren. It's okay. That was a rough time for everyone, you especially. The contract simply states that you are not permitted to ever... and it's an iron clad never... disclose to anyone your actual location for the past two months... not it's GPS coordinates, what you did there, who you saw there, names, memories, nothing, okay?"

Lauren nodded, "So where was I for eight and a half weeks?"

Bo smiled, "You were simply on a private island where there was nothing but white sand, massages, great food, fantastic sunrises, sunsets and plenty of relaxation. You've come back refreshed and ready to work after a much-deserved vacation that you really needed after years of intensive preparation for two simultaneous ventures into becoming a doctor and an Olympic Gold Medalist."

Bo shook her head, "Wow... come to think of it, you really did need a vacation."

Lauren smiled and nodded, sinking her hands into her pockets, "Nice cover story."

Bo nodded, "And to make things even easier, Tamsin has not left this area while you've been gone. She's been keeping a very low profile, making sure to stick to the story of your whereabouts, leaving only to go work at her Pop's office. Everyone else was doing the same. We've all been pretty invisible so people weren't drawn into conversations about the famous Olympic Gold Medalist."

"Her Pop's office?" Lauren looked up at Tamsin, who nodded and explained her Father's presence in Hawaii,

"Yea... well, after the Olympics, my parents got in touch since I never really explained why all of the security was hanging out when they came to see me in Rio. So... well... they know what's going on, Lauren..."

"Tamsin..."

"Before you yell at me, you know I can't keep secrets from them and Pops loves you. I know you think they're hippie surfboard makers from Half Moon Bay, but they're so much more than that..."

"I didn't mean to insult..."

"Well, you did... and you do, Lauren. You did it to Bo and Kenzi just like you've always done it to my parents as long as we've known each other. You've always looked down your nose at them as if they were... well... I don't know what. They love you, Lauren. You've been my partner and teammate most of my adult life so to them, you are like another daughter. They came to help."

"How?" Lauren asked.

"Pops is running the company so I can be there for you, Bo and Kenzi. Mom is helping Bo out. Just... look... when you see them... and you will, eventually... just know that they've put on regular people clothes and taken on regular work ours to help all of us out."

Lauren frowned, "I'm sorry if I've ever offended them... or you. They've always been good to us... to me. Please thank them for me."

"You can thank them yourself when you see them." Tamsin said quietly, her eyes lowered.

Hale clapped his hands together, "Lauren, you should also know that only the people in this room, Ciara and Trick know the truth about where you've been. Tamsin's parents don't know about the threats on your life at the Olympics just yet, but she doesn't intend to tell them. Like she said... they have no secrets and you need to respect that about her relationship with them." Hale added.

Lauren nodded before turning to Bo, who interjected,

"Of course, since they were there, Manny and the boys know too, but every one of us have signed the same contract of non-disclosure. You have a fresh start, Lauren... for real."

"Uh... the trial..." Tamsin mumbled. Bo glared at her, not wanting to bring up the trials of Evony and Kristy just yet. She thought quickly, coming up with an idea to cover Tamsin's blunder,

Bo smiled, "Oh yea, Nadia's trial is over and she is behind bars... she's serving twenty-five years in federal prison with no chance of parole for extortion, followed by an additional thirty-five years for assault, sexual assault and emotional abuse... then..."

Bo tried to continue, but Lauren interrupted, "But... but how? How would they have any evidence to convict her of what she did to me?"

Bo answered, "Well, your friend and boss Trick, has some friends in the 5-0 task force here in Hawaii. Knowing that Nadia knew who I was, we set up a bit of a sting operation. I invited Nadia to have a little conversation where I asked what it would take for her to back off and out of your life so we... uh... could... well, I told her we wanted to get married... sorry."

Bo shuffled her feet, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder,

"It's okay, Bo. Please... continue." Lauren smiled, shyly.

"She didn't bite at first, but then I started telling her I knew about everything that had happened between the two of you."

Bo watched as Lauren stiffened, "Do you want to sit down?"

"No... no... it's just... that was a dangerous thing to tell her, Bo. She..."

"I know, I know... well, still... it worked. Rather than deny what happened, she tried to turn it all around on me. It turns out that ever since Casey spilled the beans about who I am on the WSL circuit, she's been following my career. She figured I was her next meal ticket... you know, if I had money..."

"Then she could blackmail you like she did me." Lauren finished.

"Right, so she openly admitted she'd make twice as much off of the two of us. She was so cocky, Lauren. She told me to thank you for telling me the story of the two of you so that she could get money from us both in exchange for our silence or she would ruin us. She said it's the price famous people pay for being good at something. There's always something people can leverage that could ruin your career. So, she basically tried to do to me exactly what she did to you, all the while openly admitting to the way she'd... well... you know... what she... uh..."

"It's okay, Bo... I can say the words now... the way she'd abused me physically, sexually and emotionally all of those years. The wonders of therapy, eh?"

Bo nodded, "Yea, well... I'm still working on being able to say all of that."

Lauren placed a hand on Bo's forearm, "I'll help you along."

Bo smiled, "So anyway... she got hit with two counts of extortion since she tried to extort me, and she got hammered for all she did to you when you were dating."

"I still don't see how..."

"I was wearing a wire, Lauren. It was all on tape. Add to that your college records showing your true age, during the dates she said she'd been with you and she got another twenty years for statutory rape. Tamsin and her friends testified to the sexual relationship. The best part... It never got to the newspapers or media. There was a plea deal and a non-disclosure agreement signed in exchange for us reducing her sentence by five years."

"Wait... so... she got one hundred and five years?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, "You still like math."

Lauren nodded with a smile, "You remembered."

Bo smiled, "You forgot to subtract the five we gave up for non-disclosure."

"Right." Lauren tucked her hands into her pockets again and shrugged, "I don't know what to say, Bo." She turned and looked around the room, "Thank you all for... for doing all of that."

She turned back to Bo, "So... she's really gone? Out of my life?"

Bo nodded, then turned to Hale and gave him a nod. He moved towards Lauren and handed her an envelope. She looked a bit confused as she looked up at Bo,

"Open it."

Lauren flipped the envelope over, "Office of Evidence, Criminal Investigation Service, Hawaii 5-O?"

"Go on, open it, Lauren." Bo repeated.

She slipped a finger through the seal and broke open the envelope. She pulled out the letter unfolding the form. Her eyes went wide,

"What the..."

"That's what was left in Nadia's accounts... apparently she was a saver, go figure. She had six accounts at six different banks in Canada as well as some investment funds, which they liquidated. She had three accounts here in the states, two accounts in Switzerland and four accounts in the Cayman Islands. She also had quite the car collection, four homes and various paintings worth a lot of money. Apparently they're investigating the paintings... or should I say, how she acquired the paintings. That may add on to her time. Anyway, all of her assets were liquidated, and the judge declaring the profits after court costs your settlement."

"I'm... I don't know what to say... I mean... this is a lot of money... a lot of money. Probably a lot more money than she actually got from me." Lauren replied.

"Not if you add interest, pain and suffering and the fact that she did invest your money well." Bo stepped closer, "Lauren, you were giving her everything, weren't you."

Lauren gave Bo a half smile, "My house... up on the hill... it's in her name."

"Not anymore." Hale said, firmly.

Lauren's head spun in his direction, then back to Bo who simply smiled and nodded. Bo placed a hand on her upper arm,

"Tell, us... please?"

"She gave me an allowance... just enough for me to live the image of a doctor who was getting my salary and no more. She bought me the car and the house with its contents. Once a year she bought me five new blouses, five new pairs of pants, five new lab coats, five new pairs of panties..."

"I think we get the picture... enough to get you through the work week." Bo finished.

Lauren nodded, "Always the same size. I wasn't to gain any weight. I got one hundred dollars a month for food, toiletries and gas."

Kenzi gasped, "How do you live on that? Even Bo and I spent more than that a month and we were dirt shit poor!" She slapped her hand over her own mouth as Lauren lowered her eyes and smiled.

"You learn how to save and shop for bargains. She wanted to make sure I couldn't go out for dinner or go to bars."

"She wanted you isolated." Hale concluded.

Lauren looked up at him and nodded, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this in our sessions, Hale. I just... it wasn't that bad, really. I was comfortable."

Bo just shook her head. Lauren clearly still had a long way to go, "No, Lauren. Comfort is not the goal in life. Freedom is the goal... it is the promise of our country. The bottom line is that you have that now. You can go where you want, when you want and you can always so no... to anyone and anything."

Kenzi shook her head, "Except paying taxes... I mean... Uncle Sam will come and get you over that one... and Jury Duty... you can't say no to that either... traffic laws... your Hippocratic oath..."

Bo waved her sister off, "I think she gets the picture, Kenzi."

The brunette turned back to Lauren, "So, your first opportunity to say yes or no... would you like to go for a walk with me? I'd like to show you what all of us have worked to create while you've been on your... vacation."

Lauren looked over her shoulder at Tamsin and Kenzi who had their arms around each other's waists and were motioning and nodding, encouraging her to go with Bo so they could have some alone time.

The blonde leaned over to Bo and whispered, "Why didn't you tell me they were so adorable together?"

"You had to see it to believe it." Bo smiled, offering Lauren her hand.

The blonde paused for a moment before smiling and taking it, relaxing when she felt the familiar feel and warmth of the woman who had fallen into her life almost a year ago now. Bo smiled in return and began to lead her to the door.

Hale stood, scratching his head. Kenzi walked over to him, "Okay. Pick up your papers and go file them away in your office. You have a surf-counseling appointment with Sam."

"What just happened here?" Hale asked as the two stepped out of the meeting room.

Kenzi smiled and replied, "You counseled the hell outta those girls. You and Ciara did such a good job, they ran the meeting right over you and out the door."

Hale sighed, "You think they're gonna be okay?"

Kenzi smiled, "Some things you just have to figure out for yourself... and you have a lot to learn about how women do things, counselor. Women talk and work through their shit together when they've been in a relationship. You may have to mediate men, but please don't ever try to do that again with two women. It was awkward, Hale.

Tamsin sighed, "Well, you've kicked the little bird out of the nest, now she has to learn to fly. Don't worry... I have a feeling she's gonna have help."

"Tam-Tam... get that bikini on your hot ass, woman! We've got waves to catch! Mamma's got a competition in a week! And BoBo made me a new board!"

"Oh yea, we are off to Japan, baby!" Tamsin replied, walking out the door towards the bike racks, "Think Bo will know to take my car back when she sees her bike is gone?"

Kenzi smiled, "I have a feeling she may walk the entire island before those two are done talking."

Hale stood, watching the two women bike away, "I hate surfing. Why can't I counsel kids in an office like a normal shrink. Counseling on a surfboard... these women are outta their minds like Frankenstein."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So, I'm not sure what you want to see first. The waterfront? The dorms? The classrooms?" Bo looked down at her watch, "Oooh... there's a science class right now! Want to see the labs? I know nothing about science, but the three classrooms are supposedly state of the art!"

"You lead, I'll follow, Bo. It's really just nice to be somewhere... anywhere else."

Bo's face soured a bit, "Oh."

"Bo... I meant anywhere with you. No pressure... I'm just happy to see you. I was worried about you after dumping all of the heavy on you." She paused, "Do you... I mean... you don't have to... but do you want to talk before we..."

"Well, we're supposed to recap. Is there anything you want to tell me about... well... I guess we can start at the beginning. Do you want to tell me anything about the stuff with your Father?"

"Nope, you know it all."

"Your childhood bullying incidents?"

"I remembered some specific nicknames, but nothing to hold onto or that you'll hear me screaming about at night." Lauren chuckled before she realized what she'd said, "Uh... of course... I'm not expecting that... I mean... not that you'll be sleeping with me at night... I mean... God this is awkward."

Bo smiled, "Lauren, it's okay. This is us, alright? Unfamiliar us, but I still want to talk to you and I want you to just say whatever comes out. I'm not going to read into things or try to analyze you. I think we've both had enough of being analyzed."

Lauren nodded, "Amen to that."

Bo nodded, "So... anything about the high school torture?"

Lauren shook her head, "Relived those days at least seventeen times in therapy, so no need to go there again, darlin'."

Bo smiled, but knew the tough stuff remained, "So... Nadia... abuse of the worst kind followed by extortion and never-ending threats that you couldn't tell anyone about. If I had any doubts about that, they were put to rest when I helped with the sting. That woman is a skilled manipulator. She almost had me worried that she could ruin me. Of course, I just happened to know the police were hanging on every word. It gave me the strength to stand up to her. I understand how she could have worn you down... made you feel weak and demeaned you all of those years. I can't imagine having survived what you survived."

She looked up at Lauren, "Honestly, I think you're the strongest woman I know."

Lauren blushed, shaking her head, "A stronger woman would never have allowed what I allowed. But you're right... she was a skilled manipulator and she knew exactly what buttons to push. I felt so strong the day before I was told I was leaving the island. Then, the night before I left, I had nightmares about her again... I was worried I was going to come back here and she would be released... so... to be honest, knowing she's in jail is all I really need. I just... you need to know that I'm still a little... skittish... under direct remand."

Bo nodded, "I know what to look for now... and I know that I need to try harder to control my temper, or at least stay seated if I'm angry or reacting... sorry about that in there."

"Standing at equal heights or sitting... eye level and side by side helps." Lauren explained.

"Side by side it is." Bo nodded, "Uh, Lauren... I want to admit something to you."

"Okay."

"It may be hard to hear, so I'm sorry if it is, but I want us to be completely honest."

Lauren nodded, taking a seat on a nearby picnic table. Bo joined her and began,

"That night... in Brazil? Well... Tamsin told Kenzi her version of what between you and Nadia. Kenzi tried to tell me in the bathroom at the restaurant, but I stopped her, telling her I wanted to hear it from you. The truth was, when I saw my sister's reaction, I'd thought you'd slept with Nadia. I was ready to get on a plane and never look back."

"I'm glad you stayed." Lauren replied.

Bo nodded, "As you spoke to me about your history with her, I found myself almost relieved she'd treated you that way. I felt like I'd been given a reason to stay with you that didn't make me look like an idiot."

Lauren's eyebrows were raised as she stared at the sand beneath her feet, "Well... I don't know what to say in response to that, Bo. You were glad I was..."

Bo shook her head, "I wasn't happy that you were abused, Lauren. I was happy that I could rationalize staying with you. When I came back and told Ciara that in therapy, we processed it and I realized that I was ready to allow you to treat me any way you wanted as long as you would stay... even if you had slept with Nadia that night because you actually wanted to be with her. I realized in that moment that I was as terrified of being alone as you were when we started. If I hadn't been looking for reasons to stay with you, I might have helped you sooner."

Bo shook her head, "I'm just lucky that the worst you did to me was be so focused on your own career and life that you didn't really seem to care about mine. What was done to you was just... it was horrible, Lauren, and I'm sorry I didn't pick up on things earlier."

"Well, I was pretty self-centered." Lauren replied.

"I believe Ciara called it survival mode."

"Yea, I learned that term too. I also learned it's not healthy for two people to be together when they're both in that mode."

Bo nodded, "I learned that too. So... we'll watch each other for that?"

Lauren nodded, "Yes. We have to help each other move ahead, Bo... even if that means growing apart."

Bo nodded, "I know, Lauren. I hate that it could happen, but we've both suffered enough, right? We deserve healthy, happy lives. As friends or lovers, we'll always have each other."

Lauren nodded, "Hug?"

Bo smiled, "Most definitely."

The two embraced tightly, probably holding on longer than they should have, but the distance had been hard for them both and the months had been filled with days, hours, minutes and even seconds that were agonizing during the times when they missed the company of the other.

They pulled apart, Bo speaking first, "I missed that."

Lauren smiled, "You give the best hugs... and you're always warm."

Bo smiled, "You're sometimes so cold. I like that I can keep you warm." Bo swung her arms back and forth, "So, science classroom? They're working on a surface tension lab as it applies to building the ideal surf board."

Lauren laughed, "Wow. This school really is all about surfing."

"Well, all about surfing and everything it takes to surf. The waves come from reefs that are filled with life and reefs are dying all over the world due to pollution and climate change. The currents make the waves and those currents are important to the electromagnetic field that controls storms and the earth's rotation... I mean, I could go on and on and on if I knew how to teach every subject."

They entered the science building and Lauren was immediately impressed, "Wow, I love the open design. You can see all three classrooms... glass walls? What a beautiful concept."

"My philosophy was that we could work on students disciplining them to be focused on tasks or goals if they were put in a classroom situation where there were possible distractions. Glass walls means they could be distracted by other kids who lost focus, fire from another lab, anything visual or even a loud enough noise to penetrate the sound baffles."

Bo pointed up to the ceiling so Lauren could see how the rooms were separated and insulated for soundproofing.

"So, the teachers are not only grading students on their assignments and classwork, they're also grading them on performance criteria such as focus, time on task, etc. The department of education was willing to go along with the grading system as long as we worked with a certified school psychologist to establish the performance norms."

"And that would be Hale?"

Bo nodded, "Yes and Ciara's friend is also on staff to handle requirements for the IDEA laws for students with disabilities and learning differences."

Lauren smiled, "I love the concept. How did you come up with the idea to evaluate student performance criteria rather than just assignments?"

"I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid, but my parents wouldn't let them put me on a drug. They just started doing drills with me using surfing, cooking, whatever. Once I learned to focus, my grades went up."

"Cooking?" Lauren asked, while smiling at the students raising their hands. She'd had a totally different experience in school. Hers was usually the only had extended. The enthusiasm in all three classrooms was amazing and the loved that they were all so actively engaged.

"Yea, my Mom put together some really complex meals and I had to keep track of everything. She would have Kenzi come in and try to distract me, but I eventually learned not to walk away from pasta in a boiling pot!"

Lauren laughed, imaging a tiny Kenzi. She was probably such a little nudge. Her eyes traveled to where there was a robotics experiment happening in another room and some form of biology lab in the third room, "Well, the microscopes over there are a dead give away for a bio class. Is that Doc Mansfield?"

Bo nodded, "Yea, he's a guest lecturer this week. He's here and he's working at Bo's place too."

"Bo's place?" Lauren asked.

"Do you remember how construction was supposedly delayed for seven days on our house? I believe I mentioned it our last night in Brazil. That Kenzi and I had to stay another week."

"Yea, actually, I do."

"Well, Vex lied. He, Kenzi, Nick and Doc Mansfield had arranged to create a wave pool facility here like the one in Brazil. They kept me there because they wanted to surprise me with it. The plumbing issue was actually a backorder for the facility. It finally opened a month ago and has been packed ever since. We keep medical staff on duty whenever the pools are open and Doc puts himself into the rotation."

Lauren smiled, "Excellent. What does a doctor have to do to get into that rotation?"

"Well, if you're asking for Doctor Lewis, all she need do is sign up with Nick's staff... and no, Peaches is not on staff here."

Lauren nodded, "Awww... I was so hoping to kick her ass for making a pass at my girlfriend. I'll have to do that then."

Bo smiled brightly knowing that Lauren wanted to be a part of all that they'd created here... not to mention she'd just called her 'girlfriend'.

Lauren shook her head, "Bo... I... I'm sorry... I just called you my girlfriend. I don't mean to insinuate that..."

"Lauren, it's okay. Look... when we left Brazil, we were girlfriends on a break. I'd like to think we are girlfriends who are trying to find their way back to each other after a break that changed us both."

"I like that." Lauren smiled before looking around at the rooms again, "I'm sorry I missed all of this. I would have loved to help you build your dream, Bo. After all, you did to help me find mine... and me... in the process."

"Well, it's funny you should mention helping me build something. You may still be able to do just that. Come on."

Bo led Lauren out of the facility to a large area of beach and open water behind the school,

"This is called the Back Bay Island. If you look out there, you can see the island. We have challenge courses there, kayaking, sailing... well, a lot of other water sports. We're building docks here to launch wave runners and set up for competitive water skiing and wake boarding. It's not much yet, but we're also really hoping to add an emergency response course to our curriculum. This would be the classroom... I mean... there would be a building here, but this would be the water emergency training grounds."

Bo watched as Lauren surveyed the area as she spoke, "The problem is, none of us know anything about emergency rescue. You may have noticed that the day I drowned. I mean... we all know how to use a wave runner and get someone to shore. We all know basic first aid and wound care. I supposed Kenzi could have performed CPR if you weren't there, but we don't usually have to do it. Honestly, there's usually a hospital or lifeguard nearby most of the time, especially at competitions."

Bo paused, thinking how much she should tell the blonde about her vision. She decided to go for it all, remembering they'd promised honesty, "To tell you the truth... and I haven't told anyone else this yet... I have this dream of hosting major WSL events here. Create an event that is world class. I've been working with other Geological Engineers... well... technically I'm not a certified one yet, but I'm close..."

"That's great, Bo! I'm so proud of you!"

Bo blushed, "Thanks. Anyway, we've been working on the reefs, clearing out pollutants and working with the coast guard to crack down on boating near the reef by adding new channel markers... we've already seen better growth and the return of some species of fish. It's changing the wave forms, so..."

"I'm not following, Bo... I'm sorry."

"I'm not being very clear, Lauren. I'm the one who's sorry. To bottom line it for you, stronger reefs mean better waves. We already get pipes on what we've marked as the expert area up the coast a ways. If we can repair the reef there, it would be a crusher junior WSL site. Kenzi and I surf there for our training now. It's not as good as further north at Banzai, but it's convenient and gives us a chance to try new things without risking our lives."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I'm happy to hear you two are being safe."

"I promised a certain doctor a while back I wouldn't be so reckless. Lauren... I'm back surfing at Banzai and..."

"Bo... it's okay. It's your job. If you don't practice there, you would go into the big waves in... where were you... China?"

"Yea." Bo smiled, still excited about her win there.

"If you hadn't practiced there, you would probably have gotten hurt in China. I trust you to be strong enough, skilled enough and smart enough to do your job, Bo. I refuse to be afraid, but I will make sure there is always an emergency team nearby when you're out there."

Bo chuckled, "I'd expect nothing less from my personal lifeguard. So... how about helping us to build an emergency training school and facility? And... well... we'll need a curriculum and instructors as well..."

Bo watched as Lauren's eyes moved up and down the coastline, then back onto land, "This would be great, Bo. I'd love to help you."

"No, Lauren... not help... lead. I need a project manager who knows what they're talking about. I'll have my Masters in Engineering from M.I.T. in another six weeks, but until then, we need a licensed physician and a certified Engineer. Doctor Mansfield doesn't feel comfortable in emergency medicine. My only other connection is you. Tamsin is my engineer. What do you think?"

Lauren smiled, "Well, I have a partial work schedule and therapy three times a week with Ciara. Other than that, I'll be free... I mean, I still run every day, and... well... please don't read anything into this, but I require some alone time every day.

Bo smirked, "Yea, I can see why you should be running. When I hugged you, I could feel you were getting soft." Bo teased.

"I beg your pardon!" Lauren laughed in mock offense.

"I'd hate to have to change my Scrawny Boobs logo to Bodacious Boobs so soon!"

"You'd love me if I had Bodacious Boobs." Lauren smiled.

"I love you without boobs, besides, I'll take your boobs any way I can get 'em, baby."

The couple stood staring at each other for a long moment before the realization his them,

"Uh... that was some serious flirting." Bo said, hanging her head, "I'm sorry."

Lauren blushed, "No, I'm sorry, I think I started that... I just... Look, Bo... I'm still interested in you. I know that we are supposed to..."

"Lauren, I'm interested in you too. I think the love we had was real. Things are just a little awkward right now and I think a little flirting is healthy."

"I agree. We can talk about it to Ciara to see what she thinks as well, but... Gods, it feels good to just say what I'm thinking."

Bo smiled, "Agreed. I think we just have to stick to whatever comes naturally, as long as we aren't using coping mechanisms that are unhealthy."

"Like sex... that's a big one. It would be so easy just to..."

Bo smiled, "I know... I know, believe me, I know."

Bo took Lauren's hand, giving her a soft smile, "You're still as beautiful as ever to me."

Lauren shook her head, "I have dark circles under my eyes and I look like I haven't slept for two months... actually, I haven't slept for two months."

"You really haven't?"

"Sleep is still something that eludes me. I mean... it's better, but... Hale says it's just going to take a while for me to feel safe again... to trust that no one is going to sneak into my bed at night or show up at work in the middle of the day and... well... you get the picture."

Bo nodded.

"Bo, I just want you to know that... for as much as I still find you extremely attractive, I'm afraid the physical stuff may be a little hard for me for the next little while.

"Oh, God Lauren, if my comments made you uncomfortable, I'm so sorry! I meant nothing by it and I have no expectat..."

Lauren silenced Bo with her fingers across her lips. She traced them with her thumb before pulling her hand away, turning it slowly into a fist,

"Sorry... I just... please don't get upset or mad or doubt how I feel if we start to move towards that and I pull back. I'm still a little iffy with physical contact. Hugs are great though."

"Okay... hugs it is, then."

Lauren smiled, "And hand-holding."

Bo smiled, "I do love hand-holding." She reached down and took Lauren's hand in her own, their fingers entwining as if they'd never been separated, "So, do you want to see the rest? We could start with the building called Bo's Place?"

Lauren nodded, following Bo's lead, "My insatiable curiosity is peaked, surfer girl."

Bo smiled and led her back towards the meetinghouse. This little reunion was off to a great start. They'd covered most of the roughest territory. Maybe, in time, there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Tamsin! You're late, sweet cheeks! Let's go! You know how pissy your Pops gets when you're not on time for work!"

Tamsin entered the kitchen where Kenzi was making two to-go cups of coffee. She strolled up behind the brunette and slapped her ass,

"Mornin', Shortstack."

Kenzi looked up over here shoulder and gave the blonde a quick peck on the lips, "You're late and you know Pops will blame me."

"Well, this morning actually happens to be your fault." Tamsin flirted.

"Oh no you don't. You came back for seconds and thirds already. There will be no fourths. I'm putting my stylish boot down. Keep your handsy hands to yourself!"

Tamsin laughed, taking the offered coffee, "I'll be back as soon as the board meeting is over. Apparently, Bo wants me to meet her at Back Bay today. She's finally got a plan for the land back there."

Kenzi laughed, "Of course she does. Did you notice she and Lauren never made it back here last night?"

Tamsin's eyes went wide, "They didn't?"

Kenzi laughed, "No, they didn't, but she left about ten texts and two voice messages keeping me posted all night... of course... I was... uh... busy, so I didn't see them until this morning. She did show Lauren the School, the Store, the Warehouse, Bo's Place, The Kitchen, The Grove, The Campground, Tent Town, the Workshop..."

"You mean the Manufacturing Barn..."

"She will never stop calling that her workshop, T-Bear. It's where she made her first surfboard. You can put that big ass addition on it, but to her, it will always be the workshop."

"Fine, fine. We'll just ignore the big 'ol sign that says KENBO Manufacturing Barn."

Kenzi shrugged, "I dunno... to me it's just the workshop too. I sat in there for hours watching here work. It was always her work, which was why I was against the company name. I'm not sure why she put my name first."

Kenzi fell silent, her eyes looking around their home. Tamsin moved around in front of the brunette, noting the change in her demeanor, "Hey, Shortstack, what's up?"

"You know, everything happened so fast here and... well, I'm not complaining... believe me I'm not complaining. We've built a successful business and have raised what began as a run down beach shack with leaks in every room to be... well... all of this. But sometimes..."

"You miss the small little cozy shit hole you and Bo lived in?"

Kenzi nodded, "Is that weird? I mean... do all successful business people miss being poor? I just feel like... I mean... Bo's been so... distant and I feel like I never see her to just... I dunno, like do Netflix and chill."

Tamsin frowned, "Am I spending too much time here?"

Kenzi took both of Tamsin's hands in her own, "No. Please don't think I'm suggesting anything of the kind. You know I love having you here."

Tamsin nodded, "So... how can I help?"

"I don't know yet, but if I figure it out, I'll let you know."

She moved up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on her girlfriend's lips, "No doubt?"

Tamsin smiled, "No doubt."

"Okay, now go before your Pops starts trying to send you text messages that say nothing close to what he wants to say."

"Hey, don't pick on the old man. He's used to living in a tech-free life in a shack with the love of his life. At least he's trying to use the iPhone we bought him. I fully expected him to use it as a paperweight."

Kenzi chuckled, "Every time you reply to me, you stand here for another minute, making you another minute late. You know how he feels... ten minutes early..."

"Is ten minutes late, I know, I know. I'll see you around lunch time unless you want to meet Bo and I at the bay later... probably around ten or so."

"I have class until then, so I'll try to get there. I have a group project due, so may have to stay if my peeps don't have all their ducks in a row."

"Quack quack." Tamsin smiled, heading for the door, "What time is your workout at Bo's Place?"

"Wave pool ETA is two p.m. I have a surfing class at noon and a marketing meeting with Val about Bo's sponsors for the WSL Championships at one... sort of a packed day."

"Sounds like your usual to me. If I don't see you at the bay, I'll try to make it back from the office for your workout at two. I actually have some projects outside of Kenbo I have to work on today."

"Well, I never!" Kenzi mocked, "You know Tam, you don't have to be at every one of my workouts."

"Hey, you were there for me at the Olympics... I'm just returning the favor."

"I didn't got to every one of your practices leading up the games."

Tamsin stepped back from the door and walked towards Kenzi, "What's really wrong?"

"I'm worried about Bo... with Lauren being back and their future unsure... I just don't want her to slide back into that shitty dark place she was in after Brazil."

"I get it. Look, I'll be around for Bo today, okay? I'll make sure she knows it, too. Do you know where she is now?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. After she took Lauren to see the workshop, and the dorms, the school, the beginner, intermediate and expert surf spots your company is working on, they toured the rest of the place and then went to Bo's Place because she had a scheduled workout. After that, they decided to do sunset together down by the beach. That's when they went to the kitchen."

"I'll bet Lauren expected to come here when Bo said she was taking her to the kitchen."

Kenzi laughed, "Yup... but when Bo told her to have a seat on the sand, it only took smarty pants about five minutes to realize they were in the kitchen. Bo said as soon as she cast out two rods to fish and fired up the grill, Lauren realized they were eating right there by the ocean."

"Did she like it?"

"Ohmagosh, Bo said she never wants to eat anywhere else again. Fresh fruit and veggies right from our garden and orchard, literally fresh caught sea bass and the finest seating a picnic grove with old salvaged picnic tables has to offer."

Tamsin laughed, "We really do need to do something about the picnic tables in the grove. Every time I sit down, I get a splinter in my ass."

Kenzi laughed, "And a fine ass it is. Bo does not want to sink money into the small things until the big stuff is finished. The reef project is costing us a small mint."

"Nope... Pops is donating the services. He just talked to his accountant. Now that this place has orphanage status, it's a great tax deduction."

"Ohmagosh! Bo is gonna be so pumped!"

"Yea, yea, so what else happened?" Tamsin asked.

"After dinner, Bo said they decided to camp out, so her last text said they were going to go to the campground behind the grove. I haven't seen them yet this morning, but Bo promised they were sticking to the no touch rule. She said Lauren isn't ready for the physical stuff."

Tamsin nodded, "Her counseling sessions brought up a lot of stuff for her... as much as it's good to dig it up, it takes a while to process it, bury it again and feel safe after what happened to her."

Kenzi nodded, wrapping the blonde in a hug, "Okay... frowning moment over. I'll text you if I see them before I leave. You are ridiculously late. Now go! Scoot!"

The surfer waved her arms at her girlfriend, pushing her out the door, "Drive safe!", she yelled as Tamsin jumped over her driver's side door and into her convertible.

Kenzi shook her head, "You know, that's really lady like to do in a skirt!"

"I will NEVER be a lady!" Tamsin glared before smiling and blowing Kenzi a kiss.

Kenzi stood and sighed, looking around the place that used to be their beloved little shack. She knew that she was the one who had complained the loudest about the place. She also knows that she was the one who put the plans together and did the remodeling and décor. After years of seeing magazines with expensive homes with beautiful furniture, she came to dream of having those things for herself and Bo. Now that they had it, she realized that what had made this place home was the memories she shared with Bo and the time they spent together. She actually missed the old worn couch.

She had no regrets about the people who had entered their life... they were better for it and she loved her new life. But she missed the quaint little cabin that she and her sister shared. She missed exiting her room and seeing Bo hanging off the edge of her bed sound asleep. Strangely enough, she missed the sound of rain on the roof and she missed sitting with Bo as they napped to the sound of the raindrops landing in the metal pots all over the house. It was quiet here... too quiet.

She scanned the room, looking at the beautiful open floor plan Bo had designed. The kitchen bordered by a dining room and living room that joined to an entertainment area that led to the oceanfront deck was truly beautiful with the dark wood trim and old iron fixtures. Off the living room was a hallway that led to their bedrooms, a guest room and their home office. There were lots of windows, which meant a nice bright interior for every room. It was a stark contrast to their old dark, dingy shack.

She chuckled remembering the bathroom... it was horrible, but somehow, she and Bo had always managed to do everything with both of them in there at the same time every morning. Now, every bedroom had its own bath. It would probably never be something she would say out loud to anyone except Bo, but she missed their morning bathroom time. They would sing Motown together and... well... they kept the traditions that their parents had passed down to them.

Looking around the room, her eyes welled with tears, "Mom and Dad would hate this place... especially the real furniture."

"Nah... I think they'd be proud we did it our way."

Kenzi spun around at the sound of the voice, "Hey."

Bo moved to wrap her arms around her sister from behind, "What's up sis?"

Kenzi turned and wrapped her arms around her sister, "I miss the shit hole."

Bo pulled back, "You what?"

"I know. It's ridiculous."

"I didn't say that. This was your dream home. What happened? Oh, Kenzi... did you and Tamsin..."

"No, no... not at all... that's... it's all... I mean... it's fabulous... she's... Gods, Bo it's amazing. I sometimes sit up in bed at night just to watch her sleep. I just wonder what would have happened if I had stuck to my guns and never allowed myself to consider a relationship with her. I was so convinced I was straight... but really... what is straight? I mean, what does that even mean? Why is it even a word? I was always surrounded by straight people, so I always looked at you as..."

"Gay?"

"No..."

"Gross?"

"No..."

"Abnormal?"

"No! No, stop saying that stuff! I just... I just thought that feeling the way you felt was... okay, maybe I did think it was abnormal... I mean... by definition, it wasn't the norm I was used to seeing. I didn't see it anywhere... not at the mall, not on the beach, not on TV, not in movies... so I think I just had this mindset that I had to be normal to fit in and...

"And normal was straight, I get it. Kenzi, it's okay. I wasn't your normal. It's all good. So anyway, if it's not about Tamsin, then... well... are you mad that I stayed out with Lauren last night? Nothing happened, honest."

"No, Bo. Absolutely not! What happens with you and Hotpants is completely up to you. I'm just glad we got Hale to back the hell off and let you guys find some normalcy on your own. The surf Gods know you two deserve some normal."

"I don't know that normal will happen for a very long time, Kenzi but... well... it was just nice to be in her presence again."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel good. We talked so much and I showed her the island and the mainland parts of the business and school."

"I know, I got your texts and your voice mails."

"Yea, you weren't responding last night. I was worried."

"Oh, sorry, BoBo but... well... uh... me and Tamsin were... uh... well... we don't get much alone time and..."

Bo's eyes went wide before she smirked, "Gettin' lucky, huh sis?"

"Oh, Gods... so much luck!" Kenzi rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Anyway, we ate in the Kitchen and then decided to sleep in Tent Town."

"Oh, so you didn't go back into the campground in the woods?"

Bo shook her head, "Nah... Lauren seemed a little nervous about walking down a dark path into a small forest, so we just hung near the beach."

"Not a lot of privacy there." Kenzi said.

"All the little kids were already tucked in when we got there. We hung out by the fire with the counselors that were on watch, then ducked in to one of the back counselor tents."

Bo smiled at the memory as she spoke, "We borrowed a couple of sleeping bags, went into the tent, stripped down to our underwear... and she looks just as ripped as ever, by the way... and got into our bags. We lay on our sides facing each other for a while before we started to talk. She talked to me about how things were on the island, her daily routine. She said the routine was really good for her. It kept her grounded. We held hands until we fell asleep and woke up still holding hands this morning. It was sweet."

"That's great, Bo. Did you talk about the stuff you were supposed to talk about?"

"Yea, we sort of went down the official timeline of events in the life of Lauren Lewis. I admitted that I was going to leave her, Kenz... I mean... about thinking that she cheated on me... it was hard to explain why I didn't and it came out all wrong and she got upset and sort of mad, but then I finally used my words and we figured it all out."

"Did you tell her about that night in Rio?"

"Hale had already told her about her blackouts and how scared I was. She knew that her trauma had created a lot of trauma for me, but she also knows that I've worked through it... well... most of it. I have to admit... she fell asleep first last night. I didn't really sleep well because... well..."

"You were up worrying about her?"

"Yea, for a bit and off and on all night for a few minutes at a time. I mean, I was used to her having nightmares... it's just that I always thought when she woke up from them that I was supposed to be reassuring her about my drowning. All that time, I should have been telling her _she_ was safe, not that _I_ was safe."

"That wasn't your fault, Bo. You didn't know. She didn't tell you."

"And you know I was mad about that for weeks, but when Hale had me go to that Domestic Violence shelter and talk to women who had actually lived what Lauren lived, it gave me a whole new perspective."

"Is that why you're still working the Domestic Violence hotline?"

Bo nodded, "I think hearing her story and seeing how it has impacted her whole life... I guess I just don't want to see other women go through that if there's something I can do about it. I couldn't save Lauren... maybe I can save someone else? I know what to look for now."

Bo was silent before she looked up at Kenzi and added, "Please don't bring it up though, okay? I know that Hale told her I was doing it, but... well... if she wants to know if I'm still doing it, she can either ask or it will come up in conversation if I'm scheduled to work when I spend time with her."

Kenzi shook her head, "I don't think I would feel comfortable talking about you and what happened with her anyway, Bo. If there's one thing that I've learned these past couple months, it's that what happens with Bo and Lauren should stay with Bo and Lauren... I think Hale proved my point with that awkward-as-hell session he tried to have yesterday."

Bo nodded, "I guess I can't blame him though. We don't know what was said in her last session with him. He must have been worried that she might have a setback or bad reaction seeing me for the first time."

"Why?"

"Kenzi, she didn't know why I hadn't come to see her and... well... she thought things were over between us because I hadn't. Did you know that?"

Kenzi lowered her eyes, "Well, Tamsin told me she was upset about it, but she was trying to keep Lauren focused on her own journey, not yours. Everyone... and I do mean everyone... thought it was better that you weren't there... I mean Hale and Ciara said it was 'the norm' that patients are denied visitors if they aren't progressing and she wasn't at first, Bo. She wanted you to help her through when Lauren needed to find her own strength."

Bo nodded, "I know... I just feel like I abandoned her... she already felt alone and I left her that way..."

Kenzi shook her head, "No, Bo. You didn't. You gave her the space she needed to find her feet. A healthy individual doesn't lean on their romantic partner all the time when shit hits the fan. You have to be able to handle your own shit in life. I think that's what goes wrong with so many relationships. People become so damn codependent and lose who they are to the other person or one person becomes so high maintenance that the other person can't handle taking care of themselves and their partner. Eventually it's just too much and they leave or find someone who appreciates them and isn't so needy. What you and Lauren had... what you might have become if she hadn't admitted herself to that facility would never have been healthy."

Bo nodded, "You know, you sound just like Mom and Dad."

"Well, they did teach us all of that. They lived separate, but shared lives in the same home. They didn't bring a ton of work talk home, they never argued about money because they each had their own allowance and they never got jealous... at least not that I saw."

Bo laughed, "Oh yes you did! You don't remember that one time that Dad got so jealous. It was that guy Brett who Mom was teaching to surf?"

"Ohmagosh! Totally. What was his story?" Kenzi tried to remember.

"He quit his job, bought a trailer and parked it on the overlook." Bo reminded.

"Oh yea! He was tired of living in our capitalist society and wanted to be truly free or something, right?"

Bo laughed at the memory, "Yup. He showed up and asked if anyone would teach him. Dad and his buddies told him..."

Kenzi put her hands up excitedly, "Wait... wait... you have to say it in his voice... 'Dude, this is SO not the place for some wannabe surfer to learn how to ride. Up the beach that way about two miles... when you see all the three year olds riding little surfboards, ask around and someone will help you out.'... he was so rude!"

"I know, but the guy was gonna get himself killed."

"He showed up the next day again, right? He went out by himself and broke his board in half on the rocks." Kenzi shook her head.

"He almost got himself killed. Mom yelled at Dad for laughing at him, then went over and pulled him onto her board. She spent the rest of the week teaching him on her board."

"If looks could kill he would have died a thousand deaths." Kenzi added.

"We kept distracting him so he wouldn't go kick the shit out of the guy."

Bo chuckled, "Mom would have kicked his ass if he had hurt him."

Kenzi did the best imitation of her Mom should could muster as she spoke, "She said... '... give the guy a break, Mo, he's trying to free his soul... he's not bad and he's having fun... probably more fun than he ever had sitting behind a desk working sixteen hour days.'... Mom was awesome."

Bo smiled, "She was."

The pair grew silent as they each went through their own memories of their parents for a while. Kenzi finally spoke,

"So... you were talking about your night with Lauren..." Kenzi began.

"Right. Well, I showed her all we've built and went through my counseling stuff and what I'd been working through... Mom and Dad's death, stuff with Katie and the battle over our logos, feeling like a failure as your parent... all the stuff you know already..."

Bo stopped and sighed,

"You know, Kenz... my mind is such a jumbled mess... I'm tired. We just... we talked all night about so many things and it was all great and wonderful and... it was honest. I feel like I could learn to trust her again."

"Could you love her?"

Bo smiled, "I already do... as soon as I saw her, I knew... it was like the floodgates opened... I just felt... I don't know... relief. I think I've been holding my breath since she was taken from me and now... even though we're not necessarily together, together... I know we can be."

Kenzi nodded, "Good."

"So... when I came in, you were staring at our house thinking... what?"

"I want to build us a shack?" Kenzi replied.

Bo laughed, "A what?"

"I want a shed... just a shed... maybe 25x25 with a loft with cots.. a sofa, gaming console and TV, surfboards on the wall, towels, dry suits, wetsuits, kitchen with a small fridge, hot plate, sink, microwave and space to put beer and booze..."

"You want a surf shack? Like the thing we used to live in?"

"Yup, minus the rotting wood and leaks. I mean, shabby chic is great and all, but it wouldn't look right next to our new house. I decided I don't like being rich. Ever since we opened those boxes, things have changed... we've changed. This place is good for when we have important people over, but when I come home... I want to live like we were raised... I want to be Bo and Kenzi Dennis... the originals, not the business women."

Bo sighed, "You know, I will never say no to you but where in the world would we put it when most of our stuff is here?"

"Right outside? It could look like we have a garage, but we'll know it's not a garage. It'll be like our secret hideaway and only you, me, Tamsin and Lauren will be allowed in it. Everyone else we entertain at the big house."

Bo laughed, "So are you planning to move back into the shack?"

"Would you mind?"

"Are you trying to get away from me?" Bo asked, "I mean... if you're looking for privacy..."

"No, I'm building this for us. I want you there with me. We don't have to stay there all the time, but I just want a place for you and me to spend some time every day. A place that's in keeping with the way we were raised... so we don't forget who we are, you know?"

"Folding chairs for lounge chairs?" Bo smiled.

"Blow up mattresses for beds?" Kenzi asked.

Bo nodded, "Small compact stereo that plays nothing but Motown?"

"Nothing but frozen fish that we caught together in the fridge?" Kenzi smiled.

Bo nodded, "Fishing rods hanging on the wall, grill outside the only oven? Are you sure you don't want the leaky roof?"

"No, absolutely not, but I was just thinking about the fact that I miss the sound of rain on a roof that doesn't have so much insulation."

"I miss the sound of rain in our pots and pans." Bo admitted, "I never realized how much it helped me sleep!"

"I know, right? Okay, so our shed will have a tin roof, because I miss that sound too."

"Kenz?"

"Yea, BoBo?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too Bo. Now I have to go to school."

"Okay. When will I see you?"

"So far, todays schedule includes my student hat, marketing hat, teacher hat, surfer hat and girlfriend hat... Oh, and Tamsin asked me to meet with you guys at the Back Bay? What's going on?"

Bo smiled, "Lauren agreed."

Kenzi's eyes went wide as Bo explained, "She's starting at the hospital on Monday, but she has a reduced schedule. She said she wants to stay busy, but still have time for running and her counseling sessions. She needs alone time... she said she doesn't do well without it right now... and, of course she wants some Bo time each day."

Bo smiled, blushing as Kenzi nodded, "Sounds great, Bo."

Bo clapped her hands together, "Okay... don't be late for school. I taught you better than that. I have to go get my workout in, log on for my class and then meet Tamsin at ten. So I'll see you then?"

"If my project group has their shit together, yes. If not, I'll be late but I'll get there. Are the engineers coming?"

"Just me and Tamsin. Lauren will be there and the architect. I mean... if Tamsin can grab some people last minute, I'm sure she'll bring them. Doc Mansfield will be there too. I stopped by to see him this morning... Lauren wanted to check in with him about helping her out on it. She's also going to invite Trick."

"She's working today?"

"Oh no, no... she's just left to go get reacquainted with her house and have some alone time, do her run... you know, that routine thing she's into now."

"Cool. I'll see you guys at the Back Bay later then."

"Oh, and Kenzi? We haven't talked about Evony or Kristy with her yet."

"Bo! The trial is next week!"

"I know, I know... Hale is calling her today to arrange a meeting with her attorney. They'll meet with her and talk to her about it."

"I thought you were going to talk to her last night? What happened?"

"I just... I sensed that she'd had enough, Kenzi. We talked about a lot of very uncomfortable stuff. We got through all of the Nadia stuff and the military stuff and her younger year stuff. We talked about that night that she disclosed everything. And then we got to reminiscing about her last match and how the crowd all came together and how it felt to have such unity among countries... well... it was really positive and I didn't want to segue into negative stuff again. It was late and we were already at the campground by then."

Bo sighed, shaking her head, "Especially when I found out that she's still carrying her gold medal in her waistband for strength."

"Uh... really?"

"I know... baby steps, Kenzi. It reminds her that she stood above Nadia on that podium. She's not carrying it to flash around a gold medal. She's carrying it as a source of empowerment. I got an idea about it... but... well, I don't want to tell you just yet. I'm still not sure. Anyway... we got to a good place and were having easier conversation. It was late and I didn't want to put anything into her head before bed that would make her have nightmares."

"I get it."

"You're late. Go... we'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay."

Bo watched as her sister left. She was going to go shower and change before she went to see Nick about getting some easy runs in today. She was a little stiff from the long plane ride yesterday and wanted to get back on a board. She knew it was supposed to be a rest day, but she had nothing else to distract her at the moment.

Sighing, she went to her room and changed into her surfing gear. She pulled a T-shirt over her head and then pulled on some shorts before she grabbed her clipboard and backpack. She'd make her rounds, see Nick, and then talk to her professor. With a plan in mind, she headed off to start her new day... she somehow felt... lighter.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo had surfed for an hour, and then logged on to talk to her professor about her progress in her placement with Torrent Enterprises, Inc. so far. The meeting had become a phone conversation rather than a class conversation.

Her professor told her that she would not have to take a final exam for him because apparently Pop Torrent had given her glowing reviews and offered her a contract with his company. He had sent her professor pictures of her engineering design work on the reef, the docks, the campground and the new bio gardens she built for the students to create a self-sustaining food source for themselves. She thought back to her phone conversation with her professor,

" _The work you have done on this project and the fact that you've actually got the whole thing up and running demonstrates more about your abilities than any test could, Ms. Dennis. I've already submitted your grade for the course and I believe you will be very happy."_

" _Why thank you so much, Professor Meade. I... I don't know what to say."_

" _Say that I can retire in Hawaii and live in a place that you've built for old fogies like me to live out the rest of their days. I can only imagine walking out of my beachside shack to watch young kids surfing. I think I would put out my folding chair, cast my rod, catch a fresh fish and grill it up for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day tending to the garden before taking a dip in the ocean before my afternoon nap."_

 _Bo laughed, "And the rest of your day?"_

" _Rewind, repeat until I fall asleep on a blowup mattress in that campground of yours, of course!"_

 _Bo smiled, "Well, I'll have to get right on that."_

" _I'm serious, Ms. Dennis. I want that retirement place. Up here in Boston, it's all places that look like damned hospitals. I want to retire and die on my own terms. I've been a bioengineer all my life and want to go out among the wonders of nature."_

" _Well, I can't blame you for that. Why don't you come and retire here? We'll give you a surf shack of your own on the beach in exchange for you working as a guest teacher a few times a month?"_

" _You want me to teach at your school? I'm not a surfer, Ms. Dennis."_

 _Bo laughed, "You know, we must be doing something wrong in our marketing department. That's the second time someone has assumed that we're a surfing school."_

" _Isn't that what the salt water wave pool was for?" Dr. Meade asked._

" _The wave pool is a training and physical therapy facility for anyone who needs aqua therapy or is looking for a training facility for professional surfing. The school that our bio garden sustains is called The Port. It's a residential living school for orphans... in other words, we're basically an orphanage. The bio garden decreases the cost of feeding the students. The physical therapy and training facility pays the bills with help from Kenbo, Inc. Surf Shop."_

 _Bo heard a lot of paper shuffling around as her professor spoke, "You know what, Ms. Dennis? I think... let's see... yes... next week... yep... next week is the start of my vacation. As you know, my wife passed several months ago and... well... I had planned to just mope around my home until September. How would you feel about me flying to Hawaii for the next four weeks to help out at your school, see the place and maybe dabble in your garden?"_

 _Bo's eyes went wide, "Ohmagosh! Are you serious? I mean... you would really do that? I mean... we can't really afford to pay you much... I mean... you are world renowned and... well... we all have other jobs that pay us..."_

" _Please, please... Ms. Dennis... I'm asking if I can come and see what you've built first hand and volunteer at your school... the only thing you need give me is a fishing rod and the use of that campground to sleep."_

 _Bo took a deep breath, "You're really serious, aren't you?"_

" _I am. Your concept sounds incredible. I'd love nothing more than to see first hand what you've built."_

" _Ohmagosh. I would be honored, sir."_

" _Okay then. I'll email you my flight arrangements so you know when to expect me. I don't want to show up unannounced."_

" _We'll be expecting you then. Are you serious about staying in the campground? I mean... we have a dormitory and housing for our full time teachers. You could stay in the staff housing area?"_

" _Whatever you think is best, Ms. Dennis. Just know that I am a lover of nature. I love camping, hiking, kayaking, sailing, gardening, snorkeling... well... you get the idea. If you could arrange a hike up a volcano for me, that would check a big item off of my bucket list!"_

 _Bo smiled, "I'll see what I can do. We have all sorts of guides on our staff. I'm sure we can a few things off of a nature-lovers bucket list. And as for that comment that you aren't a surfer, I think I have a long board with your name written all over it."_

" _Oh, I think I'm too old..."_

" _Age is a state of mind, Professor Meade. I'm going to introduce you to my neighbor. He still surfs everyday and he's in his 90's."_

" _Oh my. Well, okay then. So what courses do you have left? I understand from Dr. Torrent that he is expecting your certification in six weeks?"_

" _Yes, sir. I'm taking 20.451, Design of Medical Devices and Implants."_

" _An elective course?"_

" _Yes, sir. I was three credits short on elective transfer credits from my previous school so had to take the course. It's a long story, but..."_

" _Well, I hope you don't mind, but I am privy to your story, Ms. Dennis. Professors have access to their students' records and I always want to know as much as I can about my students who are failing miserably or achieving beyond my expectations. Having to fail someone is undesirable, so if a student gets into trouble in my class, often their background will help me with the direction of support. My overachievers such as you... well, I often have to write recommendations or get calls from prospective employers. For online courses, I don't get to meet you in person, so understanding your background aides me in making recommendations. Your journey is... difficult, yet impressive."_

 _Bo had to admit she felt a bit uncomfortable in that moment, but she understood he had the right to look into her file and, well if it helped her get a job in the future, so be it. Hopefully, she wouldn't need one. She enjoyed working for Torrent and hoped it would become permanent if Kenbo, Inc. didn't work out. She wanted to be able to have a high paying job so she could always support their school. The kids in the orphanage had become very important to her in the past month and she had no intention of letting them down._

" _Ms. Dennis? I'm sorry if I've upset you..."_

" _Oh, no, no... not at all, Professor Meade. I just got a little lost in my own thoughts. I'm so sorry. You were saying?"_

" _I'm not sure if you are aware, but other subjects are acceptable upon approval by your advisor and program directors. Since I am the Masters Program Director for the Bioengineering Department and know your advisor, Dr. Kipling very well, I believe we could create something the two of us could do together while I'm there. What would you think of that?"_

" _Honestly? I would definitely be open to anything other than that course. It's not that I don't care about providing medical devices and implants for people in need, but I've spent a great deal of time in the hospital this past year and to tell you the truth, spending the next six weeks doing course work there was not something I was looking forward to."_

" _Your surfing accident, yes of course. I'd heard."_

 _Bo nodded, despite the fact that he couldn't see her, "I also have two very important competitions coming up, so I have been spending a lot of time on my board design."_

" _Your board design?"_

" _Uh... surfboard? I make my own boards. I actually just dumped my sponsor so I could start using my own boards. Their board just didn't feel right even though I'd been forced to use them for years. I've got mine just about perfect now. I'm working on a new bio-resin and bio-catalyst for the glassing process."_

" _The what?"_

 _Bo chuckled, "It's the final process that a surfboard goes through when it's being made. There are a lot of chemicals used that are extremely dangerous... well, toxic and highly flammable. I'm trying to find natural materials to do the same thing we've been doing since the 1950's."_

" _I think you've just identified our summer elective course, Ms. Dennis."_

 _Bo sat up straight, "Really? You'll give me course credit for designing my new chemicals?"_

" _I'm emailing your advisor right now. Why don't you get everything written up for me in thesis form and I'll read over it while we have a nice fish dinner at this place... what's this called... The Kitchen?"_

 _Bo shook her head, "How do you know about The Kitchen?"_

" _Well, I'm looking at your website. Very nice design, by the way."_

 _Bo smiled, "Well, I'll pass on your compliment to my sister, Kenzi. It's her design."_

" _I notice the school is not shown."_

 _Bo nodded, "That's for student safety. Some of our kids are truly orphans. Some are children who were forcibly removed from their homes and are wards of the State. They're essentially in hiding here, which is why the existence of our school is not posted on a website. Rest assured, there is a school here and... well... if you enjoy a challenge as an educator, these children will test both your mind and your ability to connect with them."_

" _I see. It appears my student may become my teacher before this summer is over."_

 _Bo smiled, "Do I need to call my advisor or do anything to finish up my course for you?"_

" _Not at all. I'll handle everything. It's the least I can do since you're going to be giving me a free education and helping me check several items off my bucket list. I'll see you soon, Ms. Dennis."_

" _See you soon, Professor... Oh... and, Professor... could you please call me Bo when you arrive? People won't know who you are talking about if you ask for Ms. Dennis."_

" _Of course, Ms. Dennis."_

When Bo hung up the phone, she went into her happy dance. She danced through the living room, through her bedroom as she changed into a pair of shorts and a V-neck T-shirt, and she danced around the kitchen as she pulled out the blender and made herself a fruit, veggie and yogurt smoothie. Pouring the final drink into a cup, popping a straw in and heading out the door, she was floating on air. She wasn't a certified bioengineer yet, but knowing that the next six weeks would be spent earning credit for working in her favorite place made her feel... free.

Hopping into her Dad's old yellow Camaro, she placed her smoothie in the makeshift cup holder she'd built, started the car and headed down the driveway. It was nine a.m. and she had one errand to run before coming back to meet up with Tamsin, Dr. Mansfield and Lauren.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Well, Bo Dennis! Come to have your trophies shined?"

Bo laughed at the tall, tanned old man behind the counter, "You know why I'm here Akoni. Did you come up with something for me?"

"Well, you called me at six o'clock this morning and it's not even nine-thirty yet, Bo. What do you think I am, Bo? A miracle worker?"

Bo frowned, "Yea, I guess I was a little high on expectation, low on advanced notice."

Akoni laughed, "I'm kidding, Bo. After you called, I opened the text you sent and... well... I was inspired by the photos. Congratulations, by the way."

Bo shook her head, "It's not like that, Akoni. Well... at least not right now. Those photos were taken at the Olympic Games and... well, things were different then. We've just seen each other again for the first time in a couple of months."

"So, we're rekindling the romance?" He clapped his hands together and smiled.

Bo shrugged, "I don't know... I mean, of course I hope so... I just... well, it's complicated."

"Love always is, kiddo. Well... here is the product of my inspiration."

He pulled out a box covered in a plush velvet cloth that was deep maroon in color. Opening it, he turned it towards Bo so she could see the contents,

"Oh, Akoni... it's perfect!"

"I engraved the back just as you asked."

Bo checked out the engraving and nodded, "Did you get my payment?"

Akoni nodded, "I'm sure it's in my account. You used Venmo, right?"

"Yup."

"I'll check it out later. I have another inspired piece I'm working on right now, so I don't want to mess with my Mojo."

Bo smiled, "Well, I won't take any more of your time then."

She reached out and placed her hand on his hand, "Thank you so much, Koni. It's exactly what I wanted."

"Good luck getting the girl, Bo."

"Your lips to the ears of Aphrodite."

"She is the Goddess of Love, Bo! You really should take my advice and pray to her! I did and look at the beauty I've been able to spend forty-eight wonderful years with!"

Bo smiled, "She is a keeper, Koni."

"Okay then, get out of here. Let me know when you want the seal for the new school. I have the cast created already... I emailed Kenzi the proofs and she gave the okay."

"Perfect! We'll be in touch! You're coming to teach the metal-working class next week, right?"

"I'll be there with my son... I just have to find one more volunteer to teach the third room."

Bo thought of her professor, "Let me know if you can't find anyone. My engineering professor may be able to help you out. He's coming in next week. I just don't know what day yet."

"That super famous dude you said you were lucky to get?"

"That's the one!" Bo smiled.

"Later, Bo!"

"Later, Akoni!"

Bo hopped into her car and put the box on the seat. She looked over at it sitting there and thought better of it. Reaching over, she pulled the seatbelt across and made sure it was securely over the box so it wouldn't fly out of the convertible.

The engine roared to life and she pulled out onto the road, heading back towards home. Her mind raced with thoughts of everything that was going on in her life, eventually settling on the case of a new student. There was a little boy who had just arrived on Friday who was struggling to adjust to his new home. Bo had been spending time with him every day, but this morning, he had refused to go to class. Bo had told him that he could skip class as long as he was out of bed, showered, dressed, fed and on the beach at Back Bay by ten o'clock sharp.

The young boys' name was Maverick and while his conversations with Bo had been pretty one-sided so far, Bo had learned that he was age nine, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and had never seen a beach before. The young boy had said he liked that it was warm here. The cold reminded him of the night he had lost his family.

Once Bo knew the boys' family had died, she went immediately to the registrar's office and pulled his file. It turned out that his family's car had ended up in a snow bank on the way back from a snowboarding vacation. He had not been feeling well, so his parents had put him in the back of their station wagon and covered him with a blanket, giving him a towel as a pillow. A man showed up and offered to help the family, but instead, proceeded to kill his parents and kidnap his thirteen-year-old sister.

He had woken up when the gunshots sounded and was eventually found, in shock and placed in protective custody. The police found the place where the man was holding several children who were being sold into the sex trade. Unfortunately, Maverick's sister was not among the children who had not yet been sold to buyers overseas. The search for his sister would continue, but until she was found, Maverick was alone with the exception of Bo and the school.

She sighed as she pulled up to the end of the driveway, thinking for a moment that having a surf shack in the space Kenzi had suggested would actually be great. Maybe it could have a garage attached on one side so she could finally shelter her precious Camaro. It really shouldn't be exposed to the salt air and having just had it refinished, she wasn't interested in having the rust problems reappearing again any time soon.

She unclipped the seatbelt on the passenger seat and picked up the box from the seat before heading into her house. She walked back to her bedroom and pulled open her drawer, laying the box inside before pulling it back out. She went to her closet, grabbed her backpack, and tossed it on the bed. Walking over to her drawer, she looked through the stacks of T-shirts until she finally found her favorite Kenbo, Inc. design. She wrapped the box in the shirt and then shoved it into the backpack and headed out of the house.

She went to get on her bike, but then decided it was a nice day for a jog. Heading off down the path on foot, she allowed her legs to carry her forward, enjoying the sensation of her muscles working in a smooth comfortable rhythm. It was a feeling she never took for granted after spending months struggling to walk pain free... or walk at all, really.

About seven minutes later, she was at the Back Bay where Lauren stood next to a young Maverick who was picking up flat shells and skipping them across the water as Bo had taught him on Friday night.

She stood, watching as Maverick picked up a shell and held it up to Lauren. She moved a little closer, so she could hear their conversation, curious as to what was bringing this young man to talk to a total stranger,

"What about this one?"

"Well, that one is tricky. The shell is actually called a limpet, but the creature that usually lives inside is an Opihi."

"Do we eat this one?"

"Well, I think if you talk to Bo, she would tell you we probably shouldn't eat them too much."

"Are they poison like the cone ones?"

Lauren laughed, "Well, you can pick them up... I mean, they won't sting you like the cone ones but too many people are eating them, so..."

"Oh, oh... they're dangered!"

"Right. But this one is empty. If the Opihi was still in it and you didn't pick it up really quickly, it would clamp down on the rock that it was on and hold on so tight you wouldn't be able to pick it up. They're very stubborn."

"Like my teacher used to call me."

"She did, did she?"

"Uh-huh." He looked at the shell, "But it's just the shell, right? So I can keep this one? It's not dangered?"

"Yup. It's just the shell. I guess you could say they are close to being endangered, yes. You're only supposed to take them if you have a commercial fishing license. I don't know a lot about your school yet since I just got here, but I know that Bo wants us all to fish for our own food. I'm guessing we have a commercial fishing license of sorts, but not the kind that lets us sell the fish to other people."

"Take only what you need and always give something good back." Maverick's face fell, "My Mommy taught me that."

Bo gasped, as the sadness the young boy felt seemed to catch in her chest. She watched as Lauren knelt down, in front of the boy, "Do you miss your Mommy?"

He nodded, "A bad man killed her and my dad then took my big sister in the snow. I'm all alone now."

"Me too."

"You are?"

Lauren nodded, "My parents died when I was probably about your age."

"What did you do?"

"Well... I cried... a lot... and then I decided to do what I thought would make them proud of me. My Mom always told me that one day I would save lives."

"Is that what you do now?"

Lauren nodded, "I try hard to. It doesn't always happen, but most of the time it does."

"How do you save lives?"

"Well, have you ever been to the hospital?"

Maverick nodded, "I broke my arm when I was seven. My Mom told me it was a bad idea to try this jump on the ski slope, but I tried it anyway. She was like that. She wouldn't say no, she would just tell us if we were... uh... choosing wrong. Boy did I choose wrong. Broke my arm right in half!"

Bo chuckled with Lauren at the little boy's response, but listened to Lauren's reply, "Well then, when you came into the Emergency Room, you would have seen a doctor that does what I do."

"You're a doctor?"

"I am." Lauren smiled.

"Your parents went to heaven and you still made a doctor?"

Lauren laughed, "I did. You see, just because your parents aren't still here doesn't mean you can't do the things they always said you could do. When you don't believe you can do something, you just close your eyes, imagine what they would say and then just do it as if they were standing right here next to you. Now... if your Mom was here, what would she want you to do?"

Maverick looked at Lauren for a moment, and then closed his eyes. She waited patiently for a few moments, watching him with a smile until finally, he opened his eyes,

"I think I better go to my class."

"Oh yea?" Lauren asked.

"She always said that school would take me places. I don't know where it will take me, but if I'm not there I won't go where I'm supposed to go."

Lauren smiled, "That's very true."

"Did you go to school?"

Lauren nodded, "I went to a lot of school."

"Did Bo go to school?"

Lauren nodded again, "Bo went to a lot of school too. She's actually still going to school now."

"She is? But she's my teacher!"

"Teachers go to school too. I go to school too, they just call them conferences... it's just a fancy name for a class."

"Then why don't they just call it class?"

"I really don't know. Maybe it makes them feel better about not knowing everything?"

"But you're a doctor. You know everything!"

Lauren shook her head, "Well, in the past year, I've learned that there is plenty that I don't know. I may be able to fix your broken arm, but sometimes other things break that I have no idea how to fix."

"Like one of those?" He pointed at the rack of surfboard down by the dock.

"I have no idea how to fix a surfboard."

"What are they for?"

"You ride waves on them." Lauren replied.

"Huh?"

"You mentioned snow. Did you ever go sledding?"

"Of course! But I really like snowboarding."

"Snowboarding, wow! Well, surfing is like snowboarding, but you don't where boots, you wear a leash. You don't ride on snow, you ride on top of a wave. Bo can show you when she gets here."

Bo decided she would jump in now so Lauren wouldn't make any promises she couldn't keep,

"Hey, you two! What's up?"

Hey, Bo! Lauren said you would show me..." He looked up at Lauren, "What's it called?"

"Surfing."

"Yea... that."

"How about this... you go to your Math class and I'll show you surfing."

Maverick frowned, but Bo was ready for it, "Hey, now frowning. We made a deal this morning. I let you skip all of your morning classes if you would meet me here. You're going to go to a meeting with me and this lady here. You'll have plenty of time to go to Math after the meeting, then we can surf."

"I can surf?"

"We'll have to do your swimming test first."

"I did it yesterday with Aaron! He said I got a green band!"

"Green, eh?"

"Yea, he said it would have a yellow stripe on it."

Bo smiled, "Okay then, we'll be surfing!"

"Cool! And I only have to go to Math?"

Bo nodded, "Math, then surfing."

Maverick kicked at the sand leading Bo and Lauren to frown. Bo knelt down in front of the young boy,

"What's up, Mav?"

"I don't think I can stay for the meeting."

"Why not?"

"I didn't do my Math homework, so I think I have to go do it."

Bo laughed, "I'll text Mr. Zhang and let him know that you need a homework extension, okay?"

"You will?"

"Yup. But make sure you get last night's homework and tonight's homework done for tomorrow."

"I promise! I will!"

"Good man!"

"So what's the meetin' for?"

"You are here to see what it takes to build a new facility... Lauren's facility."

He looked up at Lauren, "You're getting a facily?"

"Yup?"

He looked at Bo, "What's a facily?"

"It's a big building with a waterfront." Bo turned when she heard a car pull up, "And here are the people we're meeting with!"

"Hey, kids! Whassup?" Tamsin greeted as Dr. Mansfield got out of the passenger side as well as two men Bo recognized from Torrent, Inc.

"Tamsin, Dr. Mansfield, Bob, Eddie... this is Maverick."

Bob's eyes went wide, "Oh, man! Like Tom Cruise in Top Gun!"

Maverick smiled, "You know the movie? I was named after the pilot!"

Bob high fived the young boy, "Your parents are rock stars, dude!"

Bo looked at Bob and quickly shook her head. The young man quickly backtracked, kneeling down in front of the boy,

"Did your parents ever get a chance to teach you the Maverick and Goose high five and low five?"

Maverick lowered his eyes, "No."

"Well, we just met and... well... I don't know what happened to your parents, but I know you're here, so it's probably hard for you. I lost my Dad when I was a kid, but he taught me the double five. Want to learn it?"

"Your Dad died?"

Bob nodded.

"Wow... we should start a lost Dad club."

"Maybe we should." Bo smiled, "Okay then... you gotta go all-in on the high five, then you walk past each other while you bring your hand down and low five behind you."

Bob showed the boy in slow motion before they tried it several times, going faster each time. Bob turned to Bo,

"So, is Maverick in on our project?"

"Well, he's here for the meeting. If he wants in, then he'll be in."

"Cool, Mav! If you're in, then I'll be your Goose, if that's okay!"

"That'd be awesome! I never had a Goose! My Dad was Iceman. We lived in Colorado... get it?"

"I get it, little dude. So we gotta do our double five whenever we see each other, okay?"

"Okay, Goose!"

"Okay, Maverick!"

Bo smiled, the little boy was making connections as she had hoped. She looked up at her engineering colleague and smiled as Maverick went back to checking out shells. She leaned over and whispered to him,

"You see, Bob? You're good at this. You really should become a mentor."

"If I get that kid, I'm in. Does he surf?"

"He was a snowboarder... quick version... first time on a beach, parents murdered where they lived in Colorado, older sister kidnapped and sold into sex trade, whereabouts unknown but not in the USA... F.B.I. is looking for her. He's on his own."

"Shit."

"Yea, tell me about it."

"So that's the reason for the dead dad club comment?"

"Yup. Lauren just told him about hers and I already told him about mine. You make three adults he knows who've lost parents."

"Wow. We really should start a club."

"We do have those clubs, Bob. It's called grief groups."

"Right." He nodded.

"Well, let's get this meeting started.

Bo turned to the group, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen. We are here to generate ideas for the architects and engineers to develop the last part of our school. The Emergency Services Training Facility...

"It should have a amboolance."

Bo looked down at Maverick, "Tamsin, we'll need an ambulance."

"Ambulance. Check."

"Who are we teaching?" Maverick asked.

"We are teaching you and the other students how to handle emergencies on land and in the water." Bo replied.

"Anywhere in the water?"

"Yup."

"Well, at my swimming pool at home, they had lifeguards. Do we need to learn to be lifeguards?"

Bo smiled, "Yup. What else did they have at your pool?"

Maverick thought for a minute, "They had a circle thing that was white with a rope on it."

Tamsin smiled, "Life rings. Check."

"And they had long poles with hooks on the end."

"Shepherd's Crooks. Check."

"And they had big long boards with these soft orange blocks and black straps."

"Backboards. Check."

"And they wore special bathing suits."

"Uniforms. Check."

"And they all had whistles."

"Whistles and Air Horns. Check."

"Hey! I didn't say air horns!" Maverick protested, putting his hands on his hips.

Tamsin looked down at the young boy, "Trust me, half pint, we need air horns."

"Okay. What's your name again?"

"I'm Tamsin."

"Hi. I'm Maverick. We should know each other if we're gonna be on the same team."

Tamsin shook his hand, smiling, "You're a smart man, Maverick."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The meeting went on for about two hours with Tamsin and her guys sketching, measuring and listening to the two doctors and one young boy discuss what needed to be in place for the safety and emergency courses to be taught. Kenzi had come and gone, staying for about thirty minutes to get an idea of what was being done so she could start working with Ciara on the signage that would need to be put in place.

Once they were finished, Tamsin the guys went back to class and Maverick was picked up by one of the counselors and taken back to the island across the bay for Math class. Now, Lauren and Bo were left walking along the shores of the beach where the tide was beginning to come in.

"So, are you heading back home?" Bo asked.

"Do you want me to go?" Lauren asked, "I know you have to study for your final in your class."

Bo smiled, "Actually, I don't have an exam to take and my final course is coming to me."

Lauren stopped and turned towards Bo, "What?"

Bo smiled and told Lauren about the phone call she'd had with her professor today. Once the conversation was over, the blonde looked a little disappointed, but Bo wasn't sure why,

"You don't seem too happy for me. Is something wrong?"

Lauren shook her head, "I'm sorry, Bo. Of course I'm happy for you. It's just... well... it's silly, really... forget it."

"No, Lauren... we said we were going to be honest, right? No secret thoughts you want to share right now?"

"I feel like such a child saying this..."

"Well, I'll handle your comment with kid gloves then." Bo smiled, brushing a stray piece of hair from Lauren's face.

"You were going to be working in the PT department at my hospital. We could have had lunch together every day." Lauren lowered her head as she turned to start walking again.

"Well, we may not be able to have lunch every day, but there is breakfast and dinner... or morning coffee or evening snack... or midnight snack?"

Lauren laughed, "Well, since you put it that way..."

"Besides, you're going to be here overseeing our new project. Are you sure you want to do this?" Bo asked.

"Honestly, I wasn't so sure. I thought about it all day today while I was settling in back at home. I definitely don't want to have too much on my plate. I don't want to bury myself in work again just so I can avoid dealing with... well... my issues."

"Then you don't have to do it, Lauren. I told you no pressure and I meant it."

"No, Bo... let me finish. When I got here and you weren't here, I felt... awkward at best. I mean... this isn't my place... I had nothing to do with all you've done here and I felt like a stranger in a place that... well... when the old shack was here, it felt like a second home."

Bo laughed, "Sorry, it's just that... well, Kenzi wants me to build a surf shack next to the house... she's decided she doesn't like being rich and wants a place where we can be us again. You and Tamsin will be the only people permitted to enter other than us."

Lauren smiled, "Wow. She was so into building that house."

Bo nodded, "She was, but not our shack is a renovated store and our house is attached to the storefront... I guess it just doesn't feel like a home to her anymore."

"Have you thought about moving the store down here?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "I think it really needs to stay central to the areas we are using for the surf schools. We might be able to move it closer to the PT and Training Building though."

Lauren nodded, "Anyway, as I was saying, how out of place I felt when I arrived, but then little Maverick asked me if I was a teacher and I said not yet, but I was meeting you today to discuss that very issue. He told me he was there for the same meeting and then he started exploring the sand. From there, we bonded over sea glass, cowry, cone shells and limpets, mostly. Then..."

Bo smiled, "For the sake of honesty, I now have to admit I was close enough to see and hear your conversation from limpets forward until I announced my presence."

Lauren's mouth opened wide, "You were spying on us?" She faked being offended as Bo smiled at her.

"You connected with him, Lauren. No one else has been able to do that since he arrived on Friday. He's been through so much and for the first time since he's been here, he spoke freely and... he smiled... a real, genuine, little kid smile."

Lauren smiled, "He's a great kid."

"He is and you let him show that. Now he has Bob as a mentor and he's going to Math class..."

Lauren looked up, her eyes traveling out to the horizon of the seas beyond, "He's got this innocent curiosity about him. He's adorable."

Bo nodded, "And there are dozens more kids here just like him, Lauren."

The blonde turned to Bo, "What you've created here, Bo... it's truly amazing."

"But?"

"But... I'm worried about you. I don't want you to lose yourself to your work like I did... to bury yourself so that you don't have to live the life you so richly deserve."

Bo smiled and moved to stand in front of the blonde, "I promise you, Lauren, there are plenty of people who are jumping in to help out here. I check in and spend a little time here and there with the kids, and then I pretty much lock myself in the Workshop because... well... I just love it in there. Sketching designs, cutting the rough out, the smell and feel of the wood... and now I'm working on these knew chemicals to remove some of the toxicity... I don't know, Lauren... this is all I ever really wanted to do."

Lauren watched as she saw Bo's eyes light up when she spoke, "I can see that... and you have my blessing... not that you needed or wanted it."

"I definitely wanted it." Bo replied, "Tamsin's Pop is going to offer me a contract, so my work for him can fund any issues I have in the business or with the school if we run low on cash. We'll also get a government stipend monthly due to our orphanage status, so we can buy seed, fishing poles and repair or replace any supplies we need for the kids. We'll put into production anything the kids create and the money it makes will go right back into the school with the kids getting some of that money in their college funds."

"What if kids don't want to go to college?"

"Then they must go to a trade school. No one will leave here without a plan for success if we can help it."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I can tell you that I want to be as involved as I can possibly be. At some point, I won't need to go to sessions anymore and I won't need so much alone time, so..."

"Lauren... no pressure, okay? This is my dream... and just because it is, doesn't mean it has to be yours, okay?"

The blonde nodded, "You know what else I thought about today?"

Bo smiled, "Tell me."

"You... yesterday... last night. It felt right, Bo... and I slept like a baby."

Bo smiled, "I noticed."

Lauren frowned, "You were awake."

Bo nodded, "Off and on. I was worried about how you would sleep after seeing me and I didn't know how you were doing with sleep. I mean, it hasn't been that long."

Lauren put her hand to the waistband of her windbreaker, "Having this weight here to remind me of my strength seems to help... even when I'm asleep. I just feel a little weird always carrying my gold medal around... and having to sew pocket inside of all of my clothes is a bit daunting."

Bo pulled her backpack off, "Hold up a second. I have something for you."

She reached into the back and held the rolled up T-shirt sideways. Giving it a shake, she allowed the velvet box to drop out of the shirt into the backpack,

"First, I want you to have this. It's my first design for the company." Bo handed Lauren the T-shirt with a bright smile.

The blonde unrolled the shirt and held it up, "Oh, Bo! This is awesome! I love this design!"

"It's one of my favorites, too. I thought you'd like to have it." Bo replied.

Lauren nodded, "I'm going to have to build my running wardrobe from the Kenbo clothing line."

Bo smiled, reaching into the bag, "As you may have noticed, there isn't a pocket in that shirt and it might be a little tough to hide the medal if you did put one in it... so... I came up with what I hope is a good solution to the problem."

She held out the velvet box to Lauren, "I had this custom made. A friend of mine, Akoni, owns a jewelry store in town..."

"I know the store! I love his work and his wife is a glass blower! Her work is amazing. I got to watch her at a workshop she did down at the furnace."

Bo bit her lip as she watched Lauren pop open the box.

"Bo, it's beautiful... it's... it's amazing. I love it!"

Lauren looked up at Bo with tears in her eyes, "It's a mini replica of my gold medal."

Bo smiled, "Turn it over."

Lauren grabbed the half-inch, round gold medallion and carefully turned it over. She smiled as she read aloud,

"The strength to endure, the power to win, the will to be free."

The blonde looked up at Bo, the tears now flowing down both of their cheeks as Lauren fell into her arms and held her tightly. She whispered, "Thank you."

Bo smiled, "Do you think this will work as a replacement for the real thing?"

Lauren pulled back, looking at the necklace again, "I think so. Will you help me put it on?"

Bo smiled, "Of course."

The brunette stepped behind the blonde who held up her hair. Connecting the fastener in the back, Bo allowed her fingers to trace the skin beneath the chain for a brief moment. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, pulling her fingertip from the warmth of the blonde and pushing away her personal need to touch her,

"I had it put on a twenty-inch chain so it would be hidden. Akoni will shorten it if you want. It's totally up to you."

"It's fine, Bo. It's perfect where it lays. Just out of sight for anyone who might think I'm on some sort of ego trip over my gold medal." She laughed, "Thank you again, Bo."

"You're welcome, Lauren. So, Maverick should be back soon for his first surfing lesson. Are you up for joining us or are you going to take some alone time?"

Lauren sighed, "If it's okay with you, I think I'm going to head home for now."

Bo tried not to show her disappointment, smiling instead, "Of course."

The blonde reached out and gripped Bo's hand, "Could I interest you in dinner up on the hill tonight? I got some groceries today and... well... I have plenty if you're interested." She shook her head, "It's strange to be able to go grocery shopping and not budget. I left the store with an avocado, lettuce, a tomato and a cucumber, then remembered... well... I'm rich."

"Please tell me you went back inside and got more food." Bo smiled.

She nodded, "I did, which is why I can invite you over for dinner. Of course, you should know that I have absolutely no experience with... well... entertaining..."

"I seem to remember being entertained in your home before."

"Well, I do have experience in that kind of entertaining... I meant, the formal dining variety."

Bo pondered Lauren's statement for a moment, "Ummm... can I ask you something?"

Lauren smiled, "Sure, Bo. Anything."

"Well... when you said you have experience in _that_ kind of entertaining... was it often?"

"Bo, I don't think we should talk about..."

"Lauren, I wouldn't blame you at all if you did. I can't imagine how lonely your life was before and... well... I would think a warm body every now and then would have been a welcome relief."

Lauren nodded, "It was... and just in case you're wondering, it wasn't Nadia. Sure, she would call, show up on occasion, but I always had work as an excuse. She wouldn't get paid if I didn't work so it was..."

Bo laid a hand on Lauren's shoulder, "You don't have to tell me anymore. I get it." Bo nodded in the direction of the water, "My little student is here. Dinner?"

Lauren nodded, "Thank you again for my necklace, Bo. It's beautiful."

"You're welcome."

"See you around seven?"

Bo nodded, "I'll bring the wine."

Lauren shook her head, "Oh, no... please don't. I actually splurged on a few really nice bottles."

Bo smiled, "Good for you... good for us."

"See you soon, then."

"See you soon." Bo replied.

She watched as Lauren turned and headed towards the meetinghouse where her car was parked. The woman was beautiful, but the vulnerability was still present and Bo could see it. There were still things hiding under the tough outer shell that was Lauren Lewis and Bo wondered how long it would take for her to see behind the curtain that hid all of the blonde's secrets.

Still, Bo noticed that the blonde seemed to stand taller today as they spoke about the project. Lauren may not have felt like she was a part of this place yet, but what Bo knew was that it wouldn't be long before the new facility was standing. Once it was, Lauren was going to learn a whole new way of life... and she would never feel alone again.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo arrived at Lauren's house just before seven. She didn't want to seem too excited, but the truth was, she had been having trouble waiting for the dinner all day. Kenzi had kicked her out of the house because she was dressed and ready to go... and pacing a hole in the floor... Kenzi's words, not hers.

Tamsin had reminded her that ten minutes early was ten minutes late, so she had gone, figuring she could blame Tamsin's Pop for her early arrival. She just hoped Lauren was ready for her. She knew that Lauren was big about scheduling things these days and early was off-schedule. Still, Bo thought that easing the blonde out of her schedule-oriented life into something a bit more spontaneous might be a good thing for her.

She approached the door of the cliff-side house and knocked three times using the doorknocker. Shifting back and forth on her feet, the door opened, revealing a glowing Lauren, backlit by the candles behind her and the blue hue of her lights.

"Come in, please." Lauren smiled.

"Thanks. I love the lighting." Bo smiled, looking at the almost purple hue that surrounded them in the large room.

"Well, it's a high-tech house and the lighting can change color with the push of a button. I've been using blue quite a bit lately. It's calming... don't you think?"

Bo smiled, her eyes fixed on the blonde, "Somehow you and blue lights in the same room do nothing but make my heart beat faster."

"Now you're making me blush. I'll have to hide it by changing the tint to pink." Lauren smiled, walking to the kitchen, Bo trailing behind her as she continued, "I opened a wine called Evening Land Pinot Noir. It was described as seductive, silky and supple. I thought you'd like it."

Bo smirked, "You're trying to seduce me with wine?"

"Maybe." Lauren laughed, handing Bo the glass, "No, Bo. I'm just kidding... I thought all day about an opening line for the evening. When I couldn't come up with one, I stole from what I'd read about the wines I bought."

"You read about your wines?" Bo asked.

"You don't read about your wines?" Lauren asked.

"Well, considering they are usually one step above boxed wine, there isn't usually much said about them. Besides, I don't usually drink too much because of training. Although I have to admit, it's one of the things I'm looking forward to doing once I've retired from competitive surfing."

Lauren smiled, "It was one of the things I missed while I was... you know... in therapy."

"Do you usually drink a lot?" Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, "Not with my training regimen. It wasn't permitted by our trainers, but now... well... no one's stopping me."

She took a sip of her wine, "But don't worry, Bo. I don't plan on becoming an alcoholic."

"I don't think anyone actually plans to become an alcoholic." Bo replied.

"This is true." Lauren smiled, "I'm going to go check on dinner. I made a crab-stuffed flounder. I hope that suits your taste buds."

Bo smiled, "Sounds delicious. Can I do anything?"

Lauren smiled, "Nope. Everything is ready."

She pulled the broiling pan out of the oven and laid it on the counter. Using a spatula, she carefully moved a piece of fish to each plate before placing some grilled asparagus on each plate. She topped the meal with her sauce, placing Bo's on the side so she could taste it first. She carried the two plates to the table and placed them in the spots she had set earlier, and then spooned some salad into each bowl.

"All ready."

Bo sat down next to Lauren, lifting her glass, "To the chef, thank you for what I'm sure is going to be a delicious meal. It smells wonderful."

Lauren smiled, "To my rock and my savior... thank you for giving me the strength to stand up for myself and for giving me the space what I needed to do. I'm sorry if I've broken your heart, Bo... I hope I am able to restore any damage I've done in your life."

"Lauren, you've enriched my life. What happened to you motivated me to face my own fears and issues. Thanks to you, I've found my purpose... these kids, my classes, my business, going for the championship, my work with the switchboard... you've motivated me to do things I never really thought I was capable of doing... things that have led me to find pride in myself... things that have given Kenzi pride and confidence. I worked so hard all my life to try to do right by her and now... I finally have. She's growing in ways I could never have expected, so... thank you."

"Bo, I didn't..."

"Don't... please... just... accept my thanks, please?"

Lauren nodded, uncomfortably, "Thank you."

Their glasses touched before they each took a long sip, "Okay, now be honest about the meal. I put your sauce on the side just in case you didn't like it."

"I'm sure I'll love it, Lauren." Bo took a bite, and immediately smiled, "Mmmm... Oh, my. This just melts in my mouth... amazing... absolutely amazing."

Lauren smiled, "Are you sure..."

Bo shook her head, taking another bite, "Mmmm... no talking... I'm savoring... I believe you just may give me an orgasm with this meal."

Lauren blushed, taking a long sip of her wine.

Bo frowned, "Sorry... that... just came out... I blame the fish."

Lauren laughed, taking a bite of her own meal, "Wow... I think I sort of outdid myself. This really is good."

"I told you." Bo smiled.

"I'm amazed! I thought I forgot how to cook anything other than salad." Lauren smiled.

The words came out so innocently, but they still shocked Bo, "You know, I don't know how you made it to the Olympics with all of the training you did, surviving on salad."

Lauren shrugged, "I always made sure that I got the most bang for my buck and made sure I had the most nutrients I could get in the bang. Apparently it worked out."

She noticed Lauren reach for her waistband, her hand moving back and forth. She stood and looked around,

"Sweetie, it's okay. You didn't lose your medal. You took it off for safekeeping. Remember the necklace?" Bo asked.

"Oh... right..." Lauren sat down, "Sorry... uh..."

Bo placed a comforting hand on Lauren's wrist, "It's okay. Did you put it somewhere safe?"

Lauren nodded, "I hid it under my pots and pans."

Bo laughed, "Under your pots and pans is safe?"

The blonde looked up at Bo, "Sure. Who would ever think to look for an Olympic Gold Medal beneath pots and pans? Statistically, they'd be looking for a wall or floor safe. If I had a bit more of an ego, it would likely be displayed somewhere everyone could see it."

Bo smiled, "You never cease to amaze me, Lauren Lewis."

The blonde smiled, "I am amazing." She laughed and rolled her eyes at her own statement, but Bo simply replied,

"You really are, you know."

Lauren chose to change the subject given her discomfort with any form of compliment. She didn't deserve them from Bo, not after all she'd put her through,

"So, how was Maverick's surfing lesson?" Lauren asked.

"Great. We did all land work and then he rode the front of my long board. He did manage to pop up and stand, but I could tell from the way that he was shifting his weight that we'll have to work on that before he'll be on his own."

"I thought snowboarding would have translated right to surfing." Lauren said.

"Yea, a lot of people think that, but the way you use your feet on a surfboard is a bit different. He was pushing his toes down to turn and if you do that in water, you'll flip your board into the wave. He's a pretty athletic kid though. He'll pick it up quickly."

"Do you think you would have time to take me out surfing again some time?" Lauren asked with hesitation.

"Of course, Lauren. I love surfing with you. When do you want to get out there again?" Bo asked, surprised the blonde wanted to go back out into the waves. Maybe her enjoyment of surfing hadn't been a way to cover her fear after all.

"Maybe tomorrow? It would be nice to do something fun before I have to go back to work." Lauren smiled, taking a bit of her salad.

Bo frowned, "Are you really going back to work on Monday? I mean... you went right from the Olympics to in-patient care. You really haven't had time to just be yourself and have some fun."

Lauren nodded, "Well, the arrangement I made with Trick was that I start on Monday so that I can take a few trips over the next few months... I mean... if it works out."

"Trips?" Bo asked.

"Do you want anymore asparagus or fish? I have one more piece... we could split it if you'd like." Lauren asked, avoiding answering Bo's question. She didn't want to make any assumptions about her future with Bo.

Bo shook her head and pointed to the salad bowl in the middle of the table, "I'd just like to have a little more of your salad and you didn't answer my question about the trips. Are you going somewhere?"

"Help yourself to whatever you want. If you don't mind, I'm going to eat a little more of the fish." Lauren replied, hesitating, "... and the trips would be to see a surfing competition or two... if you would want me there. I'm not making any assumptions about us or our future together, Bo. I just want to be able to drop everything and go if things go in that direction. You traveled to Rio to support me. I would like to do the same for you if it's what you would want."

Bo nodded, "That is very nice of you, Lauren... and I'm glad to see you with a healthy appetite." She wasn't sure what had happened in therapy, but she had clearly lost weight and Lauren had never had a lot of weight to spare to begin with.

Lauren smiled, "I always have an appetite. I just didn't always have the food before. Now that I do, you shouldn't be surprised if I gain twenty pounds in the next week."

The blonde was upset that Bo's reply about her going on trips hadn't included an invitation to watch her, but she didn't have another competition for almost two weeks. A lot could happen by then. Besides, she still had a lot to tell Bo before the brunette could make any decision about where their romantic life would be heading. Right now, Lauren had to remember they were getting reacquainted.

Bo smiled, "You gain as much weight as you want. You've earned it. Are there any foods you're really craving now that you don't have to worry about being in training anymore?"

"Honestly, since I moved here, fish was something I always craved. I have an ocean out front, so it was free. It was my main source of protein. I still crave fish, but today I went to the fish market for the first time in my life. It was amazing. I couldn't decide between the flounder or the crab, so Ahani gave me this recipe."

"Well, it was fabulous." Bo smiled.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Bo couldn't stand it anymore, "Lauren, what's got you so nervous tonight?"

The blonde let out an anxious laugh, "You noticed?"

"The sharp contrast between our time together last night and our time together tonight? Uh... definitely."

Lauren began to speak, but stopped. Bo noticed her eyes were welling up with tears so she stood from her seat and moved over, kneeling in front of the blonde. She took her hand and looked up at her,

"Okay, so I'm just going to address some of the things I think may be of concern. First, the meal was fantastic, so you know that I really did loved it... no worries there. Second, I'm not going to ask you any tough questions or bring up any tough topics unless you have something you want to talk about. Third, I have absolutely no expectations for this evening. Whenever you want me to leave, I will. If you are nervous about being in this house alone, I will stay... and I will sleep on the couch if you'd like me to. We can go for a walk, play cards, watch a movie... anything you want. Again, I have no expectations. Did any of that help?"

Lauren sighed, her hand shaking in Bo's palm, "Why didn't you tell me about the trial next week?"

Bo's head dropped. Shit. She sighed and looked back up at Lauren, "Hale wanted to address it in your session today. I'm sorry, Lauren."

"You should have told me, Bo." The blonde said, a scowl on her face that showed hints of anger, disappointment and betrayal all at once.

Bo sighed. She hadn't wanted to be dishonest, but again listened to Hale even though she knew this was going to come back to bite her in the ass. That was it. She was drawing the line with him the very next time she saw him. Her time with her and Lauren would be theirs and he was going to need to stay out of it... unless maybe the only reason he was bringing it up is because she was talking about them in her sessions? Well, that was a topic for another time,

"Lauren, I'm sorry. I almost told you last night, but after all of the heavy we discussed, the conversation turned really positive. It was late and I didn't want anything negative in your head before you went to sleep... and it worked, Lauren. You didn't have any nightmares... well... not that I know of, anyway."

"I just don't want to be treated like I'm going to break. It just reminds me that I'm weak."

"Lauren, you're not weak... I don't think you're weak... what you've survived... how you handled it all with a job and training... winning a Gold medal for crying out loud... you're so strong... so very strong..."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" the blonde asked.

"I'm not a licensed psychiatrist, Lauren. I don't know how far I can push and I don't want to see you go backwards. You've worked so hard to move forward in your life and I'm afraid of being the one who pushes you back."

There was a long moment of silence before Lauren blurted out,

"I don't want to meet with Hale anymore."

Bo's eyes went wide. She wanted the psychiatrist out of their relationship, but she didn't want the blonde to be on her own,

"Lauren, I don't think it's a good idea that you stop your outpatient care yet."

"I don't want to stop it. I want to switch over... to Ciara... but if you think that would be awkward for us or for her... then I won't..."

"No, no... not at all. I actually think it would be great."

"You do?" Lauren asked, seemingly surprised.

"I do. I mean... you do know that I talk about you in my sessions with her, right?"

"You do?"

Bo smiled, "Of course I do. You don't talk about me with Hale?" There. She'd asked the question.

"At times, but... well, it's not comfortable for me. I mean, he's a nice man and a great psychiatrist, but I don't really think counseling gay women is his area of expertise... well... any relationships really. His primary focus for the past decade has been psychiatry for people recovering from traumatic injuries, not relationships."

Lauren was quiet for a moment before she asked, "What do you talk to Ciara about?"

Bo smiled, "We talk about how I feel... my fears, my worries, my missing you... and, well... things that happened and how I move forward with you... not necessarily as a couple but... well... maybe... that's... uh..."

Lauren smiled, "It's okay, Bo. You don't have to give me details. You don't owe me anything and I have no expectations for us. I mean... I have hopes, of course, but no expectations. I wronged you, terribly and..."

"Lauren... you wronged me because of wrongs done to you. Your mind wasn't in the right place and the timing of us getting together was just all wrong." Bo replied.

Lauren laughed, "Well, I'm not sure I agree with that. If I hadn't met you when I did then you may be dead, I wouldn't have had anyone to make me dream of getting away from Nadia and right now, I'd probably be letting her back into my life to control me and all that I would become for the rest of my days."

Bo stared at Lauren for a long moment, imagining what would have happened to Lauren if they had never met. Evony may have actually succeeded at killing her in Rio or Nadia may have... well... she didn't want to think about what that bitch would have done.

"I guess you're right." Bo said quietly, "Maybe it was just bad timing for the relationship part. I was in a bad place, you were in a bad place... we needed each other and..."

"It was a codependent relationship, Bo. I used you and you used me... me being the bigger user of the pair."

Bo sighed, knowing that she had relied heavily on Lauren's visits in the hospital, her approval when she got out and her acceptance of her getting back in the water. They had really been inseparable... it wasn't very healthy, now that she thought of it.

"So would you be okay with me seeing Ciara then?" Lauren asked, quietly, uncomfortable with the silence.

Bo nodded, "I think if she were talking to you, she would have all of the pieces of our puzzle. I just think it would be a better situation for us, but... well, I don't want you making decisions based on what's best for us... you have to make them based on what's best for you. If you think Ciara, or some other woman for that matter, is better for you, then you should do it."

"Bo, I don't think another woman..."

Bo shook her head vigorously, "I'm sorry... I don't mean another woman... I mean another female counselor."

The blonde smiled, shyly, "Oh. Do you want me to find someone completely neutral?"

The brunette shook her head, "As I said, Lauren. This is your call. I will support whatever you decide even if you decide to stay with Hale."

Lauren nodded, "Well, no offense to Hale, but that reunion meeting was just one example of why I would rather be with a woman. I'm not comfortable talking to him about us... I mean, he's very good at his job, but... well, I'm a woman who loves women and as I said, I don't think he can truly understand that. I would prefer a psychiatrist who is a gay woman, but Ciara is local."

"Are you worried about using her?" Bo asked.

"No, not at all. When I was over on the island, she ran a few of my group sessions. I was so much more comfortable with her."

"Well, then you should make the switch, Lauren. You need to do this for you. Not for anyone else. Hale's ego will handle it and so will I."

"I know. I just feel bad leaving him."

"Don't do that. You've felt bad your whole life. It's time for you to stop worrying about how what you do affects everyone else and worry about how what you do makes you feel."

Lauren nodded, "Okay."

"I really am sorry I didn't tell you about the trial."

"It's okay." Lauren lied.

"No, it's not okay... you already told me it wasn't okay... tell me how you feel about the fact that I didn't tell you."

Lauren's eyes grew red as tears threatened to fall, "I was mad at you. I felt disconnected from you after we seemed to really reconnect last night. I felt... betrayed... like you lied to me by keeping it from me."

Bo nodded, "I can understand that."

"Can you? Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "The night you told me everything about Nadia, I felt the same way. I know it was something that was buried deep. I know you were beyond terrified. I know that you were in a toxic habit of handling it the way you always had. And I think that on some level, you were probably trying to protect me by not telling me... but... we were a couple and I felt like I had a right to know... above everyone else... I had a right to know."

"Bo, I'm so sorry... I should have..."

The brunette shook her head,

"I didn't say that to get an apology from you. I understand now. My therapy sessions taught me a lot about domestic violence and violence against women... I'd actually seen it before as a kid. My Aunt was in a situation like yours, but she didn't survive it. We got her and her daughter away from him... but in the end... she went back and he killed her."

Bo wiped a stray tear from her eye and stared at the wetness on her fingertip. She hadn't cried over her aunt in so long. Why now?

"And your cousin?" Lauren asked, her tone laced with concern.

"We don't know what happened to her... maybe we never will. Anyway, I felt responsible for not seeing the signs in you sooner that I did."

"It wasn't your responsibility... it was mine." Lauren replied, "I'm a grown adult and a physician."

"Yea, I was told that in therapy as well. If I had a dime for every time I was told _'other people's lives and choices are not your responsibility, Bo'_. Of course, hearing that never made me feel any better. I think it's different when you're in a relationship with someone. It will always be my instinct to want to protect you, Lauren... and in some ways, I'll probably also always consider your needs before my own even though that's not healthy. It's a conditioned response from years of caring for Kenzi."

"Well, I'll try to call you on it when you start doing the caretaking thing." Lauren smiled.

"And I'll try to call you on it when you crawl into your shell and don't tell me how you really feel."

Lauren smiled, "I was totally pissed at you for not telling me about the trial."

Bo laughed and nodded, "I acknowledge your anger over my lie of omission. Now doesn't that feel good to say?"

The blonde nodded, "It's... empowering, actually."

Bo smiled, "Well, good for you."

Lauren stood, "Okay. I'm going to clean this up."

"Can I help?"

"That would be great." Lauren smiled.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

By the time they'd cleaned up from dinner, the two were sharing comfortable conversation about the new facility they were going to build. Bo was both surprised and happy to see that Lauren had written down some notes after their meeting. It seemed that the more she thought about it, the more excited and interested she became.

They decided to curl up on the couch and watch a movie together, but the next thing Bo knew, Lauren was waking her up,

"I'm so sorry, Lauren. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

The blonde smiled, "You sat up making sure I didn't have nightmares last night, so I'm not surprised you're tired."

Bo nodded, "I'll go. You must be tired."

Lauren shook her head and looked up at Bo. She looked at her for a long moment,

"What is it, Lauren?"

The blonde lowered her eyes as she struggled to speak the words, "Would... would you... stay? I mean... you don't have to but... if you wouldn't mind... would you? I mean... stay?"

Bo sat up, her face filled with worry, "I told you I would, Lauren. Are you okay?"

Lauren was shaking. Bo stood, taking her hands in her own and leading her to the couch to sit, "Tell me, Lauren."

Bo watched the heartbreaking scene as the blonde broke before her very eyes, admitting her greatest weakness despite appearing so strong most of the night,

"Being here... back in this house..." She pointed to the rug, "That stain is a blood stain from when she pushed me and I hit my head on the table."

"The small scar on your temple." Bo nodded and Lauren nodded in reply, trying desperately to hold back tears.

"The fireplace... I had a nice fire burning after a rough day in the emergency room. She showed up unannounced, as usual, and tried to get me into bed. I was tired and... well... I didn't love her or feel anything for her anymore... she stood in front of that fireplace and called me horrible names before dragging me into the bedroom..."

"Lauren..."

"Don't Bo... I... she's everywhere... the memories are everywhere and... I'm afraid, Bo. I'm afraid all the time. I'm afraid I'll never be the woman I was supposed to be... the woman I thought I would become when I entered college. I'm afraid she'll show up... I know she can't, but I still... I didn't think I'd feel this way, but being back in this house... it's the house I always dreamed of... the one I described to her when we first started dating. She built it just the way I wanted it and that's just another reminder of yet another manipulation... I just... I can't breathe in here."

Bo sat up and pulled the blonde into her arms, before walking her outside onto the large patio, "Breathe... look out there at the ocean and the sky... breathe."

Lauren did as Bo asked, her hands curled into her chest as Bo held her close and spoke quietly to her, "It's okay to be afraid, Lauren. As long as you keep getting up every day and putting one foot in front of the other. You can give yourself permission to be afraid, but not for that fear to rule your life. That fear was born when you were alone with that monster of a woman. You are not alone anymore, Lauren. I'm here, Kenzi and Tamsin are here and there are no people lurking who are coming to hurt you."

Bo held Lauren as the tears fell. She cried, Bo cried... they cried together. They cried for Lauren's past, they cried for her fears and they cried for a future that was unknown. When they were finally finished, Bo pulled back,

"You should sleep now. Things are always better in the morning, right?"

Lauren nodded, "You can go if you want to."

Bo smiled, "Lauren, don't you know by now... there is no where I'd rather be. I can take the couch."

"I have a better idea. Come on."

Lauren turned, keeping one hand in Bo's and leading her back into the house through the living room, then through another sliding glass door into a beautiful glass sunroom filled with plants. Bo's eyes went wide,

"This is beautiful, Lauren."

The blonde smiled, "Well, my neighbor took very good care of it while I was gone. Tamsin tried to take over when she got back, but ultimately, she had to call my neighbor back over because... in her words... she was killing a plant a day."

Bo laughed, "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. So, what is all of this?"

"Well, it's natures' pharmacy." Lauren smiled.

Bo laughed, "Wow... the only one I know is aloe... great for burns... that's enough aloe to treat a hundred burn patients!"

Lauren laughed, "It's also a great laxative. This is ginger."

"Isn't that a spice?"

Lauren nodded, "It's also an anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic. It's good for pain relief, asthma... well... the list goes on and on. It's a very useful plant."

"Do you have asthma?"

"Oh, no, no... it's just... I was just giving a list of characteristics..."

"Geeking out again, Doctor?"

Lauren blushed as Bo pointed to another plant, "I recognize this one... it's Peppermint, right? It smells fantastic."

The blonde nodded, "It is and it's great for clearing out sinuses, soothing cold symptoms, aiding respiratory infections and digestive spasms."

Lauren led Bo to one specific plant, "This is lavender. It's well known for its relaxation properties, but is also great for skin conditions, pain relief and other things. I like to sleep in here because these plants calm me."

Bo smiled, "Well then, all we need is a blow up mattress."

"Follow me." Lauren smiled, pointing to another plant along the way, "That's chamomile by the way... one of my favorite night time teas."

"Well, hello Chamomile! I look forward to some time with you as well." Bo smiled.

They walked through the large green room until they came to a large chaise lounge. Lauren went to a nearby cabinet and grabbed two pillows and two blankets before turning back to Bo,

"This is where I sleep in this room. I reupholstered it by saving a little of my allotted food money each week so that it would be more like a mattress and less like sleeping on a piece of doctor's office furniture. Do you think you could sleep here?"

"This would be fine, Lauren." Bo replied, "It looks like a daybed."

"That was the idea when I refurbished it. It's sort of a daybed without a daybed frame. Does it look really out of place?"

Bo smiled, "It looks great, Lauren. You really did this yourself?" Bo asked, admiring the tight, stitching of the decorative cloth around the thick mattress padding.

Lauren smiled, shyly, "It's sort of a couchtress." She chuckled.

Bo smiled, "Well then, couchtress it is."

Lauren began opening a sheet to lay it on top of the furniture as she nodded over her shoulder,

"The bathroom is right through that door. There's toothpaste in the medicine cabinet, towels and spare toothbrushes under the sink... uh... not that I had a lot of... uh... guests... well... sometimes the need to feel another person next to me in bed who didn't want to own me was something I was desperate..."

"Lauren... you don't have to explain... as a matter of fact, before you, I felt the same way sometimes when I was bouncing from country to country and hotel room to hotel room... I just... look... what you did before me is none of my business and... well... I guess what you do now in that department is... I guess... none of my business either so..."

Lauren stopped Bo, taking her hand, "First, I have a lot of toothbrushes because I get them free from my dentist... one last thing to buy on my allowance. Second, what I do... as in... who I sleep with... is something I will be honest with you about, Bo. I currently have no plans to sleep with anyone... I mean... Right now, I'm working on me and... well... Bo, I haven't given up on us."

Bo smiled, "Neither have I, Lauren. But... if it's all the same to you... right now, we're not a couple so if you do sleep with someone, I'd rather not know about it." Bo's forehead crumpled at the thought as she turned back to the bathroom.

Lauren nodded, "I'll put a shirt and some shorts out for you."

Bo walked through the door to the bathroom to get ready for bed, as Lauren watched her walk away. The blonde sighed, neatly stacking a pair of USA Volleyball shorts and a USA Volleyball tank top on the bed. She ran her fingers over the letters, remembering the weeks in Brazil that led her to a moment of glory that had been overshadowed by her demons.

She looked up at the door where Bo was readying herself for bed and sighed. She wished she had a magic wand that she could wave over her relationship with Bo to fix all of the damage she had done. She pulled back the covers, fluffed the pillow for her guest, and turned, heading for her bedroom.

After removing her makeup, Bo was wiping her face with a hand towel and noticed the pocket door on the other side of the bathroom. Sliding it open slowly to take a peek, she saw Lauren standing in what she recognized as her bedroom from their first night together. Wanting to give her some privacy, she slid the door shut and finished getting ready.

Bo stepped out into the greenhouse once again to find the promised clothes on the thick cushion. She smiled seeing the USA logo. They were Lauren's favorites and she was flattered that the blonde had thought to let her borrow them. She slipped out of her shoes, placing them under the frame. She slipped off her pants and panties all at once, rolling them up and turned to toss them on the floor behind her in a space between two plants. She pulled on the shorts, wondering how Lauren ever wore them. They would definitely be too big for her. She then took off her top, tossing it haphazardly on top of her pants and then unhooked her bra and let it drop from her shoulders. She turned to add it to the pile and saw Lauren standing there, frozen to her spot.

Bo smiled, awkwardly, "Are you okay?"

Lauren's eyes traveled down to Bo's bare breasts, her gaze unwavering as a blush filled her cheeks,

"You're just as beautiful as the first time I touched you, Bo." Somehow, Lauren managed to pull her eyes up to meet the brunettes, "I'm sorry. I..."

Bo turned and pulled the tank top over her head, covering her chest and then walked over to Lauren, "It's okay, sweetie."

"I didn't know you weren't dressed yet. I... I couldn't take my eyes off of you but... I can't... the physical stuff... I... I just..."

"It's okay." Bo pulled her into a hug... a long hug that allowed her to enjoy the warm and form of her... what... former... girlfriend? She shook out her thoughts, realizing a label didn't matter. They were Bo and Lauren... two women who loved each other who had been through a really rough patch, "I told you. There is no rush. I'm here. You're safe and I am not asking anything of you other than for you to allow me to spend time with you... honest time. So thank you for being honest."

Lauren smiled, placing a hand on the center of Bo's chest, "I just don't want you to think that I don't find you desirable. I truly do. You are a very beautiful woman, Bo and my attraction to you hasn't changed."

Bo lay her hand over Lauren's, "We can do whatever you want to do whenever you want, Lauren. Your pace, okay? I'm in no hurry."

In that moment, Bo realized that really was the truth. She had no desire to jump into another relationship. She had the championship, the school and her own counseling sessions to tend to. There was this last course to finish at school for her degree and her job with Torrent, Inc. There was a lot on her plate and those things had to be her priority right now just like Lauren had to prioritize her own life. Whatever time they had left away from their other responsibilities would be theirs to choose to either see each other or not.

Lauren nodded, leading Bo over to the refurbished chaise. Bo sat on the edge and looked up at the blonde, "Good night."

"Good night." Lauren flipped the switch off, the room illuminated only by the light of the moon directly overhead.

Bo lay back and pulled the blanket over her body, sighing. She turned onto her side, looking out over the ocean. It had been an awkward evening and it felt like Lauren's walls had gone up a bit. Of course, entertaining in her home was something she'd never done, so that may have been part of it as well.

She felt the thick cushion move and turned to see that Lauren had joined her,

"Are you okay?" She asked, "I thought you didn't want to..."

"I don't... but... well... if it's okay with you, I'd like to... snuggle?"

"That would be fine." Bo smiled, thinking it was always nice to hold Lauren, after all.

Lauren slid up next to her, wrapping an arm over Bo's waist. The brunette took her hand and pulled it up to her chest, threading her finger's through the blonde's. She brought their joined hands to her lips, kissing the back of Lauren's before holding it tight against her upper chest. She smiled when she felt Lauren's arm slide beneath her pillow, her legs and pelvis coming up to mold against her own.

"This feels really good." Bo sighed.

Lauren smiled, "It does."

The blonde was silent for a moment before she spoke again, "Bo?"

"Yea?"

"I feel horrible, but... I lied to you at dinner tonight."

She felt Bo's body become rigid before the brunette turned to face her, "Do you want to tell me?"

Lauren nodded, "I told you that I went grocery shopping and... well... everything I said about it was a lie. Well... mostly. I mean... I did go to the grocery store... and the liquor store... but I couldn't bring myself to buy anything than what I always bought. I know it's completely irrational and I know that she's in prison, but I kept feeling like Nadia would find out I was spending her money. I mean... with that comes all the stuff about making sure I don't eat too much so I don't get too fat for her and..."

Bo laid there listening to Lauren's story, but deep inside the pit of her stomach, all she wanted was to get in her car, drive to the prison and kick the shit out of Nadia. How was this woman ever going to live a normal life? They'd been together since she was in college and before that, Lauren had grown accustomed to living on scraps with her Aunt. Bo was starting to realize that Lauren was like a child in this world.

"...so I ordered the bottles of wine online when I was on the island, otherwise we would have been drinking the cheap stuff I bought last holiday for the hospital holiday party." Lauren paused before asking, "Are you mad at me?"

Bo shook her head, "I'm a little disappointed that you felt like you had to make up a story about dinner... by the way... how did you get dinner?"

"I went crabbing and fishing at the Back Bay today after we finished our meeting when you thought I'd left. I truthfully did want my alone time, but... well... the water was there, the rods were there... and... well, more honestly, I don't like being in this house, Bo. I mean... as I said, it's designed to be my dream house, but.."

"It's tied to Nadia." Bo finished.

Lauren nodded, "She picked out everything in it and had it all shipped here. By the time I arrived, it was already furnished. The only thing that's me here are the pictures on the wall... and the memories of the 'me' I was when I was last here before admitting myself to the inpatient center is a woman I'd rather forget. Maybe I should sell it."

Bo shook her head, "Nope. This is your dream house and... well... you never know what's down the road, Lauren. So... maybe I have a better idea. You have a very large bank account now. Why don't you renovate? I happen to know a company who does great work."

Bo and Lauren laughed, knowing that she was referring to Pop Torrent.

"That could be fun. I mean, I do love the house and the location since it's so close to the hospital and the volleyball courts. I can run to work or go jump into a pick up game at the beach."

"See? There you have it then, a new renovation project."

Lauren laughed, "As if you didn't have enough projects going on already."

"You'll see. It's fun." Bo smiled.

"Bo, can I tell you something else?"

"Sure."

"I didn't deposit the check yet."

Bo looked confused, "Why not?"

"I... well... I don't have a bank account... I mean... not of my own. I never had direct control over any of my finances. I didn't have any money when I was a kid. When I was in college, I was on scholarship and everything was paid for, so money wasn't a necessity... I mean... half the time, Nadia ate from my free plate since I got free refills as well. Through med school, I had sponsors for playing professional volleyball... it's one of the reasons I kept playing. Nadia didn't really give me an option of quitting. She said we needed the money... despite the fact that she was seeing other women."

Bo shook her head, "My God, Lauren."

"I know, it's pathetic and I was an idiot." Lauren went to roll on to her back, but Bo held her tight.

"No, Lauren. That's not at all what I was thinking. Controlling a partner's finances is one of the classic signs of domestic abuse. It keeps you exactly where they want you."

"Broke?" Lauren said, sarcastically.

"Basically, yes. I have to ask you this and I hope you're not offended, but... well, as a doctor, I know you have psychology courses and do a psychiatric rotation. I'm just surprised that you..."

"Oh, believe me, I know. I knew exactly what was happening to me... on some level... I knew it... it was textbook... until the fear kicked in... and, then I guess I just slowly buried all of it in my self-conscious. Well, that's what Hale has tried to tell me anyway... not that it makes me feel any better to know that I buried something the doctor in me would have advised me to seek help for but... well... I mean... I'm a doctor. How could I have let this happen to me?"

Lauren rolled away from Bo onto her back, the back of her hand falling to her eyes. Bo wasn't sure what to do, so she just rolled onto her back and lay there. Staring at the ceiling, waiting for the blonde to process whatever it was that was going on in her head.

She could see that Lauren had begun to visibly shake as she spoke, her face distressed. The blonde prided herself on being intelligent and more importantly, a perceptive and precise diagnostician when it came to her work as a physician. Admitting that she had fallen victim to something that she had knowledge of was trying, to say the least. Bo had seen this body language before... in Brazil... the night that Lauren had become angry at her for having her meet up with Manny and his brothers. Bo was pulled to her thoughts when the blonde finally continued,

"You know, I remember thinking that I understood why women stayed in situations where they were being beaten and abused... I'd always wondered about that when I was in class in my undergrad. I always thought they were weak or just uneducated. Apparently, you can be an intelligent professional with the strength of an Olympian and still fall prey to an abuser if they have the right leverage... or what you perceive as leverage."

She sighed and turned her head towards Bo, her eyes red with unshed tears. She gave her a weak smile and shrugged,

"Eventually, I just got used to it and became so focused on maintaining my professional persona, that I began to believe the image I portrayed to others. I'd convinced myself that I was fine... that the life I was living was some version of normalcy that just happened to be mine."

Bo nodded, not really knowing how to respond. She lay there looking at Lauren, though the blonde turned back to stare at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, she asked the question that was on her mind,

"Can I ask you a question?"

Lauren nodded, "Sure."

"The night you got so mad at me... you know, when I had gone surfing at the point and invited you and Tamsin to come... you saw her that day, didn't you?"

"Yes, she paid me a visit when Tamsin had stepped out to go pick up our uniforms from the team laundry. I had just come out of the shower and she... well... she did what she does best. Made me feel like I owed her something... like she was the only one who would ever love me... she made me doubt you... doubt us."

Bo could only nod, "So, when you got angry with me..."

"I was angry at myself, Bo. Part of me wanted to end things with you right then and there... save you the misery of... well... me and my life."

"Why didn't you?" Bo asked.

"I... I don't know. I think part of me thought that maybe you could somehow save me... part of me felt stronger around you and... well, maybe I thought I could save myself. I just knew that... I needed to get away from you, but... not all the way. That probably doesn't make any sense, but... Nadia was around pressuring me, demanding things of me... whenever Tamsin wasn't around, it seemed she found me... she's always found me when she wanted me to."

"Well, of course she did. It's what stalkers do, Lauren. It's what abusers do. They keep tabs on their victims. You were confused, Lauren. I understand. I just wish..."

"I know, Bo. You just wish I could have told you everything that was going on and believe me... not telling you is something I will always regret. I've placed the seed of doubt in you and now I must wait and see what will grow from that seed. I can only hope it will be something that will make us stronger and not something ugly that will destroy the best thing that ever happened to me."

Lauren looked at Bo as she nervously fumbled with her fingers. A single tear fell from the corner of her eye, her lips quivering, her brow furrowing as she quietly and sincerely spoke a simple,

"I'm sorry... for everything."

Bo sighed. She wanted to offer Lauren forgiveness in addition to her unconditional love and trust but she just wasn't ready to do that. Part of her was still angry at the blonde for not trusting her enough open up to her and tell her about Nadia.

"You know, we just have to take this one day at a time, right? I just need you to know that... well... the woman you met and fell in love with... she had just drowned... she was afraid of so many things... getting back on a board, losing her goal of a championship, having to face her critics in a wheelchair, feeling weak, appearing weak, not walking again, becoming a moron with brain damage and never having my dream business. I mean, no one's going to buy surfboards from a wannabe surf champ."

Bo gave a weak laugh before adding, "And I was terrified of what Kenzi would become if I left her behind... alone."

Bo heaved a deep breath, "Anyway, that woman that you met, she was the product of an accident... and I'm sorry to say this, but a product of the fears you expressed to me as well."

Lauren nodded, "I know that now... and I'm sorry for planting that doubt in your mind as well. So very sorry. You are a strong and capable surfer, Bo. I hope I didn't do so much damage that it effects your ability to perform and achieve everything you are so very capable of in the future."

Bo sat up on her elbows, her eyes moving to the trail of light that seemed to travel from the water's edge, across the ocean and to the moon above. She stood up and moved to the window of the greenhouse. She stared out at the view for a long while, watching the sets as they rolled in, her mind remembering her training from the time she was a young girl.

"Time away from you has helped me get some clarity. I've been surrounded by the people who helped me to get where I am today and... well... they all believe in me... believe I can win. I'm back in the points and... well... I'm more myself than I was before my accident."

Lauren nodded, giving a tight smile, "... before you met me."

Bo turned to face the blonde, "I didn't say that."

Lauren smiled and nodded, "You didn't have to. I took care of what I needed and I didn't take care of you. I was selfish and achieved my dream at the expense of your own. I'm embarrassed to say that some of the things I did may have been similar to things Nadia did to me..."

Bo tried to interject, but Lauren cut her off, extending a palm towards her and shaking her head as she sat up, leaning back on one hand,

"I didn't realize it at the time, but I tried to stop you from going back into the WSL... you were right, Bo... I tried to impose my fears on you to prevent you from getting back in the water... from traveling to competitions and leaving me here alone. I was wrong... so very wrong and I will be eternally sorry for having tried to manipulate you regardless of whether or not I was fully aware of what I was doing."

Bo nodded, again at a loss for words over the blonde's admission. Instead, she turned back towards the water and crossed her arms over her chest. How in the world would they ever recover from this? She turned back towards Lauren,

"Uh... it's a beautiful night. I think I'm going to go for a walk along the cliff for a while."

"Bo..." Lauren slid quickly to her feet, panic on her face.

The brunette turned, "It's okay, Lauren. It's just... well... you put a lot out there, ya know? I just need to process for a little bit. I promise..." she took Lauren's hands in her own, "I'll be back. I just need..."

Lauren lowered her eyes to their hands, "... a little space?"

"Yea." Bo said, hesitantly, "You know, for what it's worth, everything you've said makes sense to me based on what I've learned about victims of domestic violence. I just... well... hearing it is... it's just a lot to take in."

Lauren nodded, "I'm sorry, Bo. I had to tell you all of this. I had to be honest. I had to apologize and give you anything I could to help you recover from any damage I'd done. I hope this didn't make things worse for you, but I didn't want you hearing things later and think that I'd withheld something from you. I just... I'll shut up now. I don't want to make you feel worse."

Bo smiled, "Always the doctor looking out for her patient?" She laughed.

"Well, if I'd been any kind of doctor, I would never have gotten involved with a patient until she was fully healed and back on her feet doing what she was trained to do."

Bo shook her head, "Don't do that, Lauren. Please don't have regrets about us. I don't. We were both in a fragile place. You're an amazing doctor, Lauren. Please don't ever doubt that. Sure, you made some mistakes, but let's face it... you're human first and a doctor second."

Lauren nodded, "Mistakes and doctoring don't exactly go together in the public eye, Bo. You get used to perfection. It's what I've always been expected to be."

Bo thought about Lauren's comment for a long moment, realizing perfection had been what the woman had strived for since childhood. She set out to do well in school because it's what her Mom wanted. She strived to stay out of her Father's way so she wouldn't be annoying. She worked hard to get a scholarship for her Aunt so she wouldn't have to pay her tuition. She got straight A's in college and medical school to be the top in her class to make them all proud. She had to be tops in Volleyball and tops at the Olympics... and finally, she had to be perfect for Nadia who probably played off of her knowledge that Lauren would always strive to be everything she said she should be.

Well, Bo didn't need her to be perfect. She just needed Lauren to find herself... to find her truth. She shook her head as she replied,

"I hope you'll eventually just learn to worry about what the eyes of your friends and close colleagues think about you, because all we'll ever ask is if you're happy."

Bo leaned in and kissed Lauren on the cheek, "I'll be back in a bit. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Lauren's eyes teared up as worry flooded her heart. Would Bo really come back now that she knew what a monster she was?

Bo saw the watery eyes as she turned back to look at the blonde one last time before she left. She smiled, sad that the woman doubted her, but offered what encouragement she could. She really needed to be out of this house for a bit. The blonde had said a lot and a chance to process was really what she needed right now,

"I'll be back, Lauren. I promise."

The brunette brushed lightly against the blonde's arm as she stepped behind her towards the exit at the side of the home. Lauren stood, frozen as she listened to the door close. Folding her arms over her chest, she allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks.

Bo stepped out into the breezy, late night air. She walked across the patio until she could feel the sandy grass that grew at the perimeter of Lauren's property. She stood staring over the edge of the cliff, looking out across the ocean. She turned and walked up the coast towards the Banzai Pipeline where she could watch the sets in the moonlight. As she walked, she thought about her sessions with Ciara and all of the reminders she'd given her about staying true to her path and not jumping onto Lauren's.


	9. Chapter 9: Into the Deep

_**A/N: So sorry for last chapter's author's note! I forgot to change it once I decided to add more details to Chapters 8-10. I felt things were too vague to leave as was so this chapter explains more about what Nadia had on Lauren since some have requested Nadia's POV. This chapter isn't her point of view, but it does get into the full picture of what she did... some that Lauren didn't know about until this chapter. Reminder, this story contains domestic violence themes, the full extent of which will be disclosed in this chapter.**_

 _ **Some of you have asked about the sequel to Finding Our Way. I started it, but put it on hold to finish this first. That's all I can really say about it at this point.**_

 _ **Thank you for all of the reviews and PM's. I'm truly thankful for each and every one of them. They're fuel when I struggle with staying motivated to write LG with the series gone... but not forgotten!**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 9: Into the Deep**_

After leaving Lauren's house, Bo walked for a while, thinking about the events of the past several months,

 _ **Flashback: Ciara's Office, 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **Week of Bo's Counseling Sessions:**_

 _Lauren had been in the inpatient facility for a month now. As soon as she'd returned home, Bo had given into Kenzi's requests for her to seek counseling. She was struggling without Lauren, struggling to get back into pro-level surfing and struggling to make any sort of decision about where her life was headed. It was like everything was on hold without Lauren present, so Kenzi was worried._

 _Bo began seeing Ciara three times a week and she had to admit, it was helping. She'd made great progress after a rough first week, but as she continued to field Ciara's questions, things were getting more confusing._

 _..."You each have your own paths to walk in this life, Bo. If you and Lauren truly love each other... if your souls cannot survive one without the other... then your paths will diverge and you will walk together once again. Even if your paths never join, I'm sure they will cross now and again."_

" _I know in my head that you're right. It's my heart that's not listening."_

" _Are you sure that's your heart talking or is it an undefined emptiness that Lauren fills that has nothing to do with loving her?" Ciara asked._

 _Bo replied, "I don't understand."_

" _What's missing in your life, Bo?" Ciara asked._

 _Bo shook her head, speaking as if she was angry at the world, "Oh, I don't know... maybe closure with my parents, Kenzi being an established adult who no longer needs her big sister to keep her on track, a championship in the WSL or at least a top three finish, my Master's Degree and my dream business."_

 _Ciara nodded, "Is that all?"_

 _Bo thought for a moment, "Well, I sure as hell wouldn't mind finding my long lost cousin, but I wouldn't even no where to start. The trail went cold over a decade ago and the feds haven't been able to find any new evidence."_

 _Ciara nodded, "I see. Anything else?"_

" _I think that's all right now." Bo shrugged, "Why? Am I missing something?"_

 _Ciara crossed her legs and leaned against the arm of the chair, propping her elbow up and allowing her thumb and index finger to slide to her chin and cheek,_

" _I'm just curious... you didn't mention a need for romantic love."_

" _Well... I mean... we were talking about Lauren before you asked the question so... well... I just assumed... I mean..." Bo was clearly flustered and upset by her omission._

" _It's okay to not prioritize Lauren in your life right now, Bo. You need to give yourself permission to do so. Your life never revolved around her until you found yourself in a weakened state confronting all of your worst fears and reliving your worst nightmares through your common pasts."_

 _She allowed time to let those thoughts sink into Bo's consciousness, watching as her patient processed her words. After about two minutes of silence, Ciara asked,_

" _May I hear your thoughts at this point?"_

 _Bo shook her head, leaning forward, her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands for yet another long moment. Ciara sat and patiently waited, knowing that this was how Bo processed._

 _It had been three weeks since they'd begun their sessions. The first week had been all about Lauren. The second had been all about Kenzi and this week had finally gotten to Bo... her parents deaths, her fears about raising her sister, her struggles financially and mentally, her worries, fears and finally her dreams and goals for her future and who she wanted to be... about who she hoped Kenzi would be._

 _Ciara watched as Bo's fingers moved through her hair, pushing it back as she lifted her eyes to meet her own,_

" _I think that these sessions... as well as getting back down to the pipe this week, terrifying as that was the first day... well... it's helped me to find something in myself that hasn't been there since my accident. It's like I'm back to my old self, minus the bitchy, defensive arrogance... at least, I hope so."_

 _Ciara smiled, "Well, you know I can't disclose your sister's personal comments due to doctor-patient privileged, but I can tell you that in our last session, she disclosed that you've received compliments from others that surf there. They noticed what they're referring to as the 'new' Bo."_

" _Well, that's good... good." Bo replied, quietly, her thoughts clearly traveling somewhere else._

" _And?"_

" _Why do you suppose I didn't mention Lauren?" It was bothering her that she hadn't put the blonde at the top of her list._

" _Do you really need to answer that question for yourself? I mean... you have your goals and priorities for the immediate future. You know Lauren is gone for three to six months. Is it a bad thing that she isn't a need? I mean... should Lauren be something that you need? We talked about healthy perspectives. What do you think?"_

 _Bo took a moment to gather her thoughts and replied, "I think I feel guilty for not putting her at the top of my list."_

" _And where did she place you when she decided to admit herself to the inpatient facility? Did she place you at the top of her list?"_

" _Well, no... she placed herself and what she needed to do to be healthy at the top of the list. It was the right thing for her to do and I support her decision one hundred percent."_

" _And yet you don't seem to be allowing yourself the opportunity to make the same choice for yourself without feeling guilty. Is there a reason you hold Lauren to one standard and yourself to another?"_

 _Bo nodded, now following Ciara's line of questioning, "I see what you're saying now. I'm allowing her to have needs, but not allowing the same needs for myself."_

 _Ciara agreed, "Exactly. Now, let's think back to your life before and after Lauren. Do you believe you allowed yourself to live by prioritizing your own dreams and desires or were you basing your decisions on Lauren's dreams and desires?"_

" _Well, the Olympics only comes around every four years and..."_

" _If I may interject on that comment before you go further, doesn't the chance at a WSL Championship only come once in a lifetime for someone who plans to retire after this year?"_

 _Bo frowned, "So, are you saying it was wrong for me to go to Rio and support Lauren at the Olympics?"_

" _Not at all, Bo. If what Kenzi has told me is true, you continued your therapy... or actually accelerated your therapy... in Rio at the same time you were there to support Lauren."_

" _Are you saying that was wrong?" Bo asked._

" _No, Bo. Please remember, I am merely here to ask questions that will lead you to the answers you seek. Rather than take my questions as statements, I'd like you to answer the question. In short, have you been putting your own needs on the back burner while prioritizing Lauren's needs as your own since you began seeing her?"_

 _Bo thought for a moment, processing the events of the last four months before she took a deep breath and answered,_

" _Well, from the time of my... accident... Lauren was devoted to my care and recovery, so I thought I was just returning the favor."_

" _Lauren is a doctor. Do you think she would say her dedication to your care and recovery was strictly because of your relationship or because of her professional responsibilities?"_

" _Well, I would hope it was a little of both, but... well... I guess I see what you're getting at here."_

" _And what is it you think I'm getting at?" Ciara asked._

" _You're asking me if Lauren and I have a codependent relationship like in that book you gave me to read. I was afraid, she was afraid and we basically both relied on each other to feel safe? I was afraid of dying again by getting back on my board and she was afraid of Nadia... or maybe never being free. I'm not really sure about her fears. We never discussed them beyond her eventually admitting she was afraid of me surfing."_

 _Ciara nodded her head, "I actually believe she transferred her fears regarding Nadia onto you by using the fear instilled in you by your drowning."_

 _Bo nodded, staring at the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest, "Actually, could we talk about that?"_

" _Do you mean your drowning?" Ciara asked, a bit taken aback by the fact that her patient was finally asking to talk about the one thing she had refused to discuss since she entered therapy._

" _My death." Bo said before standing straight up and walking to the window, her hands shoved tightly into the pockets of her shorts, "I said it... I admitted it... I died. I was dead."_

 _She turned to look at Ciara, but her eyes never made it past the table in front of her counselor. As she spoke quickly, her face was ghostly, her fists balled and tears fell, "I was dead. It was cold... it was dark..."_

 _Bo looked up at Ciara, "I... I died."_

 _Ciara nodded, acknowledging her patient's memory, "And what do you remember of that moment?"_

 _Bo thought for a moment, "I heard Kenzi crying... but it was dark... it was cold. Then there was this light... like I was underwater looking for the surface but I couldn't swim up but I kept trying. I felt hands on me... firm, yet gentle. I saw my Mom's face like she used to look when I was little and we would have pretend tea parties under water. She told me to go back... that Kenzi needed me."_

 _Bo shook her head, "I... I don't want to think about that."_

" _Okay, move on then. What happened next?" Ciara encouraged, not wanting Bo to disengage from the topic altogether._

 _Bo continued, "Then I heard Kenzi's voice screaming at me. The next thing I knew, I was trying to get a breath, but my chest hurt. I opened my eyes and I was looking at... this woman... she was beautiful... I thought it was an angel at first but... then later I found out it was Lauren. But... in that moment, I couldn't stay awake. They kept telling me to stay awake... but I couldn't stay awake... like I said, my chest hurt really bad... and my head hurt... it hurt a lot... I didn't want to be awake... imagine that... I died and I didn't want to be awake..."_

 _Bo took a deep breath and released it all at once. She shook her head and walked back to look out the windows, her arms crossed as she looked out at the ocean, her mind filled with images of that day._

" _Well, your chest probably hurt from Lauren doing CPR and you apparently hit your head on the reef, not to mention your brain being deprived of oxygen for approximately five minutes. It was a traumatic event physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, Bo. You're entitled to feeling whatever you need to feel about that event in your life."_

 _Bo turned towards Ciara and nodded, "I... I really don't know how to feel about it. I mean... until now... I haven't wanted to think about it. I would wake up having nightmares about it, but then I learned not to think about it." The brunette turned back towards the window, her eyes traveling out across the waters of the Back Bay where they had decided to meet today. Regardless of the memories, if she watched the timing of the waves and focused on the sound of the ocean, this place always calmed her, especially at sunset. She looked up at Ciara, who explained,_

" _Suppressing the memory of a traumatic event is a natural protective device that our minds will use until such time we are ready to deal with that event."_

 _Bo nodded, "I read that in that book, too. It sounded like it was a good thing."_

" _It is, as long as you eventually confront the feelings and thoughts associated with the event which you are doing right now, Bo. This is a huge step for you and I hope that you recognize the progress you're making."_

 _Bo smiled and turned back towards the beach. She was quiet for a moment before she spoke the facts of that day quietly, "I died, Ciara. I was gone and if Lauren hadn't been there, I'd probably be dead right now. Everyone said it. She saved my life that day."_

" _So you feel you owe her for that?" Ciara asked._

 _Bo nodded, "Yes, of course. I will always owe her for that."_

" _What do you owe her?"_

 _Bo replied with a shrug, "Everything... my life..."_

 _Ciara shifted her legs, reversing the direction of their cross and leaned onto the other elbow,_

" _You owe her your life? Most people say that about their parents... after all, they created us and our mothers birthed us."_

 _Bo nodded, "But my parents left me."_

" _Did they do that on purpose?"_

" _Yes... I mean... no, of course not. I just..."_

" _You're angry with them?"_

" _Yes! They left me to raise their teenager and I was only twenty! I was a parent when I still needed a parent! I'd never paid a bill in my life... not that I could have anyway. They left us with no money, no home, no car, no job... they didn't prepare for their deaths and I became a single parent in an instant! They chose to live a life avoiding material possessions and left us with nothing to take care of ourselves. Who wouldn't be angry!"_

 _Ciara nodded, thankful that Bo was releasing so much in this session, "I think your anger is healthy, Bo. You had Psych 101 in college, right?"_

" _Of course. It's part of the required core at every college, I think. Pavlov, Maslow, Freud, Seyle and all of the other masters of the 'universe of the mind' as my professor called it." Bo laughed at the memory of her freshman year college teacher._

" _So you know about_ _Kübler-Ross' model for the Stages of Death?"_

 _Bo nodded, "Denial... anger... uh... bargaining... depression and... uh, I forget the last one."_

 _Ciara nodded, "Well done for getting most of them. The last stage is acceptance. Now, do you the five stages of grief?"_

 _Bo thought for a moment, "They're the same, right?"_

 _Ciara shook her head, "While the stage labels are the same, the survivor and the deceased have very different perspectives and experiences. So, taking those labels into account, the emotion you just expressed when you talked about your parents was anger. What does that tell you?"_

 _Bo thought for a moment, but answered quickly, "I never moved past anger after my parents' deaths. I've always been the angry surfer, the angry girlfriend, and the angry, bossy sister... I haven't gone through the other three stages of grief."_

 _Ciara nodded, "So you see, Bo. You have some things to do for yourself before Lauren finishes doing the things she has to do to make herself whole again. I'd say the past three weeks have given us a list of things that Ysabeau Dennis needs to do to find her truth... her path in life. But Bo, it's not enough just to walk the path. You have to be happy on your chosen life path."_

" _So how do I know what my path is?" Bo asked._

" _Well, I think you already have at least part of that answer. Tell me, what do all of these things you've mentioned today have in common? You mentioned taking on being a single parent, you mentioned your concerns over getting Kenzi focused on making the right choices in life, you mentioned winning a championship which I already know from previous sessions is because you want the money to build your dream business, but also to open a school for kids who have lost their parents... to give back, so to speak. And then, contrary to all of that, you dropped everything to go to the Olympics with Lauren and created your therapy schedule around her needs."_

 _Bo sat for a moment, and then answered, "I'm a sucker for whatever people need?"_

 _Ciara laughed, "You're a giver, Bo. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you don't give to the point that you have nothing left of yourself to give. Plenty of people live a life of service to others that is more for altruistic reasons than for profit. Think of Firefighters, Police and Law Enforcement Officers, Social Workers, Nurses, Disaster Management Workers... you're just becoming a part of that force that serves a very specific group of people. With what you've told me of your parents, I'm not surprised by this direction."_

 _Bo nodded, "So does that mean that I haven't found my job yet?"_

" _A person's path in life isn't about a job, Bo. It's what they believe they are meant to do and how they're meant to do it. You choose the path that will achieve that vision and then you make choices that allow you to walk your chosen path. Now, occasionally, we all make choices about when to turn off your chosen path should opportunities arise to do so. It would seem to me from all we've discussed, that your path is a path of service. You clearly believe in doing for others... in putting the needs of others before your own."_

" _Is that bad?" Bo asked._

" _Not at all, Bo. As long as you don't lose yourself or fail to take care of your own needs along the way."_

 _Bo nodded, "Like I did while I was with Lauren."_

 _Ciara smiled, "I believe you did do that to some extent, yes."_

" _So... does that mean I shouldn't be with her anymore?" Bo asked._

" _Not at all Bo. Again, I am here to guide you, not tell you how you should live your life. Your decisions about your relationship with Lauren are your own. I am merely asking you questions to make you think about how you were or are living your life versus how you can be happier down the road. From what we've discussed, I see no reason you and Lauren could not have the relationship of your choosing as long as you can learn to live as two adults who can allow the other to walk their own path."_

 _Bo nodded, "You mean not become all codependent like we were."_

" _Again, exactly." Ciara smiled._

" _So, how do we do that?" Bo asked._

" _Well, first you each learn about yourselves and the paths you wish to walk in your life... figure out who you each wish to be."_

" _And then?" Bo asked._

" _And then, you see if you can add each other into your lives without losing your respective paths and individual personas. I mean, in any relationship there will always be a need for compromise and a willingness to support the other in various events in their lives as you did for Lauren at the Olympics. But doing so to the point where you sacrifice your own dreams permanently or put those dreams at risk, would likely lead to regret and then resentment down the road."_

 _Bo nodded, "I think I knew that much. I didn't want to interfere with Lauren's gold medal dream at the Olympics. I mean... like I said before, an opportunity like that comes along once in a lifetime. She may not have gotten a second chance at it."_

 _Ciara nodded, "And as I said before, will your goal to win the WSL Championship have a second chance for you?"_

" _No. I mean... I don't think so. It's not like it is for Lauren. I've had years to win, but this year is the first year that everything has sort of fallen into place. I feel like I've reached my peak... I think... I mean... this new training program is helping me to do things I haven't done before, but... well... I just don't know if I'm willing... not because of Lauren, but... well, the dedication, the training, always being on planes and in hotels... I guess I'm just tired of it all and... well... I'm ready for a change. I've got too many other plans for my life. I guess it's all in this season or not at all... I mean... unless I lose, then I might reconsider down the road, but... I really want my store and school... I have investors now and... well, I want to strike everything while the iron is hot, you know?"_

 _Ciara nodded, "I understand, Bo. So, where does that leave you and Lauren?"_

 _Bo sighed, "I guess that makes us former lovers who are walking separate paths right now. If and when we see each other again, we'll see where we are."_

 _Her eyes burned as she felt tears fill her eyes after she realized what she'd just said, "Wow... I can't believe I just said that out loud." She hung her head._

" _How do you feel about what you said?" Ciara asked, knowing that she had to make sure Bo remained attached to the feelings associated with her answer so she didn't have something else to add to the list of repressed feelings from her life's events._

" _Sad. Very, very sad." Bo said, her eyes welling with tears, "I miss her, Ciara. I miss her so damn much every single day... and I still worry..." she wiped her tears away, "... but it's different now. I mean... I see her differently."_

" _How's that?" Ciara asked._

" _I think that... well... in the hospital, she was the woman who saved my life. She was the hot doctor and the Olympian." Bo chuckled, "I think I put her up on a pedestal. She seemed so strong and I leaned on her... hard."_

 _Bo wrung her hands as she searched for her words, "Now... well... she's human." The brunette looked at Ciara, "She's a vulnerable, sad, broken, beaten, confused mess of a beautiful woman... a woman that I still love very deeply... a woman that I have such hope for, but... it's different now in that I worry for her... instead of about her."_

 _Ciara smiled, "That's a good kind of worry, Bo. In that way, you're not adding to your burden, but rather showing hope that she finds a way to cope with her own."_

 _Bo nodded and smiled as Ciara stood and moved to stand next to her client, "That's all we have time for today, Bo. We have some things to go back to and discuss, but I have those points in my notes. How do you feel?"_

 _Bo faced Ciara. She put her head down for a moment, trying to find the answer to her counselor's question before she finally look up and said, simply, "Lighter?"_

" _Good. Lighter is very good."_

 _Bo smiled as she leaned in and gave Ciara a hug, "Thank you, Ciara."_

" _You're always welcome, Bo."_

 _Bo approached the exit, but turned back towards her therapist, "So, are you coming out with us tonight? Dyson will be there." She smiled._

 _Ciara smiled, shyly, "Do you think... I mean... is he... you know... single?"_

 _Bo nodded, "He is... and aside from the occasional moodiness, he is pretty much baggage free unlike the rest of us in our group."_

 _Ciara smiled, "I tend to handle people with a few life-long carry-ons pretty well. I'll see you there... say around eight or nine?"_

" _That's fine unless you want to have dinner with us. We're eating at seven tonight down at Onzo's Crab Shack on the main strip after we surf the pipe. Good food and good company."_

" _I'd like that. Thank you so much for the invite, Bo."_

" _You're welcome, Ciara. You're good people and we like surrounding ourselves with good people."_

" _Thank you." The blonde nodded._

" _Later!" Bo smiled as she exited the office._

 _ **End Flashback - Sunday Night, one mile from Lauren's house, the cliffs overlooking the beach...**_

Bo sat up, allowing the thoughts of her counseling session to melt away. She took in the scent of the fresh sea air mingling with the tall sea grass that surrounded her at the cliff's edge. The view from high above the large breakers about a mile out from the beach was beautiful. She loved this spot on the beach and from up high, she had a different perspective of the point she'd surfed for almost a decade now.

She timed out the sets that were so familiar with her in the light of day. They were different after dark and from here, she could now see why so many had died here attempting to surf the pipe at night, either drunk or under the influence of what her Dad had always referred to as 'the God Complex'. He said he'd met more than one surfer who had come to believe so much in the legend of Poseidon, that they believed he would protect them in the water. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Bo smiled at the thought of her Father. She closed her eyes and lay back in the tall grass, remembering the sound of his voice as he talked to her while she sat on the nose of his long board when she was very young.

" _Pop up, little girl! You can do it!"_

" _I'm ascared, Daddy!"_

" _There's no fear, here, Ysabeau! Daddy will never let you fall."_

Bo smiled, remembering his words but her face soon became creased with anger. She moved to her feet and stood at the top of the hill, yelling into the wind,

"You said you'd never let me fall, Dad! Well, you left me! You left us! And I fell! I fell big time! I drowned, Dad! I died and neither you, or Mom or Poseidon came to rescue me! You left me, Dad! You lied! You said you would never let me fall! And then Mom... you left us and Kenzi only had me." She wrapped her arms around her, "It's been so hard... you guys just don't know. I've been a mess... one big hot mess. I couldn't keep a job, keep a sponsor, keep myself in school... I couldn't keep my anger in and I couldn't keep Kenzi from cutting school, stealing, running away for days at a time to hang out with the street kids..."

She closed her eyes, "... I couldn't love... I couldn't keep my heart in it... I had no idea how to walk a path... I was running blind from one place to another, just going where the wind blew me from one day to the next. You weren't here to help me!"

Bo dropped to her knees, tears trailing down her face, "I'm sorry, Dad... I'm so sorry Mom... it was my fault... not yours. I'm the one that made the bad decisions. I'm the one that refused the counseling services we were offered... and now... look at me... more than a decade later and I'm just getting my shit together... and Kenzi paid the price for my stupidity."

She lowered her head, her fists grabbing at pieces of grass and pulling hard. She lifted her head, raising hands of green to the sky and screaming at the top of her lungs. It was a loud, guttural scream that likely traveled to the moon and back.

She lowered her hands, releasing the soil and foliage, "I'm sorry, Dad... Mom... I know you didn't mean to leave us. All of this time, I've been blaming you for my life." She looked up at the sky, "But I chose this... all of it. I couldn't let them take Kenzi... she's my baby sister... you didn't see her eyes... she was so scared when they came. You know she never cried as a kid... never... she always laughed... always. We always made sure she was laughing. It was the rule. A happy Kenzi made a happy house."

Bo laughed, falling back onto her ass in the sandy overgrowth, "I had to keep her. I had to... I promised." She sighed, calming her tears, "Anyway... she's back in college now and almost finished her degree. Another year and she's finished. She laughs and smiles... a lot. She's in love... with someone who is very good to her. She's making business connections and she's doing really well in qualifying for next year's WSL. I wish you could tell me you were proud of what I've done... I wish I knew I did okay... I wish you were here to see what we've built. I think you'd like it."

"Yea, they'd say it was pretty cool."

Bo's head spun around quickly at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Kenzi?"

"Hey there, sis. Funny finding you... here..." Kenzi looked around, her flashlight pointing at the surrounding grass, "... out for a nature walk?"

She moved up and sat down next to Bo, throwing an arm over her shoulder. Bo laid her head on the younger sister's shoulder,

"I needed to clear my head."

"Lauren stuff?"

"Well, initially, yea. She dumped a lot of stuff on me and when I came out here to sort of process everything, I ended up replaying almost an entire session with Ciara over and over again in my head. Next thing I knew, I was sort of screaming at Mom and Dad."

"Yea, well I sort of heard all of that." Kenzi laughed.

"You did?"

"Yea... it's okay, Bo and for the record... I think I turned out fabulous... I mean... look at me."

Bo laughed, "So how'd you find me... I mean... why did you come and find me?"

"Well, when you didn't come home and I didn't get a final text message saying you were staying, I thought I'd come and check on you guys. Tamsin's in with Lauren right now... she came with. Sorry if you're mad, but... we just wanted to make sure you guys were okay."

Bo nodded, "You know what? It's fine, Kenzi. I'm too tired to be mad. How did you find me?"

"Well, Lauren told me you left upset but that you promised to come back. She only knew you headed in this direction before she lost sight of you in the dark. Then I heard a familiar Lion's roar."

"Yea... I was just sort of dumping all of my shit."

"In one great big yell, eh?" Kenzi asked.

"Just like Dad taught us."

"When life doesn't go your way, get on your board, paddle out and howl at the moon until you feel like you can fight another day." Kenzi replied.

The sisters laughed for a while before they fell silent, just leaning on each other like they'd done many times before. It was a comfortable silence that they had both enjoyed when either had hit a rough patch.

"Nice sets." Kenzi said.

"Yea. Did you notice the timing?"

"Yea, it's off."

Bo laughed, "It's not off, little sis. It's exactly as it should be at this time of night under a full moon at high tide. Mother Nature and Poseidon always know what they're doing and why they're doing it."

Kenzi smiled, "Is that tonight's lesson from the sea?"

Bo couldn't help but chuckle at the reminder. Their Mom had always taught them that the sea always offered us lessons when we most needed them. She sat thinking about what she'd just said to Kenzi and realized, there was, indeed a lesson there for tonight,

"You know, Kenz. I think it actually is. I've been trying to carve my life into this image of what I thought our parents wanted it to be instead of having us each carve our own paths."

"Well, we've both been carving the shit out of our paths on our surfboards, don't ya think?"

"Of course and that's a great analogy, by they way... but I mean in the rest of our lives. I mean, it doesn't matter how you travel, as long as you arrive at your destination and enjoy the journey as you go, right?"

Bo sat up, pulling away from Kenzi, "You want to be in Marketing... well... if the work you're doing right now is enough for you, then why do you need college? You're making great money, pulling in side jobs from people who are seeing your work and you're doing it all without the degree. If you've already arrived at your destination, then it's time to reset your path to continue on to what's next."

"Wait... are you saying you don't care if I graduate from college?" Kenzi asked.

Bo nodded, "I think I am. I mean, I'm going to finish my Master's because I only have one class left but I'm almost to the end of my current path... the school is open, we have investors, mentors, workers and kids. The shop is open and we're manufacturing the boards I've always wanted to create. I'm back on my board and closing in on a top three finish. Everything is coming together for me, Kenzi. Only you can decide if the same holds true for you, but I think you're well on your way."

"You know, I can see that you are doing the whole checklist of accomplishments that you've had on your by-the-time-I'm-thirty bucket list... but... well, don't get mad, but I have to ask this... are you happy, Bo?"

The brunette dropped her head, "I'm... content."

Kenzi nodded, "So... not happy, but one or two steps below the perky, smile-all-day mood. So... can I ask what would make you happy?"

"A championship, a finished school, a finished degree and WSL leaders using and riding our logo."

Kenzi laughed, "And once all of that happens?"

"We'll party and then I'll get up and go to work every day happy to be creating boards and gear that's better than what we put out in the previous line. I'll probably keep working with Pop Torrent, too... I mean... if he wants me. The stuff they're doing is pretty incredible and it would be awesome to do something different away from surfing once in a while. I mean, we're living in a land of geothermal miracles and I am a geological engineer, so... well, this state is like my dream playground. I love surfing, but aside from that one class I took I've never just hiked a volcano for my own research or for something that really made a difference to the people here."

Kenzi nodded, "Well, to quote our rockin' sisters from another mister, Ann and Nancy Wilson from _Heart_... what about love, BoBo?"

The two looked at each other and laughed, before they pulled out their fake microphones and jumped up to their feet. Kenzi began to play air guitar like Nancy while Bo took lead singer Ann's part. The two sang at the top of their lungs to each other,

"What about love?" Bo sang, holding nothing back as Kenzi replied,

"Don't you want someone to care about you?"

"What about love?"

"Don't let it slip away-ee-aa-yay." Kenzi struggled not to laugh.

"What about love?"

"I only want to share it with you?"

"You might need it some day... yay."

They fell to the ground, laughing at their own antics like teenage girls before Kenzi's head settled on Bo's stomach. The pair looked up at the sky, filled with stars,

"Look at that sky, Kenz. Do you think Mom and Dad lit it up for us tonight?"

"Sure, BoBo. We're having a total family moment here."

Bo laughed, "Sometimes I feel them with me."

Kenzi was quiet for a moment, "You do?"

Bo nodded as she struggled to say what was really on her mind, "Kenz?"

"Yea, BoBo?"

"The day of my... accident... I mean... the day I... died... I saw Mom."

Kenzi turned her head to look up at her sister, "Saw her? Like in there's a heaven?"

Bo shrugged, "I don't know... I just... I have this memory of her in the water like when we were kids having tea parties together. She told me I had to go back because you needed me. Then I heard your voice."

Kenzi's eyes welled with tears, "I'm glad you came back... and if she sent you... that just makes it that much better."

"I'll always be looking out for you, Kenzi... even when I'm not here anymore... I'll always be looking out for you."

Kenzi nodded, "Me too, BoBo. But really, you should die first because if I go first, you would be lost without my wonderful self."

Bo laughed, "Kenzi... don't ever change."

"BoBo, I couldn't if I tried."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo and Kenzi walked into Lauren's house laughing, only to find the two blondes sitting on the couch. Tamsin had her arm wrapped over a sleeping Lauren's torso while the exhausted doctor's head lay on a pillow on her lap.

The two immediately quieted and walked towards Tamsin who looked a little angry, "Glad you two are happy."

"Hey! You don't get to rain on my parade just because my sister was able to lift me out of my shitty mood." Bo replied.

"Yea, well my partner here cried herself to sleep because she upset you badly enough for you to walk out of the house. Couldn't you have just sat out on the porch? Did you have to walk out and scream into the night?"

Bo shook her head, "I will not apologize for doing what I needed to do to process the shitload of stuff she dumped on me tonight, Tamsin. Now, should I stay or go? It's your call."

"It's not my call, Bo. It's Lauren's call and she wants you here... she needs to know you're okay." Tamsin replied.

"I told her I was okay and I told her I would be back. I told her I just needed some time alone to process all that she had told me."

Tamsin lowered her eyes, looking at her friend who was adjusting her position. She looked up at Bo,

"I'm sorry... I just... I hate seeing her like this." Tamsin replied.

"Well, it's to be expected, Tamsin. She's working through a lot of shit. It's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. It's hard work... it's emotional work. What you can't do is encourage her negative emotions. I told her I was okay. I told her I would be back. If she didn't trust that, it's on her. I cannot and will not be responsible for her not handling her own emotions and she knows that from therapy, the same way I do."

Kenzi spoke cautiously, "So do you, Bear. We've gone to the group sessions, you with Lauren and me with Bo. I didn't let Bo wallow in her shit out there. I pushed the processing, didn't let her avoid it, asked her about her feelings, processed some more and then ended on a positive which brought us in here laughing."

"So you're saying I didn't do my job?" Tamsin snapped at the younger Dennis.

"Yes." Kenzi answered, crossing her arms.

Tamsin lowered her eyes to Lauren, brushing a strand of hair from her face. She nodded,

"You're right. I allowed her to stay in her dark place."

"Use our therapy words. You enabled her. Why?" Kenzi asked, moving to sit next to her girlfriend, her tone more sympathetic.

"Because I was tired and she wasn't responding to any of the tools I used." Tamsin yawned, "I failed. I'm a horrible friend."

Bo rolled her eyes, "No, you're an exhausted friend who had a very long work day. You guys both should have stayed home and let the two of us handle our respective shit. Let that be a lesson to you. If Lauren had been alone, she would have had to process me walking out of the house on her own... she would have had to find her own strength, Tamsin."

"Instead, I allowed her to be weak... to break down over an irrational fear."

Bo nodded, "She didn't tell you what I said, did she?"

"Nah, she was already crying when we walked in. That was why Kenzi ran after you. We figured if she was a mess, then you must be a mess too."

"I'm fine, T." Bo replied.

"Okay, so what should I do now?" Tamsin asked.

Bo walked over to the couch, "I've got her. I told her I would stay. I'm not going to break that promise to her, but Tamsin, I'm also not going to baby her. She asked me not to... she asked that no one treat her that way. We've got to remind her of what she's accomplished in therapy. We've got to keep her moving forward, not falling back on irrational fears."

Bo slipped a blanket over Lauren once Tamsin had slid out from under her head, replacing her lap with another small pillow.

"I'm not going to enable her." Bo said before turning to the couple, "And you can't enable her either. Call her on her shit... and call me on mine. We've got our own paths to walk and whether or not we end up together will depend on our ability to find our own paths. Only then can we share a life together."

Tamsin and Kenzi looked at each other and smiled. Bo looked at the two curiously,

"What?"

Kenzi turned to Bo, "We were just having that conversation today... it's sort of what we're trying to do. Tamsin was explaining the stereotypical lesbian relationship timeline. She doesn't want to fall into that trap with us, so she won't be moving in any time soon. We're both going to get into our respective lives first. I have to finish my degree and she needs to figure out life after volleyball... or not."

Bo nodded, "Or not?"

Tamsin nodded, "I definitely want to settle into my life without volleyball. Once we're in a good place, then I'll decide if I want to defend my gold either with or without Lewis as my partner."

Bo nodded, "Good to know."

Kenzi added, "And we're going to start spending some nights apart as well. We've decided it's healthy to miss each other at this stage in our relationship."

Bo nodded again, "That's very... mature of you guys."

Tamsin nodded, thumbing towards the door, "But tonight is a sleepover night, so if you don't mind, I have a nine o'clock meeting."

"Goodnight, BoBo." Kenzi said, kissing her sister on the cheek.

Bo nodded, watching the pair leave. As they opened the front door, Tamsin turned back to the brunette,

"Make sure you set the alarm after we leave or she'll freak when she wakes up. She'll run through every room with a baseball bat until she's sure there's no one here. Last time, she took out a lamp I bought her as a gift because she forgot it was there and thought it was a person."

Bo frowned thinking about all of the things about the way Lauren had been living that she didn't know about. "How do I set the alarm?"

"Punch in 1028 and then the 'arm' button. It'll beep a few times and then it's set. Just don't open any external doors or windows once it's set."

"Got it. Thanks again for coming, you guys... but don't do it again without trying the phone first, okay?"

The pair nodded and waved goodnight before heading out. Bo turned to the alarm panel next to the door and set the alarm as Tamsin had explained. She then turned and walked back to the living room sofa. Looking to her right, she saw the fireplace. Lauren hated this room.

She walked over to the blonde and gently tapped her shoulder, "Lauren?" She whispered before repeating the action and speaking a little louder. The blonde roused, slightly startled, but then settled when she saw Bo smiling at her,

"Do you want to get in your bed?" Bo asked, her voice calm and gentle.

"You came back."

Bo frowned, "Come here... Sit up, please?"

Lauren did as she was asked, shaking off the sleepiness to look at Bo. The brunette gave her a few moments to orient herself before she took her hands and spoke,

"Lauren, you can't fall apart like you did with Tamsin tonight. You just can't. You're stronger than that and I won't stand for it. I reminded Tamsin and Kenzi of the ground rules we've all been taught. You and I... we have to handle our own shit. What did I say to you when I left?"

Lauren lowered her eyes, "I know, Bo. I'm sorry."

Bo lifted Lauren's chin until her eyes met her own, "No pitty parties, Lauren. Own your shit right here, right now. God knows I love you dearly, but you have got to keep moving forward or you are going to end up back on that island. Now, tell me what I said to you when I left."

"That you were okay and that you would be back."

"I promised I would be back, Lauren... twice, I believe. Here I am. You have to trust that I'm not going to lie to you. I know that I betrayed your trust in Rio that one night that I asked you to meet up with Manny and his brothers instead of sticking to your schedule, but you said that all was forgiven. Now was it, or not? Can you give me any other reason you have not to trust my word?"

Lauren shook her head, "No, Bo... and you're right... I apologize for my moment of weakness tonight. I guess that I just panicked over the amount of truths I dumped on you, afraid you would find it all too much and just walk away."

"You asked me not to treat you like you were fragile. Well I'll ask the same of you. Let's agree right here and right now that we're not going to do this shit, Lauren. We can't do it... I won't do it. We are moving forward. We've spent a lot of months and a lot of hard work taking care of ourselves. We've both learned about codependency, caretaking and enabling. We can't do that anymore. We have to support each other without enabling each other to fall back into toxic and unhealthy behaviors."

Lauren nodded, "I'm just tired, Bo... I agree... but I'm just tired. I'd like to go to sleep if that's okay with you."

"That would be fine with me, Lauren. Come on, I'll walk you back."

Bo took Lauren's hand and went to move towards her bedroom, while Lauren went to move towards the green room. As their hands almost pulled apart, they looked at each other,

"I'm sorry. I guess you don't want me to sleep with you after my breakdown." Lauren said, "It's okay, Bo. I'll go to my room."

Bo frowned, considering what she wanted in that moment. She decided that sharing a space with the blonde wouldn't be a big deal tonight,

"It's okay. Come on." Bo gave Lauren a tug and they moved to the green room together.

"Oh, the alarm."

"I already set it. Tamsin explained before she left. I promise, it's okay."

Lauren nodded, allowing herself to trust Bo with their safety. The two settled on to the blonde's couchtress side by side. It was more awkward then the first time they'd settled in tonight and Bo felt a need to remedy that,

"Do you still want to snuggle?" Bo asked.

"Are you sure?" Lauren asked.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't." Bo replied, "Come here."

Lauren moved to wrap an arm around Bo's waist, while Bo took the hand and moved it to her lips for a kiss before moving it to her chest as she had before. It didn't take long until Bo felt Lauren relax in her arms,

"Are you okay?" Bo asked.

"Yea." Lauren replied.

"I'm sorry if I was hard on you out there."

Lauren shrugged, "Not one word of what you said was wrong, Bo. I slipped tonight. I wasn't ready for you to walk out when honestly, I should have been. I dumped a lot on you and I know that even I would have needed some space from me if I were you. I'm not even sure if I'm making sense right now, but... well... I overreacted... and... while not blaming them for something I should have controlled within myself, it didn't help me when Tamsin and Kenzi showed up. They were very empathetic instead of helping me to see I was wrong."

"I've already addressed that with them." Bo replied, quietly.

Lauren nodded as the pair fell silent again. Bo didn't want them to fall asleep mad and she didn't want Lauren to have nothing to look forward to tomorrow. She knew the blonde would dwell on the events of the evening unless she gave her mind a new direction. She decided to extend the suggestion she was going to make for tomorrow. After all, her Mom had always used the 'don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today' mantra her whole life,

"Lauren, when we get up tomorrow, will you let me take you to the bank and grocery shopping?"

"Bo, you don't have to..."

"Let me explain... I was so happy for you at dinner when you were talking about your cravings and wanting so many different foods. I think on some level that was your dream when you first jumped into your car to head to the grocery store today. If that is your dream, then I'd like to be there for your first shopping trip. If for no other reason than to see the mass amount of confusion on your face when you're trying to figure out which brand to buy."

Lauren smiled, "Okay then, that would be nice. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, early morning run on the beach, bank and then groceries... my way?"

"What's your way?"

Bo smiled, "Grocery shopping my way is amazing... well, in my opinion, anyway. You may think it's all more trouble then it's worth, but you might like it. You'll see."

"Bo?"

"Yea?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you about grocery shopping."

Bo kissed the blonde's forehead, "I'm glad you came clean. Now, let's see how we do with keeping things honest from now on. You don't have to hide things from me, Lauren. You don't need to be embarrassed. I will never judge you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They were quiet for a while, before Lauren spoke, "Bo?"

The brunette opened her eyes, "Are you okay?"

Lauren nodded, "I'm sorry that you have to deal with..."

Bo silenced her with a finger over her lips, "No, Lauren... no apologies. You did not do this to us... to me or to yourself. Your Father, Nadia, Evony, Kristy... these were all people who tried to break you... but don't you see, baby? If you keep apologizing, they win. So please... don't let them win... don't let them take what I know we can have... don't let them take the woman I fell in love with... you are stronger than them and... more importantly... you are a good person."

Lauren sighed, "I still love you, Bo... and I want to be strong enough for us."

Bo smiled, "Lauren, I need you to be strong for yourself. Then, together we can be strong enough to take on anything. I still love you, Lauren. I want us. But I can't do us alone. I need you to believe that we can rise above everything that's happened and survive. We deserve a life together, Lauren and I still want that with you."

Lauren's eyes searched Bo's, "A life together?"

Bo laughed, "What? Did you think I was just in this for a few dates and sex?"

Lauren laughed, "Well, the thought had crossed my mind."

"Well, I have to admit, the sex was pretty great..." Bo smiled.

"It was." Lauren smiled, "And I do want to... do... that... but..."

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo... I want to... I'm just... afraid."

Bo frowned, "Of what?"

Lauren ran her thumb back an forth across the back of Bo's hand, "What if... what if it isn't good? What if you decide... you don't feel that way anymore..."

"That is not something you'll have to worry about sweetie."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've wanted to touch you since the moment you walked into the Meetinghouse. I want my hands on you and I want your hands on me... but not until you're ready for that step... until we're ready for that step."

"Well, thank you for being willing to wait on that." Lauren replied.

"I really don't mind waiting, Lauren. I'm not ready, you're not ready... sex has a way of confusing things. We waited the first time and we can wait again. I've gone longer than two months without sex, you know. Besides, I don't expect that we're going to jump into full on sex. We can do the horny teenager stage first."

Lauren spoke softly... hesitantly, "So... horny teenager... is that first base?"

Bo chuckled, "I guess so."

Lauren quietly asked, "Can I... can we kiss?"

Bo smiled, "I'd like that."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Lauren laughed, "I really do feel like a nervous horny teenager."

"It is like a first teen date, isn't it?" Bo laughed.

Lauren leaned in, her fingers running down the side of Bo's face and pressed her lips to the brunette's once. It was a chaste kiss that wasn't near enough to satisfy either woman. Bo leaned in and kissed the blonde again, her lips lingering a bit longer before she pulled back. The two stared at each other for a long moment,

"Relax your mind, okay? Try to stay focused on everything you want out of your life and get ready to go for it, Lauren. There's nothing stopping you anymore and until I can fully walk beside you, I'll be behind you all the way."

"And if that day doesn't come when we walk side by side?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "You're impossible, do you know that?"

Lauren replied, "I'm a realist. I've done a lot of damage."

"But it's damage that I can understand, Lauren. You are a victim who needs to learn how to be a survivor. Once you do that, you'll stop worrying, you'll stop apologizing and you'll stop feeling like you need to hold onto me out of fear that I'm going to leave. I want you to hold me because you love me and want to share things with me."

Lauren nodded, "You know, you're pretty smart."

"I know. I almost have a Master's degree. It'll put your double doctorate and surgical license to shame, really."

Lauren laughed, "Well, if you could use your engineering smarts to create one of those tricorders that Dr. McCoy had on the old Star Trek series, I would really appreciate it."

"A tricorder?"

Lauren nodded, "You really do need to watch my Star Trek DVD set. You'll find all sort of things you could build. You know, they predicted back in those days that we would have these portable scanners. You engineers have fallen behind the pace."

"We're failures, every one of us. How will we ever handle the blow to our collective egos." Bo laughed.

"Invent a tricorder." Lauren reiterated as the pair laughed.

Bo was quiet for a moment, "Lauren?"

"Yea?"

Bo hesitated, but decided to be completely honest with Lauren, "Please don't worry about us. Let's just concentrate on doing our daily routine and hang out when we have time, okay? You're going to find that I'm extremely busy right now and I don't want you to think that means that I don't want to spend time with you, but you should know that I'm at a time in my life where a lot of my dreams and goals are on the verge of coming true. It's going to require patience on your part and a lot of hard work on my part. I promise I will do my best to see you as much as possible, but I can't promise it will be daily."

"Well, after what I saw today, I understand, Bo. Training, competitions, board-making, managing the shop, overseeing the school, building the emergency response training facility and school... I don't know how you're doing all you're doing."

"Well, my only other distraction was on an island." Bo laughed.

Lauren smiled, "I see." Lauren gave Bo a quick peck on the lips, "Well, I will do my best not to create any distractions from what you're trying to accomplish."

"Thank you." Bo replied.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo and Lauren had done exactly as they'd planned, getting up early and going for a run on the beach together before heading to the bank. Now, Lauren was leaning back in Bo's convertible, enjoying the sun on her face as they drove through town to the grocery store. Parking the car, Bo smiled over at Lauren,

"Okay, sun worshipper, we're here."

Lauren popped open her eyes and smiled.

"Do you have your Visa debit card?" Bo asked.

"It's in my pocket with my phone. I still don't understand what it does."

"Well, we had it tied to your checking account so any time you use it, the money will come directly from your bank account. You don't have to carry much cash anymore... just the card. Just remember to always check your purchases and account balance on line to make sure there's no mistakes. Do you remember your pin number?"

Lauren grinned, "How can I forget it."

Lauren had used Bo's birth month and date as her pin number because she thought it would be a romantic gesture. Bo could only smile at her choice, but hoped things worked out between them so Lauren wasn't sacked with a constant reminder of something that didn't work out.

"You can push the cart." Bo smiled.

Lauren nodded, "You know, I remember as a kid, my Mom would let me sit in the seat when she shopped. I was responsible for the list. I would check things off as she put them in the cart."

Bo smiled, knowing that there were at least some positive memories in Lauren's past. She was pulled from her musings when Lauren stopped suddenly,

"Oh gosh! We don't have a list!"

Bo smirked, "Lauren, your cabinets are empty. I looked. You have salt, pepper, olive oil, cream cheese, frozen bagels, cinnamon and hot chocolate."

"I have syrup, flour, baking powder and sugar, too. I ate a lot of pancakes."

Bo shook her head, "Okay then, we're going aisle by aisle, but we're only buying dry goods."

"Dry goods?"

"Things that come in a box, bottle or can."

Lauren began to protest, "But, I want veg..."

"Dry goods only. We'll be getting those things elsewhere. As I said, you're shopping my way today." Bo put her foot down and turned Lauren up the first aisle, moving her along as she picked up things to use when she didn't have time to shop for fresh. They also picked up basic condiments.

When they were finished, Lauren went to the checkout and dipped into her pocket to pull out cash, but it wasn't there. She had a moment of panic until Bo whispered in her ear, reminding her about the debit card. She quietly swiped the card for her, showing Lauren how to use the machine, then watched as the blonde signed her name on the keypad and took the receipt.

"That cashier must have thought I was a coma patient to not know how to use one of those cards."

Bo laughed, "Who cares what she thinks. If people want to judge, let 'em judge, Lauren. Rise above, baby. Rise above."

"Right." Lauren smiled, putting the last bag in Bo's trunk, "Where to now?"

Bo smiled, "It's a surprise. Hop in."

They drove for quite some time, meandering down roads that went through areas of dense vegetation until Bo finally pulled into a long driveway that curved until it ended at a large farmhouse.

"This place is... amazing. What a beautiful home." Lauren smiled.

Bo nodded, "Come on, we have to go around back."

Lauren took Bo's hand and followed her around to the back of the house, following a well-worn path. There, Lauren saw a small cart with an umbrella and a hanging scale.

"Bo, what is this place?"

"It's called Island Orchard and it's where I get all of my fruits and vegetables. They came and did our initial planting at the school."

"It's amazing." Lauren said, looking out across the fields that seemed to go on for miles.

"Okay, so you pick up one of these backpack bags. They're open on top, so you literally just toss things over your shoulder and into the bag. The first time I came here, Kenzi walked behind me picking up everything that missed the bag."

She helped Lauren into a bag, "The prices are on the front of the cart. When you're finished, you weight everything out on the scale and then either put your cash in the lock box or you pay using an app. I used an app called Venmo. I can set it up for you while we shop. Come on."

Lauren stood still, looking at the prices. Bo laughed, "Lauren... trust me when I say you will spend less money here than you've ever spent on produce in your life."

They walked through the orchard and then the garden, picking fresh fruits and vegetables. Bo had to laugh at the number of times that Lauren stopped to smell the things she picked, time and again commenting on how fresh everything smelled.

When they were finished, Bo downloaded a cash app onto Lauren's phone and hooked it to her bank account. It took a short while, but eventually she connected to the owner of the orchard and was able to send her payment.

Bo had encouraged Lauren to by the orchard cloth bags so that she could bring them with her anytime she came. With their bags in the backseat of the car, they headed for their next destination.

"Where to now?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, "To our next shopping location."

"Which is?" Lauren hinted.

"None of your business right now, dear."

"So, why do you come out here to shop?" Lauren asked.

"When you see how long those tomatoes last, you'll never buy produce in a grocery store again." Bo smiled.

"Is that so?"

"It is." Bo nodded.

It was only a few miles later when Bo pulled into another house that had three barns and a silo on the property. Hopping out of the car, she smiled when she heard the familiar voice of Mrs. Kono,

"Bo! It's so nice to see you! You're early this week!"

Bo waved Lauren towards her as she walked to the older woman, "I've brought you a new customer. This is Dr. Lauren Lewis and she'd like some milk, eggs and cheese."

"Oh, my! You're Doctor Slam!" the woman clapped her hands rapidly in front of her, "I saw you on TV! You won! You won!"

Lauren looked at Bo, who was trying desperately not to laugh at the older woman's enthusiasm,

"Yes, we did." Lauren smiled.

"Well, your order is on me, today! Come on! Stella just laid some fresh eggs this morning!"

Lauren looked at Bo and mouthed, _'Stella?'_

Bo whispered, "That's her best hen."

Lauren nodded and followed the pair, listening to Mrs. Kono give the play-by-play of her match.

"You know, I played when I was much younger. I was quite a looker back then."

"I'm sure you were, Mrs. K." Bo replied.

Lauren smiled, mouthing to Bo, _'This woman is adorable.'_

"Now, what about you, Bo? How are things at the school? Are those kids of yours taking good care of raising my chicks?"

Bo laughed, "If anything, they're getting more attention than they should. The kids love the adorable little things."

"Yea, well we'll see how they feel about them when they get older and their poop smells as ripe as a month old banana."

The three women walked the grounds for a while, Bo wanting Lauren to see the farm they were visiting and feel comfortable enough with Mrs. Kono to come here on her own if she wanted dairy products.

Once they had the eggs and milk, they went into the cheese house. Bo just stood back and watched as Mrs. K introduced Lauren to all of her cheeses, making recommendations based on the blonde's tastes.

Finally, they said their goodbyes, waving to the older woman as they drove down the driveway,

"She was really sweet. How did you find her?"

"She's a childhood friend of my neighbor's. I've been going there for years and she just donated some chicks for the school last month."

"Now what?"

"One more stop." Bo smiled.

Their last stop was the Hawaiian Surf Ranch, owned by Akoni's brother. Lauren picked out a variety of meats, deciding to take some that she could freeze, and they were on their way back to Lauren's. They unloaded the groceries and then took some time to drink some water and sit outside.

"Thank you for this morning, Bo. It was a great run and I love your version of grocery shopping... and thanks for teaching me how to bank."

"You're welcome, Lauren. I just hope you feel a little more settled now."

Lauren nodded, "I do. So... surfing?"

Bo smiled, "Yup. I have to do my rounds and a workout first, so maybe you can come over around twelve? We'll have lunch and then surf after our food has settled a bit. Maybe you can jump into the sailing class. Would you like that?"

"I've never sailed before." Lauren replied.

"Well, I'll have to hook you up with Maddie. She's a sixteen-year-old student who we've just entered into her first competitive race in the Finn class boats."

"Finn class?"

"It's a heavyweight dinghy that you race alone. They say she's really good, but I don't know much about sailing, so I can't agree or disagree with the coaching staff. I just know that she's determined to put a female face on the sailing world."

"Good for her." Lauren smiled, "It's nice to hear you are working to raise strong women."

"To raise strong women, they need strong female mentors. Are you up for the challenge, Doctor Lewis?"

Lauren nodded, "By the time that new facility is built, I will be, Bo."

"Is that a promise?" Bo asked, nudging Lauren.

Lauren hesitated, "I don't know that I'm ready to promise just yet, but it is currently my intention. I'm sorry if that's not enough for you."

Bo shook her head, "As long as you aren't giving me a firm no, it's enough, Lauren."

The pair smiled at each other, before Lauren pointed towards her door,

"Okay then. I'm going to head inside. I'll see you around noon?"

"I look forward to it."

Bo waved to Lauren one last time before getting into her car. Lauren stood at her door with one hand on the handle and watched as the brunette drove out of sight. She turned back towards the house and stepped inside. She stopped just inside the door,

"Lewis, it's time to put on your big girl pants." Lauren said aloud to the room.

She pulled her cellphone from her back pocket and dialed the familiar number, "Yes, this is Doctor Lauren Lewis. I'd like to speak to Pop, please?"

Lauren walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water as she waited. Finally, she heard a voice on the other end,

"Pop!"

' _Hey, Doc! I've been meaning to stop by to see you. I heard you talked to my wifey down at the workshop the other day. Did she talk you into a surfboard yet?'_

Lauren laughed, "No, not yet but it was good to see her. She looks... happy."

' _Well, she's helping two young sisters do what we did... build a business based on a sport we loved. Of course, it helps that Bo speaks engineering speak. Mom Torrent always was the bigger engineer of our team.'_

"Girl power, eh?"

' _That woman has worn the pants in this family since the day I laid eyes on her. So, what can I do for my second favorite gold medalist?'_

"I'm looking for a major renovation of my house."

' _Oh really?'_

"Don't play dumb, Pop. I know T tells you everything. I want to wipe away the Nadia and make this place my own. Now, are you going to help your adopted daughter or not?"

' _I'm in. When do you want me there?'_

"Oh, just send one of your guys whenever you have someone available. Just send me a date and time..."

' _No, Lauren... I mean, I'm free right now. I'm going to handle this one personally. It's time for me to dust off my skills. Besides, you can only do so many big buildings before it gets boring. A nice, cliff-side home would be a great project for your adopted old man.'_

"Well, I'm free now."

' _Well, I'll see you in about thirty minutes then.'_

"Thanks, Pop."

' _Anything for my girl Lauren.'_

Lauren smiled and tucked her phone back into her pocket. Sipping her water, she turned towards her house,

"Goodbye Nadia, hello to the new, independent Lauren Lewis... the strong woman who is taking back the life she was given. Now... where are those magazines?"

Lauren moved around the room looking under the couch, in the lowest drawers until finally she remembered,

"Aha! Guest bedroom!"

She ran to the bedroom that had most recently been used pretty regularly by Tamsin while she was in therapy. Prior to that, it was just for show since Nadia had pretty much driven away any real friends she'd ever had that might have spent the night as a guest. Well, that was going to change. If Lauren wanted to have guests over, she was going to have guests over. Of course, since she really had no friends, she had no idea who those guests would be, but someday, she would have both guests and friends.

Pulling open the closet, she moved two boxes out of the way and reached down to the secret cubby she had created in the back wall. Pulling off the piece of drywall, she slid out the dusty box. It had been years since she'd opened it. She put the box on the bed and opened the lid.

She immediately smiled when she saw her college photo album, her high school yearbook and her family scrapbook. She opened the gift from her Aunt and immediately saw the last picture taken of her with her parents. Tracing the face of her mom, she said,

"I'm back Mom. I'm going to be the woman you always dreamed I would be. I'm scared, but I know I can do it."

She put the photo album down and dug into the bottom, past her old stuffed bear, a couple of medals and trophies until she found a stack of magazines tied together. She hugged the stack and smiled as she spoke to them,

"There you are. I've waited all of my life to open you guys again. It's time... we're finally going to build our dream home."

She put the box back in the closet, deciding against hiding the memories away. This was her space now. No one would tell her what to do. Walking out into the dining room, she sat down and put her glass of water on the table, carefully placing it on a coaster to prevent a water stain from forming beneath the glass. She took the first home design magazine off the top and carefully turned to the first bookmarked page labeled 'kitchen ideas'.

She looked at the glass and chuckled, lifting it up to take a sip. She looked down at the coaster. Laughing, she picked up the protective barrier and tossed it over her shoulder onto the living room floor before putting the glass down. This time, she intentionally rubbed the wet bottom all over the right side of the table, "Fuck you, Nadia. I'll water stain your damn table all I want."

She laughed again, before she suddenly had another idea. She stood and turned around, facing the living room, "Might as well start cleaning out the place for the renovations, right?"

She looked up at the clock, another idea jumping into her head. She ran out of her house and down the street to where she'd seen a sign when she'd been on a run yesterday. Knocking on the door, she smiled... then laughed as she waited. Finally, a small girl answered the door. Lauren knelt down in front of her,

"Your sign says you have kittens free to a good home."

"Are you a good home?" the little girl asked.

"Well, I have no other pets, I'm a doctor so I know a bit about keeping healthy and emergency care, and I have always wanted a kitten since I was a little girl. I live alone, so she would be my best friend."

A woman came around the door, having overheard the conversation, "She does the interviews, I listen from behind the door to make sure it's not some creepy person."

Lauren smiled, "I totally understand. Do you have any kittens left?"

"We do and I think we would love for you to have one. Does she pass, Emma?"

Lauren smiled as she entered the home. Emma took her hand and pulled her towards a large box in the corner of their living room near two floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a beautiful home, Lauren thought to herself.

"Aren't they adorable?" Emma asked, "You shouldn't be afraid of the black ones. That's just silly superstition. We only have girls left... these three. I call them Socks, Mittens and Bunny."

"Is there any reason you picked those names?" Lauren asked, taking the offered kitten from Emma.

"Well, the one you're holding is Socks. See how she is all black and has two white back paws?"

Lauren laughed, "I see."

"It's like socks on your feet." She took Socks from Lauren and handed another, "This one is Bunny... see how her one ear droops down once in a while like a bunny rabbit's ears?"

Lauren's smile was bright as she looked up at the Mom and mouthed, "She's adorable."

The mother simply smiled back, running her fingers over her daughter's pony tail. Next, Lauren found herself getting acquainted with the last kitten,

"This is Mittens. I think she'll be the one that you should take. I call her Mittens because her front paws are white just like when we where mittens on our hands. Get it?"

"I get it." Lauren smiled, "And why do you think Mittens would be the one for me?"

"Well, first, my Mom says no one should feel obdagated to use the names I gave them. She's the friendliest and the one that likes to snuggle up a lot. You seem like a snuggle person."

Lauren laughed, having never heard anyone refer to her who engaged regularly in physical contact of any sort, but as she thought about it, she realized that's why she was here. She wanted someone to talk to and share her space... someone who wouldn't talk back, who wouldn't judge and who would love her unconditionally.

She put Mittens down on the floor with the other three and sure enough, she came right back to her. She watched the other two her were obviously very close sisters. They reminded her of Bo and Kenzi. Both dark hair, Bunny had one blue eye like Kenzi while their other eyes were dark like Bo's. Both were very active just like the two surfers.

She looked up at Emma, "I'll think you're right. I'll take Mittens."

"Are you sure I can't pay you anything for her? I'm sure the vet bills aren't cheap."

Emma smiled, "My Daddy is a vet, so he didn't charge me. But he said that if I let Missy get pregnant again, he would."

Lauren looked at Emma, "Missy?"

"She's my cat... the big one over there in the corner. I think she's mad at me for giving her kids away, but Mom and Dad said we can't keep them on account of my asthma."

Lauren looked up at Emma's mom who nodded, "It's controlled with regular medication and her breathing treatments, but there's been a marked increase in attacks since the kittens were born. My husband thinks there's just too much dander in the air and it would just get worse if we kept any of them. If you know anyone else willing to take on these two, please send them our way. We're going to give it another three weeks tops, then..."

She mouthed, the letters S.P.C.A. to Lauren who nodded, acknowledging she understood.

"Here's your goodie bag." Emma said, running over to the foyer and back to Lauren, "My Dad's office gets a lot of free stuff, so he let me make bags for anyone who takes one of Missy's kids. Missy wanted me to make sure her kids would have stuff to play with and eat just in case their new owners didn't get to the pet store the first day."

"Well, thank you."

"Yup. And if you ever see Missy outside, can you pick her up for me? I don't want that other cat making her pregnant again. We're gonna get her... what's that called, Mom?"

"Spade."

"Yea, Dad's gonna make it so she can't get pregnant anymore just as soon as he has an opening in his schedule."

"Well, you can feel free to visit Mittens any time you want. I live just five doors down."

Lauren stood up, watching as Emma said goodbye to the kitten. She turned to the mother,

"I'm Doctor Lauren Lewis. I work down..."

"Oh gosh! You're the doctor who just won the Olympic Gold Medal! You treated my brother's son when he broke his leg in a soccer tournament!"

Lauren visibly blushed, "Oh, well... I'm glad I could help. I take it he's up and playing again?"

She shook her head, "Actually, he was but while you were in Rio, he was in your emergency room again. This time, he decided to race dirt bikes with his friends. He went over the handlebars without a helmet on. Thank God it was just a concussion and a broken arm."

Emma ran over to Lauren with Mittens, "And he lost his front teeth, too. He looks silly now. Even I have my front teeth and I'm only nine."

She gently handed Mittens to Lauren, giving her a kiss on the nose, "By Mittens. You be good for Doctor Lauren."

"I'll take good care of her, Emma. I promise."

Lauren looked up at the Mother who smiled, "My name is Janice Booker and my husband's name is Ron."

"Could I have his card? I don't know any veterinarians, so if it's alright with him..."

"Of course, of course. He's usually pretty booked, but they have a new young doctor in the practice who you could probably get an appointment with fairly quickly. Her name is Annie Wright. She just graduated from some big school on the east coast. I just know the practice was excited to have her. She actually did all of their shots and initial checkups."

"Annie Wright it is, then. Well, I have an appointment in about ten minutes, so I must be going home."

"Do you need me to kitten sit?" Emma asked.

Lauren smiled, "Well, if I ever need someone, I'll be sure to ask you first. Today, my appointment is coming to my house, so I'll be okay. Mittens is in good hands, Emma. I promise you I'll take good care of her." Lauren called across the room, "Do you hear that Missy?"

The older cat looked up at Lauren, then looked away, "I guess he's mad at me too."

Emma nodded, "It's okay. I'll go sit with her after you leave. I always give her attention after we give a kid away."

"That's very nice of you." Lauren smiled, "Well, I'll see you around the neighborhood."

"Bye Doctor Lauren! Thank you!" Emma yelled as she moved back to the two remaining kittens.

Lauren turned to Janice, "I may have two people who will take the other two. I'll have them stop by if they're up for it."

Janice smiled, "Thank you Doctor Lewis, and congratulations on the Gold Medal. We're all so proud of you."

"Thank you, Janice. And please... call me Lauren if we're not in the hospital."

Janice nodded, opening the door for Lauren. She stepped outside and looked down at the kitten who was now asleep in her arms,

"You are a little snuggler, aren't you? Well, let's go see our new home. It's going to be pretty loud for the next little while, but I promise that when it's done, you're going to love your new room."

When Lauren entered her home, she placed the bag Emma gave her on the kitchen counter and put Mittens on the couch pillow. The kitten looked up for a moment, then put her head back down and slept. Lauren laughed, "Not the least bit curious, huh?"

She stood looking at the room and smiled a wicked smile, "I might as well start the purge until Pop gets here. This is gonna be fun. Goodbye Nadia."

The opened the sliding glass doors and slipped outside. While she was away, she'd ordered a dumpster for the neighbor to put trash in since she'd cancelled the regular pickups. She looked inside and noticed it was practically empty except for some soil bags and about two days worth of trash total. She smiled, "Perfect."

She walked back inside and immediately went to the fireplace. Looking up above it, she pulled down the painting of the naked woman that Nadia had purchased. She'd later found out it was a naked woman Nadia has slept with, but didn't dare take it down. Today, however, that all changed. She lifted the frame and carried it to the door before giving it a good swing and landing it perfectly in the center of the dumpster. The sound of breaking glass was music to Lauren's ears.

She moved back inside and unplugged the two lamps... again... two naked women on the posts. The day Nadia had brought them in, Lauren had complained that she felt it was in poor taste to possibly make straight guests uncomfortable in her home. Nadia disagreed, so they'd stayed, but not today... today, these were going as well.

She grabbed the photo album of them from beneath the coffee table, and then decided the whole coffee table should go. She threw away coasters and wine glasses, more paintings and lamps. She tossed vases from apology flowers, coffee mugs, dessert trays, toaster ovens and blenders. Moving to the linen closet, she tossed every set of sheets they'd ever used together, and then made herself a note to buy queen-sized sheets sometime tomorrow.

She continued to purge until she heard laughter coming from the dining room. She turned to see Pop sitting at the dining room table, drinking a to-go cup of coffee.

"Pop? How long have you been there?"

"Oh, about ten minutes, give or take. It was so much fun to watch you having so much fun. I take it you're throwing Nadia out... and it looks like a little more than figuratively?"

Lauren sat down next to the older gentleman, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Exactly."

"And how do you feel?"

Lauren smiled, "For the first time in my life... free."

Pop nodded as his eyes drifted to a tiny squeak. Lauren looked down to see Mittens standing on her hind legs, her little white paws on her chair. She lifted her up, the kitten immediately curling into her arms.

"And who's this?"

"This is Mittens... her birth name. I got her down the street. She's my knew roommate."

"Tamsin will be crushed."

"I'm sure." Lauren said sarcastically.

"So... what's the plan here, darlin'?"

Lauren pushed the magazine across the table, "Everything is marked in those magazines. Pop, it's been my lifelong dream to have everything in those publications that has a label on it, so I'm hoping you can deliver. The magazines are pretty old, but I'm sure you can find something comparable. I'm going to trust your judgment."

"If it helps you to move on from this nightmare with Nadia, I'll do whatever I have to do. I'm going to take these back to my office and work with my design team. Do you mind if I look around?"

"Not at all. The original architectural drawings of the house are in the office on the top shelf of the closet in a tube."

"You have the drawings? That's excellent!"

Lauren nodded, "I thought you'd like that."

As Pop Torrent walked the house, Lauren gave him a wide berth, lurking nearby in case he had questions or couldn't find anything he was looking for. As they walked, she pulled additional items off of walls, opened drawers of accent pieces to look discard any contents that were reminders of her past life and, at times, picked up those accent pieces and discarded them altogether.

About fifteen minutes into his evaluation of the home, Lauren heard Tamsin's voice,

"Lewis! I heard my Pop came over here. What gives?"

Lauren greeted Tamsin at the door, "Uh... I'm... remodeling."

Tamsin's gaze moved over the home, her eyes going wide as her jaw dropped, "Uh... I take it you already started the demolition phase of the project?"

Lauren was reserved in her mannerisms as well as her reply, "I was... uh... well... there were some things that I no longer wanted."

Tamsin looked at her friend and saw the look of a scolded child, "Hey! Lewis! Buck up there, kiddo. I think this is great! Kick that bitch's ass out for good!"

A broad smile spread across Tamsin's face as Lauren's eyes slowly moved up to meet her teammate's eyes,

"Really? It's... okay with you that I'm getting a little crazy?"

"This isn't crazy, this is the beginning of the eradication and exorcism of an evil spirit who has been soul sucking you for too long!" Tamsin clapped her hands together, "How can I help?"

Lauren looked at the fireplace, a smile slowly spreading over her face, "I want to get rid of that brick fireplace and replace it with something that more closely resembles a home by the sea. I saw this fireplace that was... well, I don't know what the inside was where the brick on this one is now, but it sort of looked like cast iron. Above it was a beautiful mantle carved from the old wooden mast of a tall ship. Really... I just want the brick gone. I could care less if that became a campfire as long as the image of Nadia standing in front of it..."

Tamsin nodded, placing a gentle hand on Lauren's shoulder, "Give me a second... I have to run out to my car."

Lauren heard Pop call for her. He couldn't find the plans, so she ran back to the guest bedroom to help him. When she came back out, she saw Tamsin putting on safety goggles and pulling on the cord of a chainsaw. The blonde pulled the goggle down from her forehead over her eyes and looked at Lauren with a smirk while revving the engine.

Tamsin looked... evil... that's the only way that Lauren could describe it. Tamsin revved the engine, and smiled before looking at the couch,

"Here's Tammy." She said before she set the chainsaw into the center of the couch.

"Uh... Tamsin..." Lauren said, slightly terrified by the wide-eyed look on her friends' face.

Tamsin looked up at the blonde and revved the engine again, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU, LEWIS! CHAINSAW IS TOO LOUD! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS!"

Lauren watched as Tamsin finished off the couch and then pressed the chainsaw into the living room carpet, and then the hardwood flooring that extended beyond the room, pushing the couch pieces out of the way. When she finally turned off the chainsaw, she had effectively cut the bloodstain out of the floor. She picked up the pieces and tossed them through the door into the dumpster, then turned back to the spot. She shrugged and then turned the chainsaw on again, taking it to the wooden coffee table, cutting it right in half.

Lauren's mouth dropped open as she felt Mittens crawling up her leg. She picked up the kitten, holding the shaking animal to her chest. She whispered,

"Sorry, sweetie. Your Aunt is playing a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre right now. She doesn't do it often, but... well... I think this is her protective side kicking in. She didn't like my ex-girlfriend much and I believe this is her way of joining in my purge... or as she calls it... the exorcism."

Lauren chuckled as she watched Tamsin toss the pieces of wood into the fireplace before removing her goggles and dropping the chainsaw to the floor. Lauren watched as the blonde marched out onto the back patio, passing the dumpster and turning left.

"Tamsin! What are you..."

Tamsin re-entered the house with a bottle of light fluid and sprinkled it onto the fire. She reached under the top of the fireplace and opened the flue before striking a match and tossing it onto the pile. She jumped back when the flames shot out of the fireplace, scorching the clean, white mantle,

"Whoa... guess you're gonna need a new floor, coffee table and fireplace. That mantle is shot." Tamsin wiped her hand on her jeans and turned to Lauren, "Symbolic, ain't it?"

Lauren shook her head, her eyes still wide as she held onto a trembling Mittens, "It's... that's... something... truly."

"You aren't... mad... are you?"

Lauren looked up at Tamsin, then back to the fireplace. She stared into the flames, remembering the angry face of her abuser standing in front of the brick fireplace. She remembered the moment she stood and tried to walk towards her to apologize for flirting with a Nurse at the hospital, but instead of taking her hand, she backhanded her across the face before pushing her back... hard... causing the blonde to lose her balance and fall sideways onto the corner edge of the coffee table.

When she awoke, Nadia was drunk on the couch and she was covered in blood with a splitting headache. The curly-haired brunette simply said,

" _Make sure you clean my coffee table, carpet and hardwoods before you clean up yourself. You're going to stain my house with your fucking blood."_

Tamsin's voice pulled Lauren from the memory. She looked up, a dazed look on her face that slowly contorted into a smirk before a broad smile covered her face,

"I'm not mad, Torrent. I'm free."

Tamsin gave her a hug, but before Lauren let go, she whispered, "Thank you."

The taller blonde pulled back and smiled, "You bet. Now... who is this little thing?"

"This little creature is Mittens and she is the little girl that you just scared to death with your Jack Nicholson in The Shining impression... which, by the way, was very impressive."

"Yea, well, I didn't have a door to enter through and I left my axe in the shed at my house, so I had to improvise the part. What do you think? Do I have a future in acting?"

"In horror flicks? Oh, yea. You were just a little bit terrifying." Lauren laughed, stroking Mittens head as she slowly calmed down.

"So, whose kitten?" Tamsin asked, taking the tiny black cat from her friend.

"She's mine." Lauren said, wondering if having a companion was against the 'finding herself' rules that everyone seemed to be laying out for her.

"Get out! You went out and bought yourself a kitten?"

Lauren smiled, going to sit on the couch, but stopping herself before she landed on the floor. She laughed and moved towards the dining room table. Sitting down, Tamsin joined her,

"I spent the morning shopping with Bo for food and when she dropped me back off, I just felt... I don't know... empowered... when I walked into the house... and maybe angry that Nadia had turned me into this weak... child of a woman. I decided to take action, so the first thing I did was call your Dad."

"Yea. So what gives? Why not call me?"

"No offense, but... well, you're too involved in all that's going on. I want a neutral party in the house for this renovation. Not you, not Bo, not Kenzi... I want this to be something that I do on my own."

Tamsin frowned, "I'm sorry. Did I just steal your thunder?" She asked, nodding towards the fireplace.

Lauren shook her head, "Nah. I think I owed you that one after all of the years you had to deal with Nadia... despite all the I told you so's that warned me to stay away from her."

Lauren paused before looking at Tamsin again, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You're very polite to not say it, but the truth is, if I had listened to you all of those years ago, I would be a very different woman today."

"Well, I can't deny it. You may have the double doc thing going, but I'm definitely the wiser one in this friendship."

Lauren laughed, "And you're also the shy and humble one as well."

"That's me. Right little one?" Tamsin replied, looking down at the kitten that had finally stopped shaking, "I think she loves me."

Lauren smiled, "She loves anyone who will hold her and pet her. I've heard of lap dogs, but I've never heard of a lap cat. It'll be interesting to see who she becomes when she's all grown up."

Tamsin kissed the little head of the animal, "Well, make sure your Mommy raises you to be a strong, independent woman."

"Like her Aunt Tamsin." Lauren grinned.

Tamsin looked at Lauren, "Like the woman your Mom is becoming. I'm proud of you, Lewis. So, I noticed the naked lady décor is all gone."

Lauren nodded, "While I did love what the print over the fireplace represented as empowerment of the female form, the fact that..."

"It was a rendering of one of your unfaithful exes' fuck buddies meant it had to go. I get it and I probably would have put the chainsaw straight through it and the chimney before I took it down."

Pops came into the room carrying the architectural drawings, "Lauren, did you know that this house has a basement?"

"No it doesn't, it's built on a slab." Lauren said, confusion covering her face.

"Nope. Look here... see this small symbol?" He spread the plans on the table so that the two girls could see. Looking up at Tamsin, he smiled, "Hey, Kid."

"Hi Pop." She looked back down at the draft of the home, "Oh. My. God."

She handed the kitten to Lauren, "Here. Take her."

Tamsin stood and moved to the fireplace, "I think I know why Nadia was so obsessed with this fireplace, and why she hung that huge print. You've never moved it, have you?"

Lauren shook her head, "No. What's going on?"

She looked between Tamsin and Pop who were now looking at each other. Pop shook his head,

"That wouldn't be an easy access point, Kid."

"Not an access point, Pop... a drop point." She ran her fingers around the faded section of paint where Nadia's favorite portrait had been hanging. Finally, in the bottom right corner, she felt it.

"Pay attention, class. Damn, I should have been a detective." Tamsin used her nail to start the edge and slowly peeled up what appeared to be a layer of white wallpaper.

Pop shook his head, "Well, I'll be damned... it's hidden in plain sight."

"What is hidden?" Lauren asked.

Tamsin shook her head, "You're not gonna like this, Lewis... well... one part you're not gonna like, the other part is just another piece of sweet revenge."

Lauren stood, holding tightly to Mittens and walked towards where Tamsin had opened up at three foot square opening in the drywall, covered by a sheet of stick-on paper.

She looked inside and saw three metal boxes mounted to the framing of the chimney. Tamsin opened the first one and found nothing but a metal chute that seemed to go down,

"This one leads to the basement. There's likely another one somewhere as well. This one she could drop small items into, say... no more than the size of a small box."

She opened the next box and found an panel, "That's what I was afraid of."

Lauren's stomach dropped, "What is it?"

Tamsin shook her head, "These are computer components, Lewis... which likely means..."

Pop shook his head, "That last box is likely a..." Tamsin opened the box, causing the man to place a hand on Lauren's shoulder as his voice dropped, "...security camera."

Tamsin shook her head, "Where there's one, there's others. She's been filming you, Lauren. Probably 24/7 on a remote link... that's how she always knew what was going on in your life."

Lauren staggered backwards, dropping Mittens, who Tamsin quickly caught, "She... she..."

"Lauren..." Tamsin said, her voice giving warning to stay calm, "Lewis! Keep your head... please don't retreat into that fucking shell of yours."

"Retreat? Retreat? She fucking filmed me, Tamsin! She..." Lauren gripped both sides of her head as she closed her eyes and yelled, "...Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! She has my whole life on film somewhere! She's like a fucking rash that won't go away!"

She picked up a tall ceramic vase that sat on the floor near the fireplace. Hurling it across the room at the nearest wall, she yelled, "Dammit!"

Pops wrapped his arms tightly around the blonde, "Breathe, Lauren... breathe."

"I'll never be rid of her. Even in jail, she can still get to me."

Tamsin looked back in the cabinet, now understanding Lauren's panic as the blonde continued to explain,

"I'm not worried about me, but other women that shared my bed! Did she have my bedroom on tape? Oh God, what if it's digital? What if it's on the cloud? What if someone uploads it... oh fuck! What if they upload it to social media?"

She covered her mouth and shook her head, "Bo... her license for the orphanage... her surfing career... Tamsin... please... please tell me..."

Tamsin's eyes went wide as she thought about all that Bo had been through in the last several months. She knew the brunette had been to hell and back as well. She hung her head as she suddenly thought of her girlfriend... if Bo lost everything, so would Kenzi. They were partners in everything they did. She looked at her father,

"Pop, that demo team needs to be here... like... yesterday."

He nodded, opening his cell phone as Tamsin added, "Make sure no one lets on to Bo. I was at her house when she got home. She was called into the office for that lava flow case at the Kīlauea Volcano site."

Lauren's head whipped around towards Tamsin, "She's working near an active volcano?!" The look of panic in the blonde's eyes led Pops to lay a soothing hand on Lauren's back as he told his personal assistant to hold.

"She's perfectly safe, Lauren. She entered the zone months ago to lay the equipment she uses to monitor the flow. Since then, she uses both the data in addition to remote satellites, telescopes and photography to make decisions. Just like you crawled into that demolition site a year ago to save a patient, she's making sure the lava continues to flow to the sea. You're both doing what you must to save lives. She's good at her job, Lauren. Trust her."

She quietly nodded her head as Pop returned to his conversation with his personal assistant, providing her instructions with how to proceed.

Tamsin looked back to Lauren, "You need to sit down. You're white as a sheet."

The doctor nodded and did as she was told, sitting at the table and taking Mittens when Tamsin handed her over,

"I'm going to get you some tea and get Mittens some milk. Just breathe, Lewis. Do you want me to call Hale?"

"I'm... no... Chamomile... and..." Lauren shook her head, "Ciara."

Tamsin nodded and jumped into action, taking care of her friend. She placed the bowl of milk down in front of Mittens before turning to call Ciara. She stepped outside to explain what was going down as Lauren sat, paralyzed, her eyes focused straight ahead at the hole in the wall above the fireplace.

The engineer walked back in and sat down in front of her friend, "Lauren? Lauren! Don't you dare go catatonic on me now!"

Looking up at her friend, Tamsin was shocked to see the look in the blonde's eyes. Rather than seeing the fear and self-loathing she'd grown accustomed to in past months, she saw rage... clear and utter rage...

"How dare she. How dare she invade my privacy... my body... my mind... my soul. How dare she..." She shook her head, her hands balling into fists between her legs, as the volume of her voice increased, "... how dare she compromise all that Bo has worked for... invade the privacy of any of the women who cared enough to come to my home and share my bed to comfort me... giving me all that she couldn't?"

"Lauren..."

"No, Tamsin. If she were here right now, you would have to hold me back to keep me from picking up that chainsaw over there and using it on her. Where is the basement?"

"What?"

"Where is the basement? You and Pop said that is a drop box. You also said there is likely a drop for larger items. I'm assuming that's because there's no entrance inside the house to the basement."

"Actually, there is. The symbol on the draft that my Dad pointed to... he recognized the symbol and I did as well. As soon as I saw the names of the architects, it confirmed it. Homer Brothers Architectural Firm is one of my Pops main competitors. I'm sure Nadia chose them on purpose knowing that they were well aware of who my Dad was as well as my connection to you. It wrapped things up quite nicely for Nadia."

"Well, how do you know about the basement?" Lauren asked.

"They use that symbol on their drawings to represent secret passageways for corridors, staircases, safe compartments or anything else their customers want built into their homes."

"So..."

"So they don't present these hidden areas to the townships where they build. It's illegal and Pops has used it as leverage on them in the past to keep them from interfering some of our projects. But this one... well... let's just see what we find first."

Lauren stood, "Show me."

"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Ciara to get here?"

"No. I want to know now. And call Bo."

"Lauren, I just told Pops..."

"I know and I was just a little too shocked to reply at the time. I promised her no secrets and I meant it. I will not compromise all she has worked for. She has a right to know that there could be bedroom footage of us floating on some cyber cloud. She also has a right to know there could be naked shower footage, pee footage and any other kinds of footage of her from the times she spent the night here."

"Lauren, the cameras could be fakes or... or the footage could be going to a hard drive right here in the house. Why get Bo all riled up over what may be nothing?"

Lauren shook her head, "Tamsin. We now have evidence that all of Nadia's threats about having leverage to take me down may have been more than just mere talk. Please call Bo. She has a right to be here every step of the way in the decision making process. I'll have Pop show me to the basement while you call her."

Tamsin placed a hand on Lauren's shoulder, "Please, Lewis. I'm begging you. Wait for us to be with you before you go down there."

"Fine." Lauren sighed, "Call Bo and we'll go to the entrance. I won't go down until you're beside me."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

After getting Tamsin's call, Bo and Kenzi were there in about an hour. They were in the middle of rounds with some kids that needed support, so couldn't leave right away. When they did finally leave, they left everything in the very capable hands of the support staff that had been working with them for the past two months.

It was a rare occasion when Bo allowed Kenzi to drive her beloved Camaro, but the younger Dennis had convinced her older sister that she was in no condition to drive. They had no idea why they were called to Lauren's for an emergency, but naturally Bo thought the worst,

"What if she hurt herself, Kenzi? I mean... Tamsin wouldn't say. Why wouldn't she say? Did she tell you anything?"

"I already told you she didn't, Bo. Now please, just relax until we get there."

Kenzi sighed not knowing what else to say. They rode in silence the rest of the drive. When they arrived at the house, they found Ciara's car in the driveway as well as two squad cars and one unmarked car.

"Oh no, no, no... why police? Why are the police here?"

Bo ran for the door but was abruptly stopped by a uniformed officer when she tried to enter.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. This is a crime scene."

"A crime scene? Let me in!"

"I can't do that ma'am. Please calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! I was just called and told to come over here! My name is Bo Dennis and this is my sister Kenzi."

Kenzi gripped her sister's arm as Bo's greatest fear became her own.

The man nodded, "I know who you are, I'm a fan but you'll have to wait here for a moment."

The officer radioed to his partner who told him Tamsin would be up to get them. When the blonde finally arrived, Bo was ready to lose it,

"Where's Lauren? Where is she! What's going on!"

"Calm down, Bo. Lauren is with Pops looking at... what we found. Please... she's fine. Just... sit so I can explain."

"I don't want to sit! I want to see Lauren!" Bo was growing more agitated as she watched another group of people come in carrying what looked like toolboxes. They had booties on their feet and gloves on their hands.

"Tamsin! What the fuck is going on! Where is Lauren? Please tell me!"

Bo's eyes welled with tears as she begged the blonde to tell her what she wanted to know. But movement caught her eye and she turned to see Lauren walking into the room followed by Pop, a man in a suit and two uniformed officers.

"Bo, I'm fine... well... physically. Please, Bo... have a seat so Tamsin can explain."

The brunette took a step towards Lauren, but the blonde moved to the other side of the dining room table and sat down across from where she stood. Bo's face contorted into a visible scowl as she took a step back and sat down across from Lauren. Folding her hands on the table in front of her, she turned to Tamsin,

"Well go on then. What happened?"

Tamsin looked around the room, waiting for everyone to take seats. Bo and Kenzi listened intently as the story of Lauren's morning post-Bo was explained. By the time the blonde disclosed the big find in the basement, the brunette's eyes were glazed over,

"This is like something out of a mystery flick." Kenzi said, her arm on the back of Bo's chair, "So, I take it you finally got into the spooky secret basement?"

Tamsin nodded, her eyes occasionally glancing towards an unusually sedate Bo as she spoke,

"When we finally gained access to the basement and threw on the light switch, a very large with an alphanumeric passcode was revealed. We immediately called the police who brought in the detectives. They called for a professional safe cracker who opened the safe."

Kenzi rubbed her hands together, "Oooo, exciting! And did we find presents?"

Tamsin sighed, "None that we can keep, Shortstack. They did, however, find over a dozen pieces of missing... or should I say, stolen... works of art in addition to some stolen jewels and a shitload of cash."

"Hi, I'm the head detective on the case." The man stood and reached his hand across the table, extending it towards Bo, who looked up for a moment before seeing the offering,

"I'm Bo and this is my sister Kenzi." They shook hands, "I think I remember you from the sting operation I was involved in where they took Nadia down."

The detective nodded, "I'm Danny and yes, I was there. This pretty much puts the nail in Nadia's coffin. We have to get the fingerprints back, but it looks like she was using this to store all of the artwork they'd been stealing until she could sell it. By controlling Lauren as she did, it allowed her to gain access whenever she chose."

Kenzi put up her hands, "Whoa... but, isn't one of her accomplices hearing this conversation right now?"

"We swept the place first thing. Tamsin and her Father clipped the feed at the main box before they called us, although we're waiting on our computer genius to arrive so they can tell us where the feed is going."

Kenzi raised her hand as she shook her head, "Uh... if you clipped the feed and someone's watching, that footage could already be posted. This needs to happen now. You have a hacker genius sitting right here."

"I think we should wait for our people..."

Kenzi shook her head, "Look, buddy. Every second that feed is live on their end is another second that my sister and all of the people in this room can be compromised."

Danny looked at Lauren, "It's your house... your life... your call. I don't know this girl to do anything other than surf. Our guys will likely be here in another couple of hours."

Lauren looked up at Kenzi, who shook her head, "Please, Lauren. You know this is my thing. I'm telling you how people like this work and Danny here knows I'm right. If Nadia has someone on the outside working this footage, they know we've found them. They'll post it, sell it or do whatever it is they'd planned to do with it."

Lauren looked at Tamsin who nodded in agreement. She then turned to Bo, who shook her head,

"It's your call, Lauren. Like Danny said, it's your house and your life."

Lauren's face was swathed with worry, "This is your life we're talking about too, Bo. If that footage of things that have happened in this house is released, it will likely include the nights you spent here." Lauren lowered her eyes to the table, "They found a camera in every room in the house... including my bedroom... and the greenhouse."

Bo knew this was hard for Lauren to admit. She'd already told her how sorry she was for dragging her into her life's baggage. As much as Bo wanted to be angry right now, Lauren wasn't the one who did this and she needed to keep reminding herself that so she didn't take this out on the blonde. Bo turned to her sister,

"Do it now, Kenzi. We need to know where that feed is going."

Kenzi looked at Lauren who nodded her consent as well, "Okay then. I'll need your laptop, and a few other things that are probably in those fancy toolbox the suits were carrying."

"I'll get you whatever you need." Danny said, before mumbling, "This is so against protocol."

Kenzi watched the detective move towards his team before turning towards the living room where her eyes fell on the chainsaw, flooring and hot coals in the fireplace,

"Uh... was there a tree growing in your house that we didn't know about?"

Lauren gave a sad smile, "It's a funny story, actually. After Bo left this morning, I decided to start the renovation..."

"Exorcism." Tamsin inserted.

"... the renovation... that Bo and I had talked about. I mean... why wait, right? I just realized that there were things I always wanted but never had because of my... puppet... status. So, I began to purge..."

"Exorcise her demons..." Tamsin snipped again,

Lauren gave her a glare, "... throwing away furniture, trinkets, prints and paintings, lamps... oh... and I went and got a kitten." She added as she noticed Bo pick up Mittens who had decided to paw at her legs.

Bo smiled, "She's... adorable, Lauren." She scratched the kitten's head her smile broadening as the tiny animal purred loudly, pressing her head into Bo's hand.

Lauren nodded, "Anyway, then I called Pops because I wanted to get started right away and when he laid out the architectural drawings, he saw a symbol that led to... well... all of this."

She motioned towards the holes in the wall above the fireplace,

"When we found the entrance and the safe, we called the police and... well..." She turned to Bo, "I promised no secrets... Tamsin didn't want to tell you but I felt you had a right to know about this as soon as I knew about this."

Bo nodded, "Okay. But, I'm not super worried, Lauren. So what if she has my bare ass on tape. I'm not ashamed of my body or my sexuality."

Lauren nodded, "I'm aware of that, Bo. But if this feed is being digitally translated to somewhere or someone who can upload it to social media, it could create a scandal that would lead Children and Youth to remove the kids from your school and take away your license to operate as an orphanage."

"They know I'm a gay woman, Lauren and they are aware we are teaching these kids the 'love is love' concept."

Lauren shook her head and nodded towards the door as the familiar click of Val's heels echoed through the room. Bo looked back to Lauren who added, "I had Tamsin call your publicist as well, on Ciara's advice."

"Val..." Bo started, but her publicist cut her off having heard the end of the conversation,

"Bo, whoever has this footage could choose to promote you in anyway they choose. They will make your relationship with Lauren look anything but innocent. They can make things that happened in Rio look like scandalous romance stuff. We don't know what she gained access to while you were there. Think of it... she films you and Lauren in bed together in Rio, then films Nadia entering her room after Tamsin leaves in the athlete's village... they could even make it look like she was bedding her teammate as well. Couple of of that with a newsfeed about young partying Olympians post-medal winning and you have a scandal that will rock your world and your career in ways you never could expect."

Bo went to speak, but Val put up a hand and continued, "Think of your youngest fans seeing footage of you on social media, Bo... their parents... the fact that not all of them are as accepting as others... the fact that you have a lot of troubled kids in your care..."

Bo frowned as she looked up at her sister who was clearly pleading with her to listen to Val. She turned towards Lauren's voice,

"I am dreadfully sorry that you've gotten pulled into yet another complication of being a part of my life, Bo."

Bo shook her head, "Don't... just... don't. You didn't do this intentionally or knowingly. Nadia did this to you... to me... to our whole family if this breaks... and to any other woman you'd ever brought here before you met me."

Tamsin added, "It was never a bluff. She was gathering shit to use on you and I suspect if you ever stepped out of line, she would have leaked it a little at a time to prove to you she could if she started to lose control of you. At the very least, she needed you to keep her treasures stored here at this house. If the police had tracked the merchandise here, you would have been the one to take the fall and she would have been a safe distance away."

Lauren nodded, "I've never really been alone. Even when she wasn't here she was."

"So she likely knew about us before Rio." Bo deduced.

Lauren nodded, "It would seem that way now. We'll know for sure if Kenzi can..."

"Got it!" Kenzi had connected Lauren's laptop to a bundle of wires that looked like a bird's nest. Needless to say, what came up on the screen caused Tamsin, Lauren and Pops to say in unison,

"Shit."

All eyes turned to Pop who pointed to a screen that showed only the logo he had feared seeing, "That's the same symbol that's on the architectural drawing from Homer Brothers. The feed must go to their servers."

Kenzi nodded, as her fingers continued to work across the keyboard, "But wait... there's a backup drive... GPS... working... working... and... YES! Whoop! Whoop! I'm a computer genius with mad skills!"

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded, getting more stressed out by the minute as she watched Val on the phone asking her PR firm to begin trolling the internet for any signs of dangerous footage for their clients and to include the Olympic duo of Lewis and Torrent.

"Basement, boys!" Kenzi put her laptop down, "Southwest corner."

Everyone moved through the narrow passageway and staircase that led to the secret basement and began to search for a new opening. Pops called out,

"Use your hands and feel for anything that isn't perfectly smooth."

Finally, an officer called out, "Here!"

He pulled out his utility knife and cut a slit between what was apparently an access panel built into the drywall in the same manner as the one installed above the fireplace. Opening the panel, he found a small metal lockbox. He handed it to the detective who opened the box carefully to find a stash of VHS tapes, DVR's and flash drives.

Danny spoke, "Well, it looks like she continually upgraded the system. It's apparent from the forms of media used to record. We'll have to take a look at all of these to..."

"No." Lauren replied.

Danny looked up at Lauren, "No?"

"No. What's on those is personal." She crossed her arms over her chest as Ciara moved towards her,

"Lauren, he's a professional nothing will be disclosed to the press or public. The tapes need to be admitted into evidence as proof that your privacy was being invaded."

"Why? So I can press charges and throw her in jail? She's already there!" Lauren argued.

Danny shook his head, "No, Lauren. We can find evidence of invasion of privacy to get a warrant to serve to Homer Architectural. We have the drawings, Dr. Torrent has demonstrated evidence of the symbol on their drawings and all of those drawings are copied to the public works offices when approved. They're illegally putting these in people's homes, Lauren. Think of the number of women who may also be victims of type of privacy threat."

"I don't care. I won't take a chance of this coming out." Lauren stood fast. She was adamant that no further harm was going to come to Bo or her career because of her.

Danny replied, "If you don't give us a way to get the footage and backups from Homer's corporate servers, there will always be a threat to you."

"I want all of the footage of Bo's presence in this house erased. Specifically, there are two nights... I want them gone." Lauren said, pointing adamantly at the box.

Bo approached the blonde from behind and placed a gentle hand on her bicep,

"Lauren, they need the footage to be sure they get the same footage from Homer. If they don't get it, Homer could pull it out and use it any time they want. I'm working for Torrent, Inc. right now and what if I was offered a permanent position with them? My employment would give Homer leverage against Pops as well! Besides, if Val's right and she somehow filmed us in Rio, they'll need this evidence to convince the Brazilian government to allow them to investigate in Rio. Let them do their job, Lauren. I'll be okay... we'll be okay."

Kenzi shook her head, "You let me handle Rio. I've got peeps there."

"Kenzi." Bo warned.

"No, Bo. Kenzi's right. If the US government goes to the Rio police, they'll have to show them the footage. The fewer eyes on this, the better." Val replied, looking at the detective, "You owe me them this one, Danny. They helped you nail Nadia and now you've recovered all of the stolen goods. They helped you guys land the thieves of millions of dollars of priceless art and artifacts."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, before lifting his eyes and looking around the room. His team was spread into other areas of the house, but he still spoke quietly,

"Fine, but you keep me in the loop on all of this Val. I'll keep this buried in evidence collection and analysis." He sighed, "You have forty-eight hours. That's all I can give you."

Val looked up at Kenzi who nodded before pulling out her cell phone. Bo looked at Kenzi, but the younger sister shook her head,

"The less you know, the better. Just don't talk to any of our peeps in the south until at least next week."

Bo sighed. She hated when her sister did her undercover tech work, but she had learned a long time ago not to try to stop her. She had been told many times that her sister's hacking skills were unmatched which is why she wanted her to go to college. She hoped that they would teach her to be more responsible with her use of computers. She was just waiting for the day when the FBI showed up on their doorstep because she hacked the wrong server.

Danny spoke, "In the meantime, Lauren, you have my word that I will personally view the footage on my own. No one else will see it unless you decide to press charges."

"I don't want any charges filed against Nadia. She's already in prison."

Bo shook her head, "No... Danny we need to bait her into another conversation once we think we have everything. She won't be able to resist admitting there are still copies out there... especially if she knows that we got to her art and more of her money."

The brunette moved back towards the staircase, the others slowly following one at a time until only Ciara and Lauren remained,

"I guess this isn't how you wanted to have our first session." Lauren said, staring at the latest empty hole.

Ciara looked surprised, "First session?"

Lauren nodded, "I decided this morning that I wanted to switch to you. Hale said he didn't care as long as I stayed in treatment. Bo said it was okay with her as well. Would you be willing?"

Lauren looked up at her with big brown eyes both pleading and hopeful. Ciara ran her arm down Lauren's upper arm,

"Of course. You know the drill. I'll need you to..."

"I know. I'll call and have my records transferred tomorrow."

Lauren turned to enter the staircase,

"Lauren."

She turned to face Ciara, "Yes?"

"I'm truly sorry this is happening to you. I promise, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please don't give up or give in."

Lauren nodded, "You just make sure you keep telling that to Bo."

Ciara sighed as she watched the blonde walk away. She turned back and took one last look in the safe. Seeing an envelope, she entered and pulled on the corner. Another panel opened up and out fell about twenty large manila envelopes. Careful not to touch them with her bare hands, she unwound the string keeping the top together and then tilted the envelope down to allow the contents to slide out slightly.

Allowing her eyes to run over the documents ad photos, Ciara shook her head, "This woman just can't get a break."

She pulled the stack of envelopes out and tossed them into a nearby empty box, then looked around at the rest of the contents. Sticking out from behind an electrical panel, she saw the corner of a white envelope. She pulled and handled it as she did the others, but this was a trifold letter, so she couldn't risk opening it without gloves. She moved quickly to the staircase. The detective needed to send his boys back down here.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXX**_

The conversation was winding down by the time Ciara arrived in the dining room with the rest. She tossed the manila envelopes in the middle of the tables,

"Yea... you won't be leaving just yet. Put on gloves first. I found art in the safe."

She picked up a pair of gloves and pulled them on before opening the white envelope again,

"What's that?" Lauren asked.

Ciara shook her head, "I don't know. It was sticking out from behind the electrical panel inside the safe. Detective, I believe you need to send your teams back down there. They took the valuables to solve the big case, but Lauren deserves the same attention to detail you've been putting into the big heist."

Danny frowned, "You're right," he said, standing from the table and waving to the officers by the door, "Get forensics back in here. Tell them they did a half-assed job and to get back down there. Our resident psychiatrist is doing their job for them. Unacceptable!"

Lauren turned and called out to the angry detective, "I see everything before it goes out, Danny."

He nodded in reply and walked over to the officers to repeat Lauren's orders. Upon his return, he pulled on some gloves to take the letter from Ciara, waving away the forensics worker who approached him, "Downstairs. If she found this in a glance, there's more."

"I think you just got your warrant." Tamsin smirked, turning to Lauren, "That's a contract between Homer Architect and Nadia for the installation and monitoring of the premises of one Doctor Lauren Lewis. The house is in your name, right?"

Lauren sighed her shoulders slumping, "Well, that's a bit questionable. The house is, but she paid all the bills. The courts declared the property mine in the settlement, right?" Lauren's hopeful eyes moved to meet Tamsin's, Kenzi's and Bo's before moving back to Ciara who nodded,

"As I understand it, yes. The courts were able to follow the trail of your paychecks to her accounts. The bills were paid from your accounts which essentially means she was nothing more than a unlicensed accountant in the eyes of the court. Your name on the house, your money paying the bills."

Lauren breathed a sigh of relief as Danny continued, "This is good news. What this document now verifies – with the help of the evidence from the previous case - is that Homer was monitoring a property for Nadia that was not hers to have monitored."

Pops had been silent for quite some time but picked that moment to speak up,

"Look, I've had a lot of dealings with Homer. No one would like to see those bastards behind bars more than me, but I think there is a way to stop what they're doing, keep Nadia behind bars and protect the resident and guests of this property from having their private lives... exposed... in the media."

He looked at Danny who rubbed the back of his neck and replied, "I'm listening to anything that can help me prosecute."

Pops replied, "They can be leveraged. Put the wire on me. I'll go to see Jack Homer, show him a copy of the letter and tell him that if he doesn't give me every single stitch of footage that exists pertaining to this contract, I will turn in all of the evidence... all of it... the architectural drawings, photos of the safes, the stills, the video set up and any proof that Kenzi can give me about his digital feeds. He has made deals with me many times to avoid prison and I have no doubt he'll do the same now."

Danny nodded, "If it's okay with Lauren, I'll take it up with my chief. I won't present your side of the case, Lauren. Instead I'll just approach it from the angle of taking down Homer for their illegal actions. Just know that if Homer calls Dr. Torrents' bluff, I would have to use the video footage to get a warrant to get the backups."

Lauren nodded, "I just... I'll do anything to keep this out of the public eye."

Danny nodded, "I understand. Hopefully Homer takes the bait and we settle this quick and quiet. I'm gonna take off to the station. We have a plan, right?"

All of the remaining guests nodded and stood. Saying their goodbyes, they all departed. Lauren watched Bo walk to the door with Kenzi, the sisters stopping at the door to exchange words with Danny and hand over the laptop.

It wasn't that Bo hadn't said goodbye... she had... her exact words had been 'see ya'... that was it. She had gone into silent mode once Ciara had brought the envelope with the still photos up. Lauren had watched, her jaw clenched as Bo had looked at the photos of the blonde in the throws of passion with another woman... several other women, but one in particular. She hadn't asked questions and Lauren hadn't offered any explanation. What could she say?

Lauren willed her feet to move towards the sisters when she saw Bo glance back in her direction, but they failed her... she had no words, so why even approach her? Besides, the brunette was gone mere seconds after they'd made eye contact. All the blonde could do was watch as the brunette disappeared into the darkness of the night.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **The next evening...**_

Lauren was outside drinking straight from a bottle of wine when Tamsin returned.

"Lewis?"

"I told you I wanted some alone time, Torrent, so unless it's been at least forty-eight hours, you can leave."

Tamsin lay down on the lounge chair next to Lauren and closed her eyes, "Well that's not happening, so get over it. You're drinking straight from the bottle, Lauren."

"Yea, well my house is being demolished."

Tamsin shook her head, "It's being remodeled."

"Down to the studs and concrete."

"Well, at least the moving company was here to pack and move everything quickly... except the essentials. All of those were moved to my house."

"You mean your parent's mansion." Lauren said, taking another swig of wine.

"They don't mind you staying there, Lauren."

"Yea, well I'll be spending most nights in the on-call room anyway."

"Lauren..."

"No, Tamsin. Look... I appreciate you coming over to... well... to do whatever it was you thought you would do... but I'm fine."

"Says the girls drinking an entire bottle of wine outside of the home she cannot possibly live in right now."

"I'm not leaving until I've eaten all of the food I bought."

"Lauren..."

"No, Tamsin." She sat up and turned to face her friend, "You know... today was supposed to be a fun day. I bought this snuggly adorable creature and met an adorable little girl and her mom in the process. I came back here with time to spare before I was supposed to go surfing with Bo and instead, I decided to start my purge... a purge that led to yet another nightmare in my life! I should be surfing with Bo right now... laughing, smiling, having fun!"

"You could still do that."

"It's almost ten o'clock at night, Tamsin and I have to go to work tomorrow."

Tamsin nodded, "Yea, about that... do you really think you should be drinking?"

Lauren sighed, looking at the bottle, "Fine." She said as she tossed the entire bottle into the dumpster.

"Hey! You could have shared!" Tamsin protested as she heard the bottle break inside the dumpster.

"You're driving. You shouldn't drink and drive."

"So are you." Tamsin snapped back.

"Not anymore. Your parents live one block from the hospital. You're dropping me off at my temporary digs."

Lauren stood and wobbled a bit.

"You okay there, champ?" Tamsin asked, holding out a hand to steady her friend.

"Fine. I just want to go to your parents' house and take a shower. I need to wash this day away."

They walked through the outside doors to see that the house had indeed been stripped to its studs. Lauren's eyes went wide, "Wow... I guess..."

Tamsin hooked her arm into the crook of Lauren's elbow, "Just keep walking. Pops has crews working 'round the clock to finish this. It will be done in no time, Lauren."

"Maybe I don't want this."

"What?" Tamsin asked.

"I mean... maybe I don't want this house... it may have been my dream home at one time, but right now it's just a reminder of how I allowed myself to be manipulated, used and abused. I'm still having a hard time with... I mean... I graduated top of my class... I was the most heavily recruited resident in the nation... I just don't understand how it all happened. I keep playing it over and over and over again in my head. I just don't understand when I surrendered my life to her... when I became so... afraid."

She allowed her eyes to roam over the house, "I think I want to tear it down."

Tamsin took several deep breaths, trying not to freak out. Pops had spent all day working up the list for the demolition crew, "So... are you sure? I mean... these guys are spending a lot of time being careful. If it's a tear down, it's a whole different ball game."

Lauren turned and walked out the back of the house as Tamsin watched. She sighed and mumbled, "I guess we're going back outside again."

She trudged to the door, her shoulders slouching when she saw her friend standing at the edge of the cliff looking out across the sea. She walked to her slowly, giving the other blonde a chance to be alone for a bit. She stood just behind her, waiting for a long while until Lauren finally spoke,

"I love this view... it was my dream to have this view. From here, everything looks so small... so underwhelming. It helped me to see this at the end of the day... especially after losing a patient in the ER. It reminded me that death is a natural part of the life cycle and that I can't always control the events in a person's life."

Tamsin laughed, "That never seems to stop you from trying."

Lauren looked over her shoulder at her friend, "I am a control freak, aren't I?"

"You said it, not me."

The doctor nodded, "It's true. I tried to control everything that was in my control because I couldn't control Nadia... still can't. I think I just realized that now. I need to give up control and stop trying to keep everything in it's rightful place."

Tamsin agreed, "Life is messy, Lauren. It's okay to make a mess of things some times."

The doctor turned to face her house, arms crossed over her chest as the wind whipped through her hair, making her eyes sting and water. She took a deep breath, her eyes focused on the structure before her,

"It's just a house. It's a building. It was never my dream home. My dream home was meant to be filled with laughter and wonderful memories."

She looked at Tamsin as her eyes filled with tears, "My dream home has Bo inside waiting for me."

Lowering her eyes to her feet where she was kicking the sand, "And now that may never happen."

Tamsin walked to Lauren, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Why on earth would you think that, Lewis?"

"Because I know how this works, Tamsin. She's already seen the stills and she's going to have to give a statement about the tapes. To give a statement, she'll have to see them. When she sees them... she'll see... well... you know what she'll see."

Tamsin shook her head, "She doesn't have to see any footage other than the footage she's pictured in, Lewis. She won't see anything but the stills and she's... well... she's dealing with that." Tamsin hesistated, not knowing how much she should say, but decided honesty was best, "She asked... Bo, I mean... Bo asked..."

"Asked what?"

"When. She wanted to know when you slept with those women."

Lauren turned towards her partner, "And what did you tell her?"

"The truth. That it was before her... that it was your past."

Lauren nodded.

Lauren let out a laugh, "So we have more lies."

"It's your past, Lewis... shit that happened well before Bo ever graced your bed and I told her as much. You were lonely... you shared your bed... period. They weren't relationships. You didn't lie. Besides, she lived a very similar life of no relationships other than that one obsessive chick that wouldn't give her the logo or something."

Lauren nodded, looking up at the house, "Nothing that happened in this house is a good memory. It would have been nice if Bo was going to bring nothing but good to this house, but... well, it's not ours... maybe it never will be. Still... Bo or no Bo..." Lauren took a deep breath and nodded, "Tear it down, Torrent. Tear the mother fucker down."

"What?"

"Tear it down. All of it. Tear it down and smash it to a pulp. Burn it... make sure there's nothing left. I want it gone. I want every bit of it gone. I want the basement dug out and filled in. I want her gone, Tamsin."

"You're sure? I mean... If I tell the guys to tear it down, I can't undo it."

"I'm sure. I'll wait in your car for you with Mittens." Lauren marched inside, walking straight through the house. She picked up the kitten and the bag full of supplies that Kenzi had dropped off for her knew pet, "Come on, little one. We're going to go visit some friends for... well... a while."

Lauren didn't look back as she stepped out of the house. She walked straight to Tamsin's car and got in, her eyes looking down at the shivering kitten. Reaching back into the bag, she pulled out the small blanket Kenzi had mentioned buying. She removed the tag and wrapped it around the tiny feline,

"I'm sorry your Mommy is such a mess. You really did deserve a better home." Lauren closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall. Instead, she took a deep breath, "You're going to have a great home, I promise. It's just going to take a while to get there. You and me... we're going to be fine."

Tamsin jumped into the car, "Okay, we're ready to go. They're bringing in the heavy machinery so they can start first thing in the morning. The noise ordinances won't allow them to begin the tear down tonight, but they will remove the fixtures and things that are worth some money."

"Thanks. Please tell Pops I'm sorry for the change in plans."

"You're going to see him right now. Tell him yourself."

"Tamsin, I'm so sorry I'm keeping you from Kenzi. I'm sure you'd rather be with her right now."

Tamsin shook her head, "Geez, Lewis. You are like a fountain of apologies. Stop apologizing for shit that you didn't create. We're all here because we love you and care about you, so stop saying you're sorry."

"Sorry... I mean... yea."

"Besides, as far as Kenzi goes, I don't stay there every night. We have an agreement to take things slow and my bestie needs me right now just like Kenzi's sister needs her."

"Bo's upset." Lauren replied as Tamsin silently kicked herself for even mentioning the brunette's name.

"She's processing just like you are, Lauren."

"You should be there."

"No, I should be with my best friend. Kenzi and Bo can handle their own shit." Tamsin replied.

"I don't need a babysitter, Torrent. I'm supposed to be finding myself... my path or whatever."

Tamsin laughed, "Well, you're not going to find it sitting in the street in my car." Smiling at her partner, Tamsin started her car, "Let's go introduce Mittens to the concept of late night ice cream and then get you to bed. You're going to be a doctor tomorrow! You know... save lives, get bloody, play with stethoscopes, syringes, drugs and all that stuff."

Lauren laughed and looked down at Mittens, "So, what kind of ice cream do you want? You're black and white so maybe chocolate chip?"

" _Meow."_

"I'll take that as a yes." Lauren laughed, as Tamsin pulled the car out onto the road.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **3 Days Later, Alika Memorial Hospital**_

Lauren was sitting at the front desk working on charts while Nurses' shifted in and out of the station, working on patient monitoring and care. It was a slow night in the ER after an even slower day. It wasn't that Lauren wanted people to be critically ill or injured... she was just hoping for a distraction from the things going on in her life.

Today had been the sting operation at Homer was happening with Pops and tonight Bo was going into the prison to do the undercover job on Nadia to try to get information on the footage from her house. To top off the fact that no one had called her about either of those, tomorrow was the start of Evony's trial. Apparently Kristy had taken a plea bargain in exchange for testifying against her former boss, so she had been informed by the D.A.'s office that she might not have to take the stand. Bo, however, was a key material witness in the case against Evony so she would not be that lucky.

Bo was witness to the attempt on the lives of the members of Team USA as well as the victim of the assault and attempted murder of both she and her sister by Evony. Kenzi was also being called to testify. Lauren spent most of her days feeling nauseous over the fact that the woman she had fallen in love with was pulled so deeply into the gutter that was her life.

"Dr. Lewis?"

Lauren felt a gentle nudge, causing her to quickly jump to her feet and turn towards the voice. Moving her eyes downward, she found Dr. Fitzpatrick staring up at her,

"I'm sorry to startle you, but... well, that was the third time I called your name. You seem a little... distracted."

The blonde shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her lab coat, balling them into fists,

"I'm... I'm sorry, Chief... I was just... well, I was doing my charts and must have drifted off a bit." She scanned the area for patients, "Am I needed somewhere?"

Trick smiled, shaking his head, "Not at all, Doctor. I just thought that maybe you would want to get a bite to eat? I've been told you haven't stopped since you came in for the 11-7 shift. So how about it? Join an old man for a late dinner?" He held up his lunch bag to Lauren and smiled.

Lauren sighed and smiled, "Sure."

She looked up at Helen and Violet who were already waving her away with knowing grins, "Go Dr. Lewis. Who do you think told Dr. Fitzpatrick you hadn't eaten?"

"Tattletales." Lauren smirked.

"Guilty and proud of it." Helen smiled as Lauren turned and walked away with Trick.

They headed out of the ER and down the corridor towards the other side of the hospital. When they arrived at the courtyard, Trick paused for a moment before saying to Lauren,

"Let's cut through here, shall we?"

"Sure. I love the garden." Lauren smiled as they turned down the walkway that led to a large fountain surrounded by beautiful landscaping and wooden benches made from the hulls of old shipwrecks off the coast.

They walked until they reached the colorfully lit falling water, "Is here okay?"

"Uh... I'll have to come back. I didn't bring any food, so I'll have to go..."

"I invited you for dinner because I have plenty, Doctor." Trick sat on the bench, "I think I've won too many awards as a surgeon. People doubt my cooking skills. I'll tell you, Doctor Lewis, these hands are good for more than just suturing incisions."

Lauren smiled as Trick handed her a plastic container, "Well, thank you very much for sharing."

"Honestly, I'm not sharing. Helen called me at six when she realized you weren't going to get dinner. I packed an extra meal before I left the house since I knew my meal would be late as well. I went crabbing with my buddies over the weekend, so I made my wife's old crab cake recipe and put it over lettuce. She always made me eat a salad when she made these so I would have something healthy."

For the first time in all of the years she had known him, Lauren realized that Dr. Fitzpatrick always carried a genuine, broad smile whenever he spoke of his wife. She hoped that one day, her life would allow the chance to have a family... and a love that would leave a lasting smile on her face like the one on her Chief's.

"This is delicious, Chief. Thank you so much."

"Well, if you really want to thank me, you should try to remember to eat meals. Of course, I think I have an idea what might be distracting you tonight. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I wish they had let me go or at least watch from a remote camera. I hate having other people fight my battles for me."

Trick nodded, "I guess that's where the divide is then."

"Divide?" Lauren asked.

"You see, we all see you as family, and families always fight their battles together. If one person has a battle to fight, they all have a battle to fight. You seem to have missed that concept. This dinner isn't a boss and employee dinner. This dinner is someone who sees you as a granddaughter helping you to take care of yourself when the load life gives you becomes too much to carry on your own."

Lauren sat quietly for a moment, not knowing what to say. She stared at the fountain, watching as the colors slowly changed from pink to blue to green to yellow before she finally spoke,

"I'm not used to people caring for me... and other than my Mom when I was very young and my Aunt until I was sixteen, I never had family in my life. I've gotten used to going it alone unless I'm part of a team on a volleyball court or in an operating room."

Trick nodded, "I'm aware of your background, Lauren. We talked about our families when you first came to the hospital and I told you about my grandson... but not all families are created from blood bonds. I'm sure some of the kids at Bo and Kenzi's school already see themselves as brothers, sisters, nieces or nephews to some of their peers or mentors."

Lauren nodded, "I suppose."

"I truly believe that love is the most powerful force on earth, Lauren... I've watched it help people survive injuries and diseases they had no medical reason surviving... it can surely bond a group of people together as a family."

Trick stood and turned to face Lauren, taking her empty container and fork, "You are loved by so many, Lauren. I hope you will find a way to allow us to use that love to help you through this difficult time. Now... I believe your shift is over."

Lauren frowned, "I was staying to work a bit of overtime since..."

"Doctor Lewis, I believe you're forgetting you were approved to come back to work on a part-time basis for a period of three weeks before gradually working into a full-time schedule... emphasis on the gradually. I fully expected you to work part-time for at least six months. You've been through quite the ordeal. Take the time, Lauren. We both know that to maintain your level of excellence, you need to come to work with an unburdened mind."

The blonde nodded, "Right."

"Have a good night, Dr. Lewis."

"Thank you, Dr. Fitzpatrick."

Lauren turned and walked from the garden towards the locker room. It was time for her to get some answers about what happened today while she was locked down at the hospital.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

When Lauren arrived at the home of the Torrent family, she sighed as she took in the scene of the crowd gathered at the large dining room table. She found it almost humorous that everyone there was dressed down in beach attire while sitting in the very dressed up furnishings of the fancy formal dining room.

One quick glance and Lauren knew who was sitting where. Tamsin said at the far end of the long table, while to her left sat Kenzi, then Bo, then Ciara, Pops, Moms, Hale and Danny. Her gaze was pulled up towards the sound of her best friend's voice,

"Great to see you, Doctor Lewis. Did you do a little overtime tonight?" Tamsin smirked as she poured the blonde a drink and placed it at the empty seat to her right, "I've got a margarita with your name on it."

Lauren smiled, uncomfortable with being seated directly across from Bo who had avoided eye contact from the time she entered the room. Lowering her head, she quickly moved to sit next to Tamsin, taking a large gulp of the drink almost immediately after sitting down. Lauren's level of discomfort was evident to Tamsin as the blonde immediately began toying with the salt on the rim of her glass.

Other than a polite 'thank you' to Tamsin, the blonde did not speak, instead choosing to wait for them to carry on with their conversation. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Danny to break the awkward silence

"Lauren, I was just telling everyone that everything we hoped would happen, did happen. Right now, we're waiting to hear from the D.A. who is meeting with the executives of Homer and their lawyers. Naturally, they are being very cooperative since doing so means they get to keep their business open and financially viable."

"Well, that's good, right?" Lauren asked, not understanding why everyone seemed so serious.

"Yes, it is good."

Tamsin laughed, "Pops could've won an Oscar for his performance. He was like the Godfather... _'I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.'..._ I'm telling you, Lewis, Pops was epic."

Lauren laughed more at Tamsin's attempt at the famous Don's voice impression than the actual statement,

"So again, what's the problem?" Lauren asked.

Bo spoke, "Nadia has nothing to lose and she knows we know that... she wants fifty years taken off of her sentence in exchange for knowledge about where she has her backups."

Lauren frowned, "But we have her backups. They were in the safe."

Danny shook his head, "She claims there is another set."

"She could be lying to try to get the years shaved off." Lauren rationalized.

"What if she's not?" Bo asked, her eyes set on Lauren even though the blonde refused to look up, her eye remaining on her drink as she spoke,

"Give her the years." Lauren replied emphatically.

Bo shook her head, a tinge of anger lacing her words, "And have her out young enough to come back and mess with your life again? Besides, it's not that easy, Lauren. If we give her the years, it has to go to a judge which means..."

"Of course... It becomes public record." Lauren nodded, a sad smile of defeat on her face.

"Right." Bo replied, her face twisting into a sad frown as she picked at the corner of the label on her beer.

Lauren turned to Danny, "Did you allow Bo to view the footage last night?"

"Yes, we viewed the footage in the privacy of her home on a non-networked computer. As you requested, I gave her the counter numbers of the footage of the two of you and allowed her to view it alone so those moments would remain... private." He spoke uncomfortably, removing his eyes from Lauren's.

He was hiding something and seeing Bo's face change to neutral, Lauren knew it was something about the footage. Lauren kept her gaze on Bo who did not look back up, her eyes downcast at the beer label she was attempting to pull from the bottle in one piece. She was going to ask her what she had actually seen, but decided it should wait until they were alone. She looked back to Danny and asked,

"So, knowing that I want Bo protected above all else, what do you advise?"

Bo interjected, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat back in her chair and brought her eyes to meet Lauren's, "The footage is more damning for you than me."

Lauren saw the anger in the brunette's gaze and knew beyond a doubt that she had viewed more of the footage than the blonde intended. She lowered her eyes,

"I was hoping it wouldn't be damning for you at all, Bo."

Bo chuckled, "Well, from what I saw, you can barely tell that it's us. I think Nadia knows that and is bluffing to try to scare you into getting you to take years off of her sentence. She's playing you again, Lauren."

Kenzi asked, "What do you mean you can hardly tell it's you guys? From what I saw, the most recent equipment provided pretty clear digital images. It's Hi-Res for sure."

Bo laughed, "We're barely visible because the room is dark and the lens of the camera was covered in what I'm guessing is... dried champagne."

Everyone watched as Lauren visibly shuddered at Bo's words. Her eyes moved quickly down to the table before shifting quickly to Danny who immediately looked away from her.

Keeping her eyes focused on her glass, she spoke to Danny, "Does Dr. Fitzpatrick know?"

"He called me when you left the hospital. He said he and the board would support you should the footage be released. The hospital attorneys feel very strongly that if the footage were released, they would be well within their rights to disclose the domestic violence case as a defensive measure."

Lauren shook her head, "Great. So I would be a slut and a dumb blonde for staying in an abusive relationship."

"Lauren..." Tamsin placed her hand on her friends, but the blonde stood,

"If you'll excuse me. I would like to get some air."

They all watched as Lauren left the room. Bo's eyes remained focused on the label, which she was now folding into a perfect square, creasing each fold with her fingernails.

"Bo?" Kenzi said.

The brunette looked up, "What, Kenzi?" she snapped.

"Aren't you going to go talk to her?"

"You heard her, she wants to get some air. She didn't say she wanted to get air with me or anyone else. I'm going to head back home. I have rounds to do."

Bo stood and shook hands with Danny, then gave Mom and Pop Torrent each a kiss on the cheek before walking out of the dining room. They all sat silently before Ciara stood,

"I'm going to go check on Lauren." She pulled on her sweater and followed the path Lauren had taken to the front door.

Kenzi sighed, and turned to Danny, "Well, that was a shit show. Do you want to tell us what was in that footage?"

"I'm sorry, Kenzi but due to privacy regulations and my promise to Lauren, I cannot disclose what was in the footage. You will have to speak with them. I can, however, tell you we did have a conflict between the footage confiscated from Homer and the footage confiscated from the safe."

Tamsin's brow furrowed, "How is that possible?"

"Clearly, Nadia planned to use the footage. I'm sure she realized that eventually Lauren would grow tired of being held beneath her boot heel."

"What was different?" Kenzi asked, angry with herself for not downloading a copy of the footage for herself when she had the chance. Why did she have to be so damn honest these days? The younger her wouldn't have thought twice about doing it.

"The footage from Homer has clear instances of domestic abuse between Nadia and Lauren. The footage from Nadia has those instances erased. There is also added footage in the bedroom to make it appear as though Lauren had more guests than she actually... uh... hosted. It shows the same guest from different views. The only reason I caught it was because I noticed the font and alignment of the date and time was slightly different than the original footage."

Kenzi was afraid to ask, but she did nonetheless, "Which footage did Bo view?"

"The reason that Lauren consented for Bo to see the footage was because we needed Bo's testimony that the footage was accurate. She signed a document that essentially serves as testimony in absentia that the footage differs from Homer to Nadia."

Kenzi nodded, "But she only viewed the footage of her and Lauren, right?"

Danny shook his head, "I did exactly as I was asked, Kenzi. I left Bo in the room to view the footage on her own and told her to view it as many times as she needed to do so in order to know for sure that the footage was of her and Lauren. I have no way of knowing what parts of the footage she viewed."

Kenzi nodded, "Wait... you didn't give her a clip of just the footage of her and Lauren? You gave her ALL of the footage? You do realize they're trying to patch up their relationship, right?"

Danny shrugged, "Kenzi, I had to allow her to view the actual footage we would be submitting into evidence. We cannot clip or cut footage to suit our needs when a witness is signing an affidavit verifying what we have. I gave explicit instructions to Bo about the counter numbers she was to view."

Kenzi leaned back in her chair and looked at Tamsin, "And I'm sure Bo listened and stuck to those counter numbers." She turned back to Danny, "You do realize what just happened, right? Bo saw Lauren bedding other women... thanks for that."

"Kenzi, Lauren asked me to leave Bo alone."

"And what... your cop shop doesn't have rooms with one-way glass so you would see her fast forwarding or rewinding the tape?" Kenzi stood, "Ugh! Just when we start to get those two talking again, you guys drive another wedge between them!" She leaned down and kissed Tamsin, "Sorry, Blondie, I'm gonna have to go home and do some damage control."

Tamsin nodded, "I'm gonna stay here tonight... handle the damage on this end." She looked at the remaining guests, "If you'll excuse me, I'll be right back. I just want to walk my girlfriend to her car."

The young surfer gave Tamsin's parents each a kiss on the cheek before waving to a quiet Hale and Danny. The pair then left the dining room and walked to the back porch where Tamsin's car was parked. She handed Kenzi the keys,

"Take my car since Bo clearly left you here without a ride." The blonde pointed to the driveway, now absent the older Dennis sister's car.

"What do you really think she saw, Tamsin? You know more about Lauren's recreational bedroom antics than I do." Kenzi asked leaning her head against Tamsin's chest. The blonde wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and shook her head,

"That's for Lauren to say, Kenz. I will tell you this... Lauren was lonely and she wasn't willing to do relationships at all after Nadia. If anyone was willing to have casual, no ties sex and she needed... well... the release... she did it. There was one girl I remember being around in some of the bars we frequented before we really got into our training regimen six months before the Olympics. It wasn't a relationship, but it was sort of her go to thing. Lauren's a doctor... she doesn't like casual sex or the STD's that come with it."

"Well, that makes sense in a paranoid, OCD doctory way."

"This is Lauren we're talking about." Tamsin laughed.

"Right. I guess all we can do is chat with them tonight and calm it all down. What do you think they'll do? I mean... about the footage?"

Tamsin shook her head, "I don't know that either. All we can do is support them after they decide."

"Did you see the footage?" Kenzi asked.

"Lauren offered, but I told her no. I didn't want to see anything I wasn't supposed to see and I know that none of my footage with her is incriminating. I'm just glad there isn't any sound."

Kenzi nodded, "Yea, that's probably a good thing."

The pair held each other for a while before Kenzi pulled back, "I'll see you tomorrow then. When do you need your car?"

"I'll have someone here drop me over at your house. Don't worry about it."

"Okay. Goodnight, T-Bear." Kenzi smiled.

"Goodnight, Shortstack."

The pair took a long moment to take each other in before exchanging a longing kiss, and then parting to tend to their respective homes for the night.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Ciara found Lauren sitting on the top of the dune just outside of the Torrent Estate home. She walked up behind her and sat down, not speaking. The pair sat there for a long while, just staring out at the dark, star-lit sky. The breeze was cool and easy tonight, fairly warm for September. Ciara handed Lauren the hoodie she grabbed on the way out of the house.

"Thank you." Lauren said as she pulled the hoodie on.

Rather than zipping it, she wrapped it around her, holding it closed with crossed arms. She reached behind her and pulled up the hood, tucking some of her hair in to keep it from her eyes. She inhaled deeply, recognizing the scent and the owner of the sweatshirt immediately.

She chuckled finding it ironic that she'd left the house to get away from Bo and without even knowing, Ciara had brought a piece of her to her hiding place. What was she doing? Why did she run when confronted with her demons?

Ciara began, "You know, I don't blame you for walking out of that room, Lauren. It's not exactly the right place for you and Bo to talk about the personal content that I'm guessing was on the footage."

Lauren nodded, realizing Ciara was probably right. Confronting her past with Bo is something she'd done quite successfully over the past two weeks, but doing it in front of a room full of people was not something she was prepared to do.

"Bo went home after you left, leaving in pretty much the same fashion you did."

Lauren nodded, shaking some hair from her face, turning into the wind. She sat quietly as Ciara waited patiently for the doctor to speak. The minutes ticked by, neither woman saying anything more until finally, about fifteen minutes later, Lauren spoke,

"The footage... it's far from flattering, Ciara. You saw how Bo reacted when Danny asked her about it. You saw how she reacted when I came into the room. She barely looked at me. Some things you just can't unsee and I believe she saw more than the footage of us."

"Lauren, can I ask why you didn't have Danny stay in the room and control what she saw?"

"Because I told her no secrets. She knew I'd been with other women... not many... but I think even one is too many for Bo. Hearing that Nadia had kissed me in Rio was enough to push her over the edge... I don't think that in her rational mind it matters that those women were before her."

Ciara spoke quietly, "I see."

"I also think she saw the incident where Nadia... got... physical with me. It's on the Homer tape. I know that after I viewed it, I felt it happen all over again for days. It looks much, much worse than I remember."

"So what are your concerns right now?" Ciara asked.

"I don't know that it's a concern. I think it's a fact... I think I've lost her, Ciara. I think I've lost her for good. I mean... how will we ever get past this? How will she ever get past the image of me writhing around in bed with another woman... women?"

"Can I ask why you are so convinced that she saw you with other women? Her reaction could have been from the incident with Nadia, could it not?"

"She mentioned the champagne." Lauren stated with finality.

"May I ask about the champagne?"

Lauren laughed, "Sure, why not. My entire sex life may be public knowledge soon enough."

"I'm sorry, Lauren."

"It's not your fault, Ciara." Lauren replied quickly, "There was a woman... her name was Mia. She was a nurse who worked on the pediatric floor at the hospital. We met when I first started working there. She invited me out to introduce me to my new home and some of her friends. Well, one thing led to another and after about a week, we hooked up in a storage room, of all places."

"How romantic." Ciara chuckled.

"I know, right? We weren't exclusive, so there was always an occasional tryst here and there... I mean... it's not like I brought home a different woman every night... or every month for that matter. I just... I wasn't often in the mood for company."

Lauren looked at Ciara, "Is that strange? I mean, I was lonely as hell but I wanted to be alone... I mean... I really wanted to be left alone with my loneliness. Something doesn't seem right about that."

Ciara, "Victims of domestic violence often isolate themselves, so I'm not surprised by that at all, Lauren."

Lauren was quiet for a moment, before she asked, "You know, when I was discharged, Hale told me I wasn't a victim... that I was a survivor now."

Ciara nodded, "Well, I respectfully disagree with Dr. Santiago on that point. A survivor is someone who has moved beyond the abuse to regain control of a healthy lifestyle and seeks to achieve dreams and goals. But more importantly than what a doctor tells you or what characteristics apply to each term, which label would you apply to yourself?"

Laughing, Lauren replied, "I always hated labels and titles. Genuis, geek, skinny, flat-chested were some of the earliest labels I wore. Then it was gay, athletic, national champion, Olympian, Doctor."

"But aren't those things all part of who you are?"

"Yes, but they don't define me. The only label I ever truly enjoyed that seemed to come without expectations was girlfriend... but now... even that feels like it holds a level of expectation that I'm failing at achieving."

Ciara nodded, knowing that Bo was holding Lauren to an unachievable standard. There was no way that the blonde could take back the relations she'd had before she'd even met the brunette. Ciara knew she was going to have to get Bo to see that she had to be responsible for her own part in this. She chose to view footage she was not cleared to see. She wondered how the brunette would respond if Lauren had seen footage of her in a compromising position with her lover prior to the blonde.

"Would you feel comfortable sharing more about Mia?"

Lauren nodded, "Well, she had dreamed of having a job at John's Hopkins and she knew I'd both researched and offered a job by them, so she asked me if I could put in a word for her. I did and she was offered a job there about five months before I'd met Bo."

"Well, that date would have been visible on the footage, so surely Bo knows that you hadn't slept with Mia when you'd begun seeing her." Ciara reasoned.

Lauren nodded, "A few nights before she left, she invited herself over to celebrate her knew job. She arrived on my doorstep with nothing but one of my lab coats on, holding a plate of chocolate covered strawberries in one hand and two bottles of champagne in another."

" _The_ champagne?"

"From the footage Bo saw, yes." Lauren frowned, "If Bo watched that footage, Ciara... she'll never see me the same again."

Lauren stared out to sea. Truthfully, details of that night had become foggy at best over the past months. Aside from the fact that Lauren had gotten very drunk that night, Bo had all but erased all thoughts or memories of anyone who came before her... that was, until Lauren saw the footage played before her eyes.

Tears stung Lauren's eyes as she felt her blood go cold. She wondered what would have gone through Bo's mind when she saw the very clear image of the woman dropping the coat from her shoulders when she'd closed the door behind her. Lauren closed her eyes tightly, trying to push the memory of what was on the footage from her mind, but the memory flood forth along with the shame in the knowledge that the love of her life had seen it...

 **Flashback...**

" _Good evening, Doctor Lewis. I thought we should have one last hurrah... one last... very... wild... hurrah... before I leave."_

 _Lauren watched at Mia dropped the lab coat revealing her firm round breasts, the words 'Bon Voyage' written in chocolate across her torso. Lauren lifted a strawberry from the tray and ran it through the 'y', trailing it down to the top of a dark patch of neatly trimmed hair..._

" _Well, far be it from me to deny you your last hurrah in the Aloha state."_

" _I brought something for our thirst as well." Mia pointed to the case of champagne she'd put on the floor inside the door._

 _Opening the box, Lauren pulled out two bottles and winked at the other woman, "I think these will get us started."_

" _You'd better bring the whole case, Dr. Lewis. I have plans for the other bottles that don't involve drinking. Ever taken a champagne bath?"_

 _Mia ran for the bedroom, laughing as Lauren chuckled, giving chase._

 _Once in the bedroom, Lauren feasted on chocolate covered fruit as well as the woman who'd brought the gifts. When she'd had her fill, Mia stood on the bed, pulling Lauren up to stand with her. She handed the blonde a bottle from the nightstand and took one for herself,_

" _I promise I'll help you clean... I just can't resist the idea of doing this..."_

 _Lauren watched as Mia shook the bottle, her heavy breasts bouncing up and down as she jumped on the bed. She suddenly stopped and popped the cork allowing champagne to spray all over the ceiling and walls._

" _Oh my god. You are so cleaning that up!"_

" _Come on, Lauren. Let loose a little! Have a little fun with me! I promise I'll clean it up. Hippocrates knows you have enough cleaners in your kitchen to scour the entire spotless house from top to bottom."_

 _Lauren paused for a moment before she began to jump up and down, shaking the bottle in her hand. Mia leaned down and picked up another bottle before together, the two released another broad stream of spray around the room._

 _Laughing hysterically, the two fell onto the bed together, Mia immediately beginning to lick the champagne from Lauren's body,_

" _I want to get drunk on you, Lauren Lewis."_

 _Lauren chuckled, "I thought we were taking a bath in the bubbly."_

" _Well, you're wet, aren't you?" Mia asked with a devilish grin on her face as she slid her champagne soaked body down Lauren's._

" _I certainly am."_

 _ **Present Day...**_

Lauren shook her head, her face buried in her hands, "God, Ciara... she'll never be able to look at me again."

"What makes you say that, Lauren? I'm sorry I have to ask, but I haven't gotten much of an explanation from you about what Bo saw and I haven't been privy to the content of the tapes."

Lauren stood, "After I... you know... in the foyer, we moved to the bedroom and... uh... you know... had very... athletic... relations. Eventually, Mia popped the cork on a thoroughly-shaken bottle of champagne before talking me into doing it as well... four bottles were popped in the bedroom and the other two in the kitchen where we also... uh... well... you know. God, this is so embarrassing."

Ciara nodded, "I see... so, that's how the champagne got on the camera lens."

Lauren nodded, "And Nadia never got to clean the lens because by then, she was attending regular daily training sessions at Canada's Olympic training center, so taking a flight to Hawaii and getting back for practice sessions was not an option."

"I'm honestly surprised she didn't have someone break in and do it for her." Ciara replied.

"Me too." Lauren nodded, "It's out of character for her to leave anything to chance. She's more obsessive than I am... and that's saying something." Lauren sighed, "I think her only back up was those tapes, disks and flash drives."

Ciara nodded, allowing Lauren to settle into silence once more before she asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to say about Mia or the footage?"

Lauren sighed, "When I first saw the footage, I noticed that... well, with the condition of the images, you really wouldn't know the difference between Bo and Mia. If the footage was released to the press, it could all be Mia and no one would know the difference... except Mia... and me, of course. The problem is that Bo knows... and that's what hurts the most about all of this. I just can't understand why she would have gone back to previous footage! I would never want to see Bo with any of her previous lovers."

Lauren shuddered as a chill ran through her bones in conjunction with another memory of that night that Bo would have seen.

"What did Mia represent in your life?" Ciara asked.

"What?"

"I want you to think about what the two of you did together. How would you describe how she made you feel at the time in comparison to how you usually felt during the that time in your life?"

Lauren thought about it for a moment, "At the time, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was a slave to so many people and never free to just... I don't know... just be me. Hell, I didn't even know who me was... I still don't. I just... I've never really been free to just... gosh... I just went grocery shopping with my own money for the first time!"

Ciara nodded, "I can't imagine how that must have felt for you. Can you tell me why you felt so imprisoned by your life?"

Lauren laughed, "That's a good word... enslaved is also a good word for what I felt... enslaved by Evony at work, Lachlan at practices and Nadia when I went home – even if she wasn't there. When you add up the minutes in a day spent in each place, it's one hundred percent of my day every day for years."

"And when you were with Mia?" Ciara asked.

"When Mia came over, I could be someone else... not at first... I mean... she had to push me."

"Push you?"

"I mean... she didn't force me to do anything I didn't willingly do. She just encouraged me to come out of my shell and let my basic instincts come out. After a while, I felt comfortable enough with her to just... I don't know... let loose."

"Were you in love with her?" Ciara asked.

"Oh, Gods no. She was a rebel and pretty irresponsible. I mean... she was an excellent nurse but outside of the hospital, we didn't have much in common beyond our physical needs. It was just... well... have you ever seen that girl at a party in college who just did whatever she wanted to do? I mean... the girl that said what she wanted, ate what she wanted, drank what she wanted, kissed who she wanted and didn't give a shit about what anyone said or thought about her?"

"Oh, I've definitely met a few of those in my day." Ciara laughed.

Lauren replied, "Well, I would never have been that girl at a party. As a matter of fact, that girl at a party was usually the reason I left... I was not a fan of that girl. But, fast-forward a decade and I was sleeping with that girl... her name was Mia. When it was just the two of us in this house, she got me to let loose... she encouraged it... and most of the time she brought booze to help me get there."

Ciara frowned, "Resulting in the champagne night."

"Oh, we never drank any of the champagne. She found Nadia's liquor stash and before I knew it, she was pouring shots of tequila with limes from my greenhouse. I wasn't used to drinking. I couldn't afford liquor and wouldn't dare touch Nadia's, but that night... I don't know... I just didn't care. What was one more scolding or shoving match?"

"I see. So, how often did you spend time with Mia?"

Lauren shook her head, "I never invited her over. She always just showed up whenever she wanted. It wasn't like I was anywhere else. I was always home and she knew it."

Ciara stood and walked to stand next to Lauren, "How did she know it?"

"What?" Lauren asked, turning to face Ciara.

"How did she know that you would be alone?"

Lauren shrugged, "I don't know... I guess... maybe I told her I didn't go out much?"

Ciara's face went pale, "Lauren... did she know Nadia?"

"Well, they never met. Why do you ask?" Lauren replied, quickly.

Ciara's heart sank as she realized the other blonde wasn't putting together the pieces of the same puzzle she was working on.

"You're sure they didn't know each other?" Ciara asked.

"Nadia never showed up on the nights that Mia would show up." Lauren replied.

"Coincidence?" Ciara asked, hoping Lauren would catch on to what she had already begun to figure out.

They stood silently, Lauren's mind suddenly taking her back to a morning-after with Mia,

 _ **FLASHBACK...**_

' _So, is this Nadia?'_

' _Uh... it is. How did you know her name?'_

' _You mentioned it.'_

' _No I didn't.'_

' _Of course you did. How else would I know it.'_

 _Mia laid the picture face down, as she spoke, 'There will be no other women in your bedroom while I'm here unless I want them to be here... not physically or photographically.' She pushed Lauren back on the bed, 'We have thirty minutes before you have to leave for the hospital.'_

 _Later..._

' _Hey, what are you looking for?' Lauren asked, towel-drying her hair as she walked towards Mia who was holding the corners of the nude print above the fireplace._

 _Mia turned quickly, 'Uh... it didn't look like it was sitting evenly on the mantle. I was afraid it would fall, so I just wanted to make sure it was secure.'_

 _Lauren laughed, 'Truthfully, next time just let it fall. Breaking that piece would be a blessing.'_

' _Really? Why?'_

' _Uh... no reason.' Lauren replied, cursing herself for bringing up a topic she couldn't discuss, 'So, you ready to get to work? I'm just going to go dry my hair and get dressed.'_

' _I'd rather stay here and get back into bed, but I guess we can't delay the inevitable any longer. We do have lives to save.'_

 _Lauren smiled, 'Yes, we do.'_

 _Mia gave the blonde a chaste kiss, as she walked to the door, 'See you when I see you.'_

' _And when will that be?' Lauren asked._

' _When the need arises.' Mia laughed as she moved towards the front door._

' _Thank you for last night... I definitely needed the company.'_

' _Yea, well a good fuck once in a while is good for the soul.'_

 _Lauren watched as she exited her home, 'Funny... Nadia used to say that too. I guess she was right about one thing.'_

 _ **Present Day...**_

Lauren shook out her thoughts... it couldn't be,

"It can't be." She said aloud looking up at Ciara, her face paling as she found she didn't believe her own words any more than her therapist did.

"I'm so sorry, Lauren."

"Ciara, call Danny. Call Danny now. Get him back here."

Ciara had hoped her hunch had been wrong. She pulled out her cell phone and followed Lauren over the dune and back towards the house.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tamsin, Danny, Ciara and Lauren were sitting in the Torrent family dining room. The youngest Torrent had been waiting up for Lauren to return from her alone time so was brought into the loop when they arrived.

The doctor had just explained the missing 'soundtrack' from the footage including the timing of Mia's visits and Lauren's new realization that her impromptu visitor may have been working with Nadia to make sure there was footage to use.

If it weren't for Mia, the footage would only have been three other women and they were all very mild events. They were under the covers and barely any skin was visible from the moment they arrived until the moment they left.

Danny suggested that, based on the dates of the visits and the corresponding names, Mia may have been planted because of the fact that no skin was visible with the others. The frequency of Mia's visits had increased over time, causing the less incriminating visitors to stop.

Lauren felt sick. She put her head down on the table causing Tamsin to throw an arm over her shoulders, trying to provide some comfort,

"She spy-banged you for Nadia! Not cool!" Tamsin said, using her outside voice.

Lauren shook her head as she spoke into the folded arms beneath her head, "I feel so violated. It was all a set up. All she ever wanted was what Nadia was selling. She used me! Oh fuck, I feel sick."

The blonde lowered her head to the table again, her hand gripping her abdomen.

Ciara looked at Lauren to make sure she wasn't actually going to be sick before she turned to Danny and asked, "So now what?"

"We pick her up and bring her in for questioning." Danny replied.

"We bring her here?" Lauren asked.

"No. I go there. I'll make the arrangements as soon as possible. I have a friend in Maryland, so it'll be a piece of cake. I'll be there and back in three days tops. You're sure she's actually working at Hopkins?" Danny asked.

"I saw the letter. She showed it to me after she got the job."

"Great. We'll check the employee records through our database before we take off just to be sure. I've gotta get on this then. I'll call you when I have more information." Danny explained, shaking the hands of all of the women before heading towards the exit, cell phone already at his ear as Tamsin followed and locked the door behind him.

The three women watched him leave before Lauren spoke again,

"Thank you, Ciara. I appreciate you staying so late. Why don't you head out and get some sleep. You must be exhausted."

Ciara nodded, "I am. Mom Torrent made up a guest room for me, so it's just a short walk up the stairs. I'll see you for breakfast. Are you sure you're okay?"

Lauren nodded, "I'm as okay as I can be. Tomorrow is an off day from the hospital. I guess we'll see what it brings."

"Well, with the right pressure on Mia, it may just bring good news."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi laid on her back with her head propped up on the pillow of Bo's bed, her sister finally sound asleep on her belly. Bo had given her the full run down on the footage she'd viewed and how it made her feel, but that was before Kenzi had received a call from Tamsin and gotten some new information.

The blonde had explained the entire Mia situation to her and Kenzi was now sitting there trying to figure out exactly how she was going to present this latest chapter in the 'Gays of Our Lives' saga that had become her sister's life.

She hated seeing her sister in pain, but the truth was that she had been the host to plenty of sexy lady nights of her own before Lauren, so she had no room to talk and Kenzi hadn't hesitated to remind her of that little old fact. When Bo had rationalized to Kenzi that the good doctor hadn't had to actually see her sexcapades, the younger sister had explained that it was her fault the images were now dancing around in her head. Danny had given her the counter numbers and she had rewound to before those numbers all by her little Bo self.

Right now, Kenzi just wished she could wake Bo up and give her the news about Mia. She thought that maybe on some level, it might help Bo to deal with what she was feeling. The truth was, some things could not be unseen and she knew that even though Bo was well aware that her little sister was right, with all of the lies and unspoken truths that had been shared between them, Bo was now doubting Lauren's love for her and that was a hurdle Kenzi didn't know how to help her sister over.

Kenzi sighed, looking down at her sister's troubled face,

"Somehow we've gotta find a way to turn that frown upside down, BoBo. Hopefully, you'll see that Mia was just another manipulative bitch in your lovely's life."

Kenzi closed her eyes as she whispered at the ceiling, "Why the hell did you have to go snooping into Lauren's personal life."

Bo sat up and looked at her sister, "Because she's my personal life, Kenzi!"

"You know what, Bo? You're not better than Nadia!"

Kenzi pushed her sister back and crawled off the bed.

"I am SO not like that bitch!"

"Oh really? Nadia planted cameras in that house to spy on Lauren and to leverage the footage against her." She pointed her finger at her sister, "You looked at the footage to spy on Lauren's past... a past that was well before she even knew of your existence on the planet! Now, you're leveraging that footage against her when she needs you most! I just don't know who you are anymore, Bo. A woman that you claim is the love of your life is in a ridiculous amount of pain and what are you doing? Sitting here pretending that your pain is somewhere that approaches equal to her own!"

"You have no idea what it was like to see her with that girl!"

"And you shouldn't have any idea what it was like either! You weren't supposed to look at it! You knew exactly what you were doing the minute you hit rewind, Bo. Why? Why in the world would you do that? Who in their right mind would want to see footage of a person they're in love with doing the horizontal tango with someone from their past? Past being the operative word here!"

"Well, maybe that's the problem, Kenzi! I'm not in my right mind, am I?!"

"And that's your fault, Bo!"

"My fault? My fault? I'm not the one who got sucked into the world of that psycho bitch Nadia!"

"And it's not Lauren's fault either, Bo! Nadia did this to her! Nadia did this to the two of you! Yes, she should have told you about her before you got involved, but let me ask you... can you even fathom making the decision to do that?"

"It was the right thing to do, Kenzi. I had a right to know."

"And do you think Lauren was thinking about right and wrong when she met you? She fell in love with you... she fell hard and fast just like you did. She is a woman who grew up in a shit home that led to a shit relationship that quickly became domestic violence. From there, the highlights of her life were being chained to that controlling bitch, employed by Evony and coached by Lachlan. Her life was all peaches and cream, wasn't it?"

"We didn't exactly have a flower-filled meadow for a life, Kenzi."

"You're missing the point, as usual, Bo. She had nothing... absolutely nothing to look forward to in her every day life... until you. Would you have been able to take the chance on breaking the one thing that was good in your life?"

Bo sat down on the edge of the bed, her head down. She took a breath, "Probably not... maybe... I don't know."

"Right. None of us know, because none of us have had to walk even a city block in Lauren's shoes. Sure, we lost our parents young, sure we had to drop out of school... what a tragedy... we dropped out of school and started raking in money as pro surfers. We didn't have a lot back then, but we had enough to keep a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and drinks in our hands. We had money enough to make the flights we needed to travel all over the world for competitions. Everywhere we went, we made friends... real friends."

Kenzi looked at her sister, hoping for some response, but she got none, so she continued,

"Have you noticed that Lauren has no friends? Nadia kept her isolated... it's what abusers do. You took a grown-ass woman grocery shopping with her own money for the first time in her life. Can you imagine being a doctor with a six-figure salary and never having money to go to a bar and have a drink unless you don't put gas in your car or food in your belly?"

Kenzi shook her head, "If you really haven't figured Lauren out by now, I can't help you. It's funny really... all of those damaged kids we have here... you show them more kindness, compassion, understanding and forgiveness than you do the person you claim to love more than all others. Why? Because they're kids and they don't know any better? Well, maybe you better take a closer look at Lauren so you can see that while chronologically, she's your age, but developmentally, she's still a child doing the best she can to handle things her life has never taught her to handle."

Kenzi groaned and headed for her sister's bedroom door.

"Kenzi."

The raven-haired younger sister turned back, "What."

"You're right... about everything. The other day when we went grocery shopping... I saw it... I forgot... I let everything push that day out of my head, but I saw it. She was like a child experiencing so many firsts. It was a great day. It was the first time I saw her look happy... truly happy... even though I could tell she still didn't trust that there was light at the end of her tunnel."

Kenzi walked back to the bed and sat down next to her sister, "So what are you going to do?"

Bo picked up her phone, "It's really late. I can't imagine she's asleep yet, but if she is, I don't want to wake her."

"I just got off the phone with Tamsin before you woke up."

"What did she say?"

"The woman on the tape that you saw... well... her name..."

"I don't want to know her name. I know too much already."

"Her name is going to come up, Bo."

"Why?"

"Well, it seems that... she-who-will-not-be-named... may have been planted by Nadia. Ciara actually put it all together... well, she suggested it and then Lauren remembered some things that happened and some things that she-who-will-not-be-named said that Lauren had only ever heard Nadia say and... well... they think that she was the one moving the tapes. After the champagne night – which, incidentally, I know nothing about and would like to keep it that way, thank you – Lauren caught her handling the big nudie picture above the fireplace. From there, she added up the rest and her big brain figured it out."

Bo nodded, "So she used Lauren to work for Nadia?"

Kenzi nodded in reply, "Your girl thought she-who-will-not-be-named was the one person who was a part of her life who was helping her to come out of her shell, but now she knows that she was just another part of the Nadia story."

"Well, she definitely got Lauren out of her shell." Bo said, referring to the footage she had viewed.

"Bo..."

"I know, Kenzi. That was a low blow. I didn't have to watch that footage. I really don't know why I did and now... I just... I know it's absolutely ridiculous, but I feel like she cheated on me."

"Well, you're right... that is absolutely beyond ridiculous. She slept with her..."

"I know, Kenzi! I know! She was before me! I just..."

"You wanted to be her one and only? You wanted her to sacrifice her virginity to you?"

"Yes." Bo mumbled.

Kenzi laughed, "Well, I'm sure that would have been nice for Lauren as well, but seeing as you begun sailing that ship when you were fifteen with... what was his name?"

"Pete Watson... and don't remind me."

"Well, I'll tell you what. Every time you mention the fact that Lauren had sex with anyone before you, I'm going to start listing names, starting with Pete Watson."

"Kenzi."

"Oh, it gets better... for every name, you have to imagine Lauren having viewed footage of each and every encounter... Pete Watson."

"Kenzi!"

"Chuck Yeager... Tommy Bird... Sarah Shepherd..."

"Kenzi!"

"Tina Racid... Beth Thompson... Ipsha Sayed..."

"Okay! Okay... I get it!"

"Come on, you're not even twenty yet... I have more names for the teen years... remember when you swung back to guys for a while? Sam... what was his last name?"

Bo stood and frowned as Kenzi laughed, "I'm going to text Lauren."

"Good. What are you going to say."

"I'm sorry."

"That's it?"

"It's enough. If she replies, then I know she's awake and we can text more. If not, then she's either not speaking to me or she's asleep in which case, I'll probably get a text from her tomorrow or see her when we meet with Danny again."

"Danny is going Baltimore tonight or tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Keep up, BoBo... he's going to question she-who-must-not-be-named!"

"Why Baltimore?"

"She works at John's Hopkins. Not only did she use Lauren for banging, she also used her to get a job at one of the top hospitals in our nation."

Bo just shook her head as she pulled out her phone.

"I'll leave you to it then... unless you want me to stay?"

"Nah, it's alright Kenzi."

The younger sister leaned over and pulled her sister's head to her lips. Planting a kiss on her temple, she whispered, "Good night, sis. I love you... even when you're a stubborn mule."

Bo looked up at her little sister as she stood, "Thanks for always setting me straight, Kenzi. Sometimes it's good when you take on the mom roll."

"Oh BoBo, I've always been the mother. I just let you think it was you." She winked and left the room, leaving her sister alone with a phone, wavering fingers and no words.

She sighed and typed,

' _I was wrong. I'm sorry.'_ (send)

' _I'm so very sorry.'_ (send)

She pulled off her clothes and opened her dresser drawer. She sighed as she pulled out the pair of USA shorts Lauren had given her in Rio, and then grabbed the Yale T-shirt the blonde had given her when she was still in the hospital. She dressed and crawled into bed, plugging her phone into her charger before laying it on the nightstand.

She turned off the nightlight and heaved a deep breath into the darkness, the silence engulfing her. A stray tear wandered across her cheek and onto her pillow just before a single bing emanated from her phone.

She sat up and lifted her phone to see a single text notification. Opening the text she read,

 _Lauren: 'I understand why you were mad and don't blame you.'_

 _Bo: 'I shouldn't have looked at the footage. I invaded your privacy just like Nadia did.'_

 _Lauren: 'Please don't compare yourself to her. You've never treated me like she did.'_

 _Bo: 'As Kenzi so bluntly put it, when I viewed images that were not mine to see, I treated you exactly as Nadia had. I'm sorry, Lauren.'_

 _There was a long pause... Long enough that Bo worried that Lauren had reason to be mad at Bo and she wasn't going to reply. Finally, another text came..._

 _Lauren: 'We can't take back anything that's happened. One lie has become an avalanche of events I never wanted for you. I wanted so much more for us, Bo. I'm sorry for ruining everything... for ruining us.'_

 _The brunette sat silently for a moment, re-reading the text. Was Lauren saying we were over? She didn't know what to say. How was she supposed to respond to that?_

 _Bo: 'I'm still here, Lauren. I don't know what happens next, but I'm still here.'_

 _Lauren: 'Well, at least you haven't moved to another country to get away from the disaster that is me.'_

 _Bo smiled at the blonde's attempt at humor before replying,_

 _Bo: 'Have you not noticed? I do my best surfing in turbulent seas.'_

 _Lauren: 'Well, then I suppose I should be glad you're a surfer after all.'_

 _Bo: 'I have to get some sleep. I leave for Fiji tomorrow night and have a lot to do tomorrow.'_

 _There was a long pause before the reply came,_

 _Lauren: 'I'm so sorry. I have been so wrapped up in my nightmare that I forgot about your big competition. Is there anything I can do for you while you're gone?'_

 _Bo: 'You can check in with Doc Mansfield if you have time. They may need some help at the training center. The ocean wave pool is supposed to be finished in two days.'_

 _Lauren: 'A new wave pool?'_

 _Bo: 'Sorry, I forgot you don't know. Kelly Slater is a pro surfer who has hooked up with the WSL, providing his wave pools for training facilities. The WSL gave us their stamp of approval and are installing it for free as long as we agree to allow WSL surfers to train there. The surfers will instruct our students in exchange for free pool time.'_

 _Lauren: 'Wow. That's really great, Bo. Congratulations.'_

 _Bo: 'Thank you. I hope you get to check it out.'_

 _Lauren: 'I'll make a point of doing just that.'_

 _Bo: 'Could you check in on our little buddy for me? He's been asking about you.'_

 _Lauren: 'Maverick?'_

 _Bo: 'Yea, I'm worried about leaving him alone. He's been sort of glued to me lately.'_

 _Lauren: 'I'll check in on him day after tomorrow.'_

 _Bo: 'Thank you. I've really got to get some sleep.'_

 _Lauren: 'Sorry to keep you. Goodnight.'_

 _Bo: 'Stop saying sorry. Goodnight, Lauren.'_

The brunette went to put the phone down when it the tone sounded again. She opened the text,

 _Lauren: 'Just wanted to say thank you for texting. I wouldn't have slept tonight if you hadn't. I appreciate the olive branch.'_

 _Bo: 'You didn't deserve my reaction. Please try to sleep. I can't imagine you've gotten much these last few nights.'_

 _Lauren: 'I'll try. Thank you again. Goodnight, Bo.'_

 _Bo smiled, 'Goodnight, Lauren.'_

Returning her phone to her nightstand, she smiled as she laid back in bed, throwing her forearm across her eyes. This week, she'd felt like she'd literally been throw into the deep end of a pool. She'd say it felt like she was drowning with everything that had been happening, but she would never use that expression again. She actually knew what drowning felt like now. This week had been more like treading water... maybe trying to find the surface when a wave had rolled you over and over again.

But now, after getting lectured by her little sister... and pummeled by her truths... she opened her eyes in the darkness and, for the first time in months, thought that maybe she would soon find calmer seas through which to navigate... at least... she had hope. Maybe after Fiji... and a little time apart... she and Lauren could find some common ground again.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	10. Chapter 10: Fighting to Win

_**A/N:**_ _Thank you for the continued love and reviews for those just reading Finding Our Way. As for this baby, thank you for the reviews, the support and the LG love... thank you, thank you, thank you... did a shabby proofread on this one... hopefully it's not too bad! Again... warning of abuse/ domestic violence subject matter._

 _Reviewer that was upset about the friendship/romance label... sorry, never changed that when I started the story. A dim light is appearing at the end of the tunnel in this chapter. Hang in there..._

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHAPTER 10: Fighting the Battle to Win the War**_

Kenzi arrived at Tamsin's house just after dinner. It had been a hectic day at the school with Bo leaving for a week, but they'd managed to get everything covered including the construction site at the new emergency training center. Kenzi agreed to go pick up Tamsin so that Bo could do one last check on the construction of the new wave pool, knowing that Kelly was supposed to be stopping by to make sure everything was on schedule.

"Hey Pops! I didn't expect you to be home!"

"I'm actually running late! I'm supposed to be over at the 'house on the hill' job site, but I went with Lauren to meet Danny instead. I'm heading over to the job site now."

"Is she doing okay?"

Pops nodded, "I asked Lauren how things were with Bo and she just told me that Bo had texted her last night and she felt better. I don't know what she said, but it worked, so give that sister of yours a big thank you hug for me."

He turned to walk away, but turned back to Kenzi, "Oh, and tell her I have Muhammad on her data collection and observation. She specifically asked for him."

"Yea, my sister has some trust issues when it comes to her work."

Pops pulled his hat off and scratched the top of his head, "Yea, I've noticed that about your Bo. It's okay though, it took me years to trust my company to my daughter."

"And he still doesn't trust me with his company. You do see that he's here and working again, right? He and Moms are supposed to be hanging out on the beach running the beach bum shop, but somehow they've weaseled their way back into my business."

Tamsin laughed, planting a soft kiss on Kenzi's lips, "Hi there, Shortstack."

Pops shook his head, "You know, I'm amazed that you accept an insult about your size as an appropriate greeting every time you see my daughter."

Tamsin protested, "Hey! It's a term of endearment, not an insult!"

Just then, Lauren walked into the room.

"Oh, hey. I didn't know you were here." Lauren turned to walk away, but Kenzi stopped her,

"Hey! Where ya goin'? Don't I get a hello or a hug or at least a more cordial greeting?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren smiled, "I'm sorry, I just didn't know if I would be... welcome."

Kenzi laughed, "Lauren, let's get something straight here. While I may be Team Bo because she's my sister, I'm usually pretty objective when it comes my stubborn sibling. If I hadn't wanted to avoid calling her out in front of an entire room of people last night, I would have told her sooner what an absolute ass she was being."

The blonde smiled as her eyes stared at her fumbling fingers, "Wow. That's... that's really big of you. Thanks."

"No, it's honest of me. Bo should never have looked at anything other than the footage she was told to view. She's had months to the adjust to the idea that you didn't tell her about Nadia and she also had plenty of time to realize that there was likely more baggage that we didn't know about just around the corner. That said, she has realized the error in her ways as noted by the text that she told me she was going to send you."

Lauren smiled, "She did text me. We actually texted for a little while and... well, it seemed that maybe she was a little less upset with me."

"Trust me, Doc. She's a lot less upset with you." Kenzi hesitated for a moment, but then decided to go with her thought, "So, do you want to come with T-Bear and I to take Bo to the airport?"

"Oh, no. I don't think she would..."

"Lauren, I just left her to pick up Tamsin and she said she had been hoping you would call or stop by today to see her before you left. She's actually kind of bummed that you did neither."

"Oh. I just assumed that we were at the 'don't call me, I'll call you' stage right now."

"I'm not sure why you would assume anything, let alone that but that's not what she said to me thirty minutes ago. So... you game for a trip to the airport?"

Lauren hesitated, allowing Tamsin enough time to say, "Lewis, I swear if you're trying to talk yourself out of this you need to turn off your brain right now, hit the little girls' room, grab a hoodie, wallet and phone and get in my damn car."

"Right." The blonde took off down the hallway as Pops laughed,

"My daughter certainly does have a way with her adopted sister, doesn't she?"

"You adopted Lauren?" Kenzi asked of his girlfriend's dad.

"Unofficially, yes. The day she stepped onto the court with Tamsin at Stanford, those two became fast friends, giving a whole new meaning to opposites attract."

"Definitely opposites." Kenzi smiled.

"Well, I'm off girls. Tamsin, your Mom is working at Kenbo today, so lock up before you leave."

Tamsin nodded as her Dad walked away. Turning to Kenzi, she said,

"I find it hysterical that my Mom left her own surf shop in the hand of her twenty-something manager for more than three months now only to come here and work in yours."

"The world of the Dennis sisters is hard to resist." Kenzi replied.

"And don't I know it! The little sister sucked me right on in to her world. I blame it on her hypnotic eyes."

Kenzi quipped, "Really? And here I thought it was the boots."

Tamsin laughed, "Come 'ere short stack."

Kenzi laughed as the blonde dipped her low and slow, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss until they heard Lauren clearing her throat.

"Um... sorry... I'll just wait in the car." Lauren walked quickly out of the house.

Tamsin stood Kenzi up, the younger girl asking, "Not a fan of PDA?"

"She's a little off with just about everything right now."

Kenzi nodded, "Not surprising considering everything she's dealing with. Honestly, I think I don't know how she's doing it."

"Barely, Kenz. Barely."

The pair left the house, Tamsin making a point of locking the door.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Look who we found, BoBo!" Kenzi yelled as Tamsin and Lauren followed her into their house.

Bo looked up, "Hey! Lauren. I didn't know you were coming over."

Kenzi walked towards her sister, "I can take the boards out. Did Dyson take the others?"

"Yea and Vex shipped the ones we sold so they should get there ahead of me."

"You have your passport?" Kenzi asked.

"My fully legal and current passport, yes." Bo quipped.

"Ha. Ha." Kenzi shrugged.

"I've got your bags." Tamsin said, picking up Bo's big bag and her carry on, "This luggage tag is beat, Bo."

Bo reached down to the coffee table and picked up some string, tossing it to Tamsin, "I figured I'd replace the string on the tag at the airport... give myself something to do."

Tamsin nodded, "Okay, we'll take this stuff out."

That left Bo and Lauren standing awkwardly in the room, neither knowing what to say. Remembering that the brunette had taken the initiative the night before, the doctor stepped up,

"I... well... Kenzi asked me if I wanted to go with you to the airport. So... tadda... here I am... I mean... if that's okay with you... I'd like to... you know... go... I mean... with you... just to the airport, not Fiji... I mean... I'm sure you want some space and... as much as I'd like to support you there... it's probably... my presence would probably not be great... I mean... for your mind and all..."

Bo moved across the room and pulled Lauren into a hug. She spoke softly, "Thank you for coming. I would love for you to come to the airport with us."

Lauren nodded, pulling back from Bo so they stood apart once again, "Well, we went and met with Danny's partner and... well... Tamsin told me she told Kenzi about..."

"No name... we're calling the champagne girl she-who-must-not-be-named... for now... if you don't mind."

Lauren smiled, "Of course. It was as we suspected. Danny reported back to his partner that she was paid by Nadia."

Bo could see the sadness in Lauren's eyes, "I'm so sorry, Lauren. You must feel so..."

Bo really wanted to finish, but words failed her. How did Lauren feel? She'd never been violated as the blonde had been.

"Used, betrayed, foolish, duped, blind... dirty."

Bo pulled her into another hug, "Nadia is trash and so is anyone who worked for her to do all she's done to you. You're stronger than her, Lauren... you can get through this... you can beat her and move on to live a happy and healthy life while she rots in prison along with she-who-must-not-be-named."

Lauren nodded, "They offered her a deal. Nothing disclosed as long as she helps them to assure that nothing is disclosed about us. Her part in this would send her to jail as well as take away her entire career."

Bo nodded as her attention was pulled by her sister in the doorway, "Okay, Ladies! We've got a flight to catch! Let's move those firm round asses of yours into the seats of our T-Bear's convertible beauty!"

Kenzi clapped as she spoke, causing Bo and Lauren to look at each other and laugh, "I'm glad she wasn't my coach at the Olympics."

Bo scowled, "Uh... are you forgetting Lachlan so quickly? Anyone was better than him."

"I was referring to Kenzi instead of Misty and Karch... Lachlan has been effectively pushed to the back of my mind. He's an easy thing by comparison."

The pair left the house and headed towards the driveway, "So... did the lawyers call you about the reschedule date for Evony's trial?"

"Yea, next Wednesday I'm supposed to testify. You?"

"The judge wanted me this week, but our lawyers argued that because the date was changed just hours before the trial was to begin, I should not be forced to give up my livelihood to testify at their convenience."

"They actually expected you to give up participating in a tournament that could determine your final place in the overall championship?"

Bo nodded as she opened the car door for Lauren, allowing her to slide in first, "I think Evony's behind it and when I explained to our lawyer, he told the judge who agreed that with the historical evidence he'd read on the case, I was probably right. When he asked Evony's attorney for the reasoning behind wanting me this week, he would only say that the timing of my testimony was key."

Kenzi chimed in, "It was great. The judge turned to him and said, _'you mean your client would like Ms. Dennis to miss a major tournament so she fails to win the WSL championship.'_... it was an incredible moment! You shoulda seen it, Doc."

"Wow. She really will go to any lengths to see you fail." Lauren replied as Tamsin drove down the long driveway towards the airport.

"Yup. She hates me. What can I say. I'm apparently hateable." Bo snarked.

Kenzi replied, "Well, I think you're very lurvable."

Lauren smiled, "I agree with Kenzi."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **AIRPORT...**_

The four women stood patiently in line waiting for their turn at the baggage check in… Well, actually everyone except Kenzi was waiting patiently. The younger Dennis sister had walked inside to find someone who could 'speed things up for them'.

"What exactly does she mean by 'speed things along'?" Lauren asked.

Tamsin laughed, having been with Kenzi for Bo's last departure to Australia, "Oh, half-pint uses her fame to get her sister…"

"Ladies, this is Luis. He is a big fan of BOTH surfing and beach volleyball! You will ever believe this, but he just came to the states for college on an academic scholarship… He really is brilliant. Luis figured out how to get Bo's surfboards safely checked so they would arrive in Fiji with her… satisfaction TOTALLY guaranteed or the autographs I promised him from all four of us, including a picture, had to be returned to BoBo on the return flight."

The four women laughed as Luis took off his shirt. Lauren's eyes went wide as the young man with the muscled chest, abs and biceps approached her with a smile… and a permanent marker. She stood staring at the pen for a long moment before Kenzi nudged her and whispered out of the corner of her mouth,

"What are you waiting for? Sign his pec!"

Lauren's gaze moved to Kenzi, her mouth agape, "What?"

She leaned in and whispered, "This happens to Bo and I all the time. You sign your name and then he goes to his tattoo artist and gets your signature permanently tattooed on his body."

Lauren whispered into Kenzi's ear, "I will not give this young man a tattoo that I know he will regret when he meets the love of his life!"

"Hey, it's his life… His wife!"

Kenzi took the marker from the young man's hand, "Hey, nice pecs, by the way."

"Thanks, I work out three to four hours six days a week. It really pays off."

Kenzi's eyes roamed down the young man's abs to his lower quadrant where his jeans hung low enough to leave nothing to the imagination, "Oh, it definitely pays… Doesn't it pay, Ladies?"

Bo and Tamsin's eyes were roaming the solid, sculpted form of the man as they nodded. Lauren just shrugged which caused Kenzi's eyes to widen,

"Are you kidding me? You'd have to be dead to not notice this!" She whispered.

"Uh… Have I mentioned I am 100% lesbian… Not a single ounce of straight in the tip of the fingernail on my pinky finger. Sure, I can appreciate the well-defined muscle groups, but… Well…" Her eyes traveled to Bo's bare arms before traveling to where the short-cropped shirt met her slightly bare midriff before landing on her perfectly shaped ass, which was accentuated by her white linen pants, "… Actually…"

"Don't say it." She turned her attention back to Luis, "So, where do you want me?" She winked.

"Actually, I'd like Team USA over my heart, Lewis over Torrent… No offense… And our next WSL Champ right here below my left hip. I want Kid Dennis right here wrapped around my bicep."

"Displayed in a place of prominence. I get it." Kenzi said to the other three women as she moved to sign her name. Giving the bicep a squeeze, she commented, "Nice, very nice."

"Uh… I'm right here." Tamsin cleared her throat as she scratched her head, intentionally flexing her bicep.

Kenzi laughed, shaking her head as she finished her signature, "Come on, T-Bear. We both agreed that looking is natural."

Tamsin sighed, snatching the pen out of Kenzi's hand with a frown before moving to sign her name where Luis was pointing. Bo knelt down in front of Luis as he pulled his jeans down lower. She looked up at him and laughed,

"Here or lower?" Bo asked, pointing to the area just below his hipbone.

"Mmm, how low are you willing to go?" Luis flirted.

Bo noticed Lauren's feet shifting and froze. She'd forgotten the blonde was behind her and now regretted not being more careful with the way she had phrased her question. Clearly Luis was flirting, but Bo had asked a direct question, not wanting the tattoo be placed in a visible area should he not want it to be seen. Now she was concerned that Lauren would think she was interested in giving this guy more than an autograph. The blonde was in no state of mind to have yet more reason to think Bo didn't care for her anymore.

"I'm afraid there's not much of interest to me below here." She pointed as she began to write.

Once finished signing, she stood and handed Lauren the pen. She looked at Bo with concern in her eyes before Bo leaned in and whispered in her ear,

"Just sign your initials if you're not comfortable with the entire signature… Or you could draw a volleyball with USA and your initials on it." Bo pulled back and smiled, leaving Lauren to reply.

"I like that idea."

Lauren went to work, drawing the volleyball while Luis watched. She then created graffiti-style lettering that spelled out USA. She finished it off by initialing the drawing then stepped back to admire her work,

"How's that?"

"Ohmagosh! That is awesome! I have a Lewis original on my chest! I'll tweet a picture of it on the Team USA beach volleyball account when I get it finished!"

Lauren placed the cap on the pen and awkwardly handed it back to the young man, "Well, okay then."

Kenzi nodded, "Okay, okay... so you've got all of this? The boards are precious, Luis! That signature has zero value if you don't get the boards to Fiji, you get my drift?"

Luis nodded enthusiastically, "I've got this, Kenzi. I won't let you down."

Kenzi turned the boy's head, "It's not about letting me down... it's about letting her down. People who let Bo Dennis down will always hear about it."

Bo stood with her hands on her hips, an angry look on her face. Although the anger was directed at Kenzi and not Luis because her little sister was again trusting something important for her career to someone she'd just met. Still, Luis didn't know that... he just saw an angry Bo staring back at the pair,

"Uh... I swear Miss Dennis, I will make sure your boards are in Fiji if I have to drive them there myself."

Bo shook her head, "Luis, if you try to drive my boards to Fiji, you'll drown. Just please make sure they are on my flight."

"Kenzi gave me all of the flight information. You can follow me and watch me handle them all the way to the conveyor belt if you'd like."

The brunette sighed, staring at Kenzi, "Great... the conveyor belt."

"Oh, no... you misunderstand, Miss Dennis. I'm going to be on the belt with your boards all the way to the plane. I won't leave them until I put them on there myself right next to your bags."

Bo looked at Kenzi who nodded and smiled, "He's good, Bo. I watched him before I picked him... he's was the only worker not throwing things haphazardly all over the place."

The brunette watched nervously as Luis carried the boards away followed by Kenzi shouting orders and Tamsin carrying the bag she was checking with all of her water gear. Bo hated traveling... passports, flight delays, baggage nightmares, rough flights, poor hotel accommodations too far from the event site... she'd experienced it all and there was always something unexpected that through her off schedule. Teleportation... now there was an idea... why couldn't anyone invent those devices that beamed people places like on Lauren's Star Trek DVD's?

Lauren placed a gentle hand on Bo's shoulder, "Bo, at some point, you'll have to just trust that things will all work out..." She lowered her eyes as the brunette turned to face her, "... you taught me that, Bo."

"Throwing my own words back in my face, are we, Doctor?" Bo smirked, crossing her arms in front of Lauren, "Well, in my travel experience, things never 'work out' on the other end of a flight." She used air quotes to emphasize the words Lauren used.

The blonde smiled and lifted her eyes to meet the dark brown orbs of the woman, who she had managed to hurt so much despite her love for her,

"It is not my intention to throw your words back in your face, merely remind you of the lesson you taught me when I was on my journey to win at the Olympics. I'm simply saying that you have other boards in Fiji with Dyson if you need them."

"But those..."

"I know, Bo... we may have been apart for months, but I do remember that you treat your surfboards like they are your children."

Lauren smiled at the memory as she shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans,

"What I'm saying is that the boards Luis just carried away are your competition boards... the ones you are used to... your favorites... your babies. I get it... I really do... but your hands also made every single board that Dyson took with him. They're all your boards even though they aren't the ones you usually ride. Kenbo boards are not just boards, Bo... they're you and everything you love about surfing wrapped up in fiberglass and poly-whatever-it is."

Lauren chuckled, "Bo, there is not a board you can't use nor a wave you can't handle despite the board you're riding. You could probably be riding a piece of plywood and you would still find a way because it's who you are, Bo. I'm not saying to trust Luis or the airline... hell, I'm not even telling you to trust me because Poseidon knows I haven't earned it..."

The blonde frowned giving pause before she ended, "I'm simply saying... in a very roundabout and blustery way... to trust yourself and your ability to ride the road ahead."

Bo nodded, amazed that somehow, in light of all this woman was dealing with in her own life, she still found the words to remove all of the worry about the dreaded baggage claim at the other end of her journey. Bo sighed,

"I guess you're right."

Lauren shook her head, "No guessing, Bo. You have the skills of a champion, the heart of a champion, the experience of a champion and the support of family, friends and staff that every winner needs. Just... get on that plane and do what Bo Dennis does best."

"And what is that, Doctor?" Bo asked, curious as to what Lauren thought the answer to her question was.

"Be you... the surfer who grew up on the front of her parents' board in the biggest waves on the planet, surfing with her little sister since they were kids, not letting anything stop you despite the struggle. Be you... determined to prove everyone who has ever doubted you... or feared for you... wrong. There isn't anything in you that should yield to the doubt or fears of anyone... it's not you... the real you... because the Bo Dennis I've observed from the first day I met you dying on a beach, has done the impossible... defeated all of the naysayers and the odds. You can do this, Bo... and you don't need me to tell you that... you just have to believe it for yourself and then go do what you've been doing... what your parents raised you to do... surf the biggest waves with the greatest style, skill and poise you possess. No board will win or lose the event for you, Bo... it's you that will do it. You are all you need."

Lauren desperately wanted to pull Bo into a hug and kiss her senseless, but she didn't. She didn't feel she deserved this woman. She's brought her nothing but pain, controversy and lies. After this event, the brunette would be in court because of her. During this event, scandal could break around her if Nadia had the video footage released.

"You're wrong, Lauren." Bo said, quietly, her eyes downcast.

"No I'm not, Bo. You don't need anyone when you're out there. You're..."

"No, Lauren... you're wrong that I don't need anyone. My heart is breaking, Lauren... I need you to know that... I still need you... I still love you. I know that things aren't great between us. I know that the world around us is going crazy... and I know there are times when I feel like I can barely look at you... times I want to scream at you, avoid you or not talk to you."

"Wow... that's... uh... enlightening."

"I'm sorry, Lauren. This is me being honest with you. I don't know if or when I'll get past you not telling me about Nadia and all that's happened. I know this whole mess isn't your fault... I know you are a victim, but part of me wants to be with someone who's strong enough to not be the victim. That may sound horrible or horribly selfish, but I want to be with someone who has their shit together, Lauren."

"I'm trying to..."

"I know... I know you're trying and I know that recovering from all you have been through is going to take a while, but I've never really been a very patient person. It is taking all of my courage and patience to get through this with you. I'm trying too and sometimes I'm not very good at it. To top it off, I've placed images in my own head that are very hard to push away... it was my fault that I looked, but it was your fault as well, Lauren. I never would have felt the need to go back in time if I'd felt that you had always been up front with me... but I can't feel that way because you lied to me Lauren... lies that have found their way into my life. I didn't want to admit it, because I was trying to be selfless, but if this footage leaks, our attorneys have informed us that we could lose what we've built. Val isn't sure if she should tell the WSL this might break or not. She's afraid it may hurt the judging at this event. I just..."

Lauren moved her hands to her face which was shrouded in worry, "I'm so sorry, Bo. I promise you I am doing everything in my power to..."

"I know, I know, Lauren... to keep my name and face out of this. But the truth is, that Nadia will want to hurt you and everyone you love... but if she wants the new out it will be out before the end of the week... she's onto us."

"Bo, I promise you that I will do everything I possibly can to make sure that this story does not break this week. If I have my way, this story won't break at all... at least not with your name attached."

The brunette nodded, "I love you, Lauren... I do. But the situation we're in is because you weren't up front with me... with all of us. How am I supposed to trust you again? How am I supposed to unsee all that I've seen? How am I supposed to hold onto that love and not allow this shit storm smother that love in anger and doubt?"

Lauren nodded, "I don't know, Bo. I really don't. And if it does, I won't be surprised. I will have gotten what I deserved for my part in all of this. Right now, I just want you to know that I am working on becoming a survivor. I am working on righting all of the wrongs caused by the toxin that I permitted to enter and remain in my life. I am working hard to become the woman that my Mom always wanted me to be... of a woman I can be proud to be. All I can do is keep working hard to make all of that happen. If I can do that before my actions have crushed the love you feel for me, then maybe I'll be lucky enough to have you in my life. If not, I will still want you to have a life rich in love and success... you're a great woman, Bo. You deserve a long, happy and healthy life with all that you hope for your future and a love that is honest, true and dedicated to all that you value in life."

The blonde sighed, "I hope you win this and every event until the season finals, Bo. You've been through so much... more than the media could even begin to understand. You deserve to have life give you what you've earned. I'll be cheering for you, Bo. Just remember... every time you go out there... you're enough on your own... you really don't need me or anyone else out there with you. Every life event until now has built you into who you are today... you're enough... more than enough... to be a beloved champion to the world. Go show them."

Wiping away a single tear, Lauren raised her eyes to meet Bo's, "I'd say good luck, but what you do out there amidst those giant waves... luck really has nothing to do with it. It's all skill, passion and an unmatched desire to beat any wave you choose. Be you, Bo... and you'll come home the champion of the Fiji Pro. I have no doubt."

The blonde turned and headed back to the car as Bo watched, a single tear trailing down her cheek. She wanted to run to her... to tell her that she loved her and pull her into her arms, but she knew that an hour from now, the fury over all of the lies and fear over what headlines might destroy all she'd worked for would surface. Instead, she called out to the doctor,

"Lauren!"

The blonde stopped and turned quickly, her hair being pushed back over her shoulder by the action. She said nothing, just stared at Bo who finally spoke,

"Thank you... for saving my life, for pushing me to push myself despite your fears about me surfing and for fighting to get stronger... and... thanks for the pep talk."

Lauren nodded.

"You'll watch?"

Lauren nodded again, "When I'm not in court testifying, at work or with Maverick, I'll watch."

Bo smiled, "Thanks for looking out for him."

"He's a great kid, Bo. He reminds me of this spunky brunette patient of mine who wouldn't give up on getting back on her surfboard, despite my recommendation to become a landlubber."

Bo smiled as Lauren slowly turned and walked away. Her heart clenched as she watched the blonde get into Tamsin's car. She turned and walked into the airport, stopping for a moment at the door, the urge to turn back and look at the blonde once more overpowering her. Instead, she looked up at the glass door and stared at the reflection of the blonde now wiping tears from her face. She allowed her own tears to fall as she pushed through the door. She had a flight to catch... and an event to win.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Over hear, BoBo!"

The brunette turned to see Kenzi and Tamsin standing near the security checkpoint holding her carry-on bag.

"Where's Lauren?"

Bo shook her head, "She's... uh... she's out in the car waiting for you guys."

"She's not gonna see you off?"

"Uh... we said our... good byes outside." Bo frowned.

Kenzi put both of her hands on her hips, "What did you do?"

"What? Nothing!"

"Bo! That woman is the love of your life. Anyone who has eyeballs can see it! You're pushing her away and..."

"Kenzi! I just... I can't right now! I just... gosh! One minute I love her so much I can hardly breathe! The next, I'm so angry at her that when I look at her I just feel... disgust!"

"Disgust?"

"Yes! I'm not proud of it, but you didn't see the footage and you weren't the one she lied to, Kenzi! You heard Danny and Val this morning! Everything we have built is on the line because she brought me into her life with that bitch Nadia! I'm sorry, Kenzi but right now, I just can't get past it!"

"You know, following your thinking on this is like getting a case of whiplash every two hours! You're all about supporting her when we leave Rio, during counseling you're back and forth... ready to move on... wait, I love her... back and forth for months. She gets back and you're all Team Lauren again, then you pull back when you realize she's just a little kitten who was sheltered by Nadia and doesn't even know how to write a check. Then you're gonna support her, then this spy-banging thing happens and you're jumping ship. Then you know it's not her fault and you love her again... now you're disgusted?"

"I KNOW... Kenzi." Bo shook her head, "I just need to go to Fiji and surf, okay?"

"You mean you just need to try to run away from your problems. Just remember, Bo... world news reaches Fiji as well... especially when the object of those headlines is competing for the championship of a major pro event!"

Bo was silent as she took her carry-on bag from Tamsin. She opened the bag and pulled out her ticket before looking up at Kenzi,

"Look, I was in a great head space when Lauren was in counseling and I had gotten through the first week of mine. Think of everything we accomplished when I wasn't obsessing about my love life and tied up in knots over her fears about me getting back in the water. I was better without Lauren in my life because Lauren wasn't healthy. I think that over the past few days, I've realized that she has a long way to go to get there, Kenz. I'm sorry if that's hard for you to hear, but that's the reality."

"Bo..."

"No, Kenzi. Hear me out. She is working hard to right her wrongs... she just told me that. I have to give her a chance to do that. I have to give her a chance to become the person she wants to be. She can't do that for me or because of me. I can't fully love the woman she is now... I need to know that she's the kind of woman who will do right by others... not just as a doctor, but as a person."

"But you lurve her." Kenzi frowned.

"I do, Kenzi... but sometimes love isn't enough. I can't even tell you how hard this is... to have memories of the love I felt for her before it all fell apart... to have memories of a dream about a future with her – a real, all-in future! She took that all away by not telling me about the shit storm that is Nadia."

She looked up at Tamsin, "And you knew... you knew all along."

"Bo, I knew she was in an abusive relationship and that Nadia would still come around and threaten her once in a while, but I didn't know all of this. Look... it wasn't my story to tell."

"I call bullshit, Tamsin. You knew she was hurting me, herself and us as a couple by not telling me. Did you even try to convince her it would be the right thing to do?"

"Yes! Of course I did! But there was no way I was going to betray her trust by telling you about something she wasn't ready to tell you herself! I did tell you she was young in relationships!"

Bo sighed, "The bottom line is that I need to get away from all of this and have some time to think. Lauren needs some space and time to deal with the mess that – yes, Nadia created – but victim or not, she allowed... and she didn't trust me enough to tell me about. I need to know that she has the strength to see this through for herself because, Kenzi you know I don't do well with leechy, needy, weak partners!"

Kenzi sighed, "I know, BoBo."

"Truly, I think Lauren is one of the strongest women I've ever met to handle all she's going through. But another part of me can't stop thinking about the fact that I never would have allowed Nadia to get her claws in me to begin with. There's something about women like us that don't allow women like Nadia to use us as she's used Lauren."

"So in one moment you're saying she's the strongest woman you've met and the next she's a weakling?" Kenzi challenged.

"I'm saying that we were raised with parents who taught us not to take anyone else's shit. You guys didn't see the tape and I know you don't want to, but the parts with Nadia..."

Bo shook her head, a scowl forming on her brow at the thought of the memory from the footage she'd viewed,

"If Nadia had clocked me like she did Lauren, I would have hit her so hard, she wouldn't have woken up for two days... and if she had hit me, she would never have set foot in my presence ever again."

Bo's jaw was clenched as Tamsin posed a question that was actually more of a statement, "So she did hit her."

"Sometimes slaps, sometimes pushes... but one night... Gods, Tamsin..." Bo's eyes filled with tears as the blonde filled in the blank,

"The bloody carpet."

Bo could only nod, "I just don't understand why she never hit back."

"I have to call Ciara."

"What? Why?" Kenzi asked.

Tamsin's eyes were read, brimming with tears, "Because I know why she never hit back... this didn't start with Nadia. I think there's still something about Lauren's childhood that she has yet to admit."

Bo lowered her eyes, "Her stepfather."

Tamsin nodded and moved towards Bo, giving her a hug, "Good luck."

Bo chuckled as she squeezed the blonde hard, "Lauren said I didn't need luck... she said I have everything I need right inside of me."

"The Doc may have lied to you, but she's still really smart so she must be right."

"I'm sorry I blamed you for not telling me about Nadia. I understand your loyalty to your friend and teammate. You'd just met me and owed me nothing."

"It's okay, Bo. Just... do what you have to do for you, okay? Lewis may be my friend, but... well, she screwed up and I know it. I want you both to be happy. I prefer together, but if not, I hope you can still be friends."

Bo nodded into the blonde's shoulder, "Take care of her, okay?"

"We need her to take care of herself, Bo... but I'll be there to talk her out of doing anything stupid."

Bo squeezed a little harder, "Thank you."

Tamsin pulled back, both of them laughing when they saw the tears in the other's eyes, "My God, she's turning us into such saps!"

The two wiped their faces, "Kick ass, Dennis. And if you don't win, don't come home."

She turned to walk away, but looked back, "I'm just kidding."

Bo nodded, "I know you are."

The sisters watched as Tamsin sat on a bench by the wall and put her phone to her ear. The blonde was sure that Lauren hadn't opened up to Hale about her childhood. He was a good doctor, but Lauren had never really fully trusted him with her secrets. Ciara, being a woman, gave her friend a comfort that she didn't have with her prior doctor. She only hoped that Ciara would be able to bring forth Lauren's past and help her to understand the significance of it in her present.

Kenzi turned to Bo, "I know I don't sound like the most supportive voice in the group, but you know I got your back, right sis?"

"Of course, Kenz. I just... I know you like Lauren..."

"I lurve me some Lauren, Bo. Not just because I feel bad for her or because she saved your life. I love her because when the two of you were together, she brought out the best in you. She reminds you of the person you can be."

"Oh yea? And who is that, exactly?"

Kenzi sighed, "I'm going to be brutally honest here, BoBo..."

"Okay... I think."

"Before Lauren, you were bossy and a little arrogant and not very well liked among our surfing peers... I mean, other than our friends who aren't on the circuit. You were always acting like you had something to prove or someone was trying to cheat you, even though you didn't actually say it. You acted like the underdog."

Bo nodded, "I know."

"You know?" Kenzi asked, surprised, "You're actually agreeing with me?"

Bo raised her palms up, "Guilty as charged."

"Okay, so do you then also agree that Lauren..."

"Brought out the best parts of me... helped me find my confidence... reminded me about what Mom and Dad had taught us... helped me to become your sister and stop being your Mom... yea... she brought all of that out in me which is part of the reason I love her, Kenzi."

"So what's the problem?"

"She lied to me, Kenzi. She told a lie that has had a domino affect into the lives of everyone I love... possibly those orphans back at our school as well. In trying to keep me in her life... she may have sacrificed the lives of others."

Kenzi didn't reply. How could she? Bo had a point.

"And believe me, Kenzi. I don't think she did it intentionally. I think she was so desperate to hang on to a relationship where she was finally respected and loved that the idea of giving it up to return to a life of nothing but memories of an empty childhood and an abusive Nadia was just too much to sacrifice. I don't think she considered the big picture... but unfortunately, I have now finished the puzzle and that big picture is now a very possible reality for me."

Kenzi nodded as Tamsin rejoined the sisters, "Ciara's on board with our theory about Lauren having another unrevealed secret. Damn, this girl has more skeleton's in her closet than I do!"

"I am only going to say this once. The next time we are alone today, all skeletons... and I mean every single one including the first time you peed on the potty by yourself... are being exposed because I'm ripping off all of the damn doors. Skeletons are nothing but trouble!"

"Amen." Bo whispered, "Look, Kenzi. I've gotta get going. Keep an eye on things, okay?"

Kenzi nodded, "Will do. Are you sure you don't want me on that plane with you?"

Bo shook her head, "Dyson, Val, Vex and Mitch are all going to be there. Manny and the boys are coming over the morning of the competition and staying until I leave. I've got a ton of support there and it will help me focus on surfing if I know that you two have everything covered here."

Kenzi stepped towards her sister and pulled her into a hug, "I've got it all covered, Bo. T-Bear, Pops and Moms are there along with Doc Mansfield. The staff has been prepped and the kids are on track for the required state testing next week. The seniors are on their SAT prep courses and Lauren's going to stop by regularly for Maverick."

"How about our sailor girl?"

"Your wonderful new resident, Professor Meade has got Maddie's new boat finished. I saw it in the workshop this morning."

"So did I... it's beautiful."

"You done good with that, Bo." Kenzi elbowed her sister, "He said he's giving you an A for the design."

"Shit, I hope so. I've never built an actual boat before and I wasn't really sure the basics of surfboard dynamics applied at all to the design of a Finn class boat, but the arc of..."

"Stop! Stop right there! I am NOT an engineer!"

"Well, I am and I would love to hear..."

Tamsin and Bo were about to get into one of their engineering math discussions and Kenzi knew how this worked,

"No, no, no! Bo has a plane to catch and once you two start talking arcs and planes and something-dynamics you get all mathy and then you start talking about chemical compounds and something about water getting sticky or something and..."

"Water getting sticky?" Tamsin asked.

Kenzi shook her head, "I don't know... something about water friction and... stop! I don't want to talk about it! The bottom line is that Professor Meade is super cool and he was going to take Maddie out today."

"In the new boat? I thought he wasn't going to launch it until I got back!" Bo asked, bummed that something she'd worked so hard on would be christened without her present.

"No, no... in her practice rig. He promised he wouldn't show it to her until you got back... IF you win!"

"Why is my winning a condition for everything these days?" Bo asked.

Tamsin quipped, "It's not a condition for Lauren. She'll love you no matter what."

Kenzi elbowed her girlfriend, to which Tamsin replied, "Owa! What was that for?" She gripped her ribs as she frowned at the shorter brunette.

"Tell you later. Okay, sis... bu-bye. You know we don't do long farewells." She hugged her sister before they air-kissed each cheek.

"Bye you guys. Be good to each other and take care of our home and businesses!" She pointed at Tamsin.

"I will make sure your precious geological data and equipment is properly monitored in your absence oh great guru of lava." Tamsin extended both of her arms and bowed towards her colleague and friend.

"You're the best. Call me if..."

"Get on the damn plane! Did you take your falsies out of your bra? You know they always set off the metal detectors because of the golden nipples."

" ." Bo gripped both of her breasts, "These babies are 100% all-American woman."

Tamsin and Kenzi smiled wide as they watched Bo turn and extend a waving hand into the air before raising the other arm and wiggling the thumb, index finger and pinky of each hand sending out a surfing message to the pair.

The blonde threw an arm over Kenzi's shoulder and smiled, "Well, that put me in the mood to surf."

Kenzi shook her head, "Now we have to deal with the basket-case that's probably sitting in your car, then we have to help with dinner at the school."

"Ohmagosh! I almost forgot it was seafood grill night! I have to go check my crab traps!"

Kenzi shook her head as they headed for the door, "Our dear Professor already pulled your catch and reset them. That guy is reliving his childhood campground dreams."

Tamsin nodded, "Did he tell Bo yet?"

"That he's retiring from the University to work for us full time after Bo finishes her degree?"

"Yea."

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Yup. Not my story to tell, T-Bear."

"You do realize that I just told your sister that and she didn't like it, right?"

"True, but you're not her flesh and blood and the dear Professor is not my sister's girlfriend."

"True." Tamsin replied as they exited the airport.

"Where is she?" Kenzi asked.

Tamsin walked around the car to find a note on the steering wheel, "Here's a note."

"What does it say?"

"Ran home."

"From the airport?"

Tamsin's head dropped back, her eyes closed, "Fuck! Lewis, what the hell are you doing now?!"

Kenzi shook her head as she got into the car, "I'm so glad Bo is on her way to a plane that's going to take her far, far away for the next week."

"Me too."

Kenzi looked up, her eyes gazing across the skyline. Tamsin watched as her girlfriend's eyes went wide,

"What's wrong Shortstack?"

"I think I know where Lauren went."

"She said she went home."

Kenzi pointed across the horizon to the tall building across from the entrance to gate 55 of the Honolulu International Airport.

"What's that?"

Kenzi sighed, "Apparently, you've never visited the Federal Detention Center of Honolulu."

Tamsin's head spun around, her finger pointing at the facility, "THAT is FDC Honolulu!"

"The one and only."

"The same FDC Honolulu where Nadia is now living?"

"Same place, same bitch!" Kenzi replied.

"She would NOT go there."

Kenzi pulled out her phone. Texting her sister she waited...

 _Kenzi: Need a little help... what exactly did you say to Lauren?_

 _Bo: Why? What's wrong?_

 _Kenzi: Nothing... just car chat... need insight._

 _Bo: Basically I told her that I know Nadia did all of this, but that I also know that she allowed it to happen by not sticking up for herself._

 _Kenzi: Is that all?_

 _Bo: Kenzi, what's wrong?_

 _Kenzi: Really, Bo... she's just a little upset, but I take it you knew that._

 _Bo: Yea. We were both a little upset._

 _Kenzi: So what else did you say?_

 _Bo: That I wanted to be with someone who could prove they were strong enough to not be the victim... someone who could do right by the mistakes they made._

"Oh, shit. Really, Bo? You pushed her right into this!" Kenzi texted quickly while Tamsin drove like a wild woman towards the prison, hoping that her partner would go for a slow run for a change... or at least have second thoughts outside the prison.

 _Kenzi: Wow, sis... Harsh much?_

 _Bo: Now that I read my text, I guess it was. I just told her we needed some time apart... for me to clear my head and for her to work on being a strong independent woman... but I didn't exactly say it that way._

 _Kenzi: How exactly did you say it?_

 _Bo: That I realized she was right about the damage this could do to me and the school and it was because of her. She said she was doing everything she could to fix it and I basically just agree with her._

"Fuck. Lauren is going there to some sort of sacrificial lamb. Floor it, Tamsin."

"I can't drive any faster, Kenzi. If we die getting there, no one will know to stop her."

"Call Danny! Tell them not to let her in!"

"I can't drive this fast and call at the same time, Kenzi!"

 _Kenzi: Gotta go, Bo. Go hard..._

 _Bo: Or go home!_

"Pull in over there." Kenzi pointed to a parking space at the front of the facility.

"Call Danny! I'll run inside." Tamsin yelled as she jumped out of the car and headed for the door.

Kenzi dialed, "Danny? We've got a problem..."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren flinched at the sound of the bars slamming shut behind her. The guard motioned to the chair and instructed Lauren to pick up the phone just below the glass when the inmate arrived in order to hear her speak. Lauren sat fidgeting with her fingers. She had no idea what she was going to say. Maybe this was a mistake.

She lifted the receiver and looked over her shoulder to see that the guard was watching other inmates. She placed her small backpack on the desk, placing it in such a way that it would obscure her actions. Pulling out the small device she'd just purchased down the road at Radio Shack, she unscrewed the hearing piece of the phone and put the device inside. Taking out her phone, she switched on the Bluetooth and waited for the device in the receiver to pair.

Seeing the guard on the opposite side walk towards the door, she quickly screwed on the hearing piece cover and flipped her phone over. When she lifted her gaze, she swallowed hard at the sight of a smirking, cocky Nadia. The brunette sat down and lifted the phone,

"Well, well, well... look at my lovely visitor. Finally realize you can't win, Lauren? Finally realize that you will never... NEVER be free?"

She pounded the glass causing Lauren to jump back as the guard reprimanded the prisoner,

"INMATE! Hand on the table where I can see it! Keep it there! You've been warned twice today. One more outburst and you go to solitary. You heard the Warden!"

"Right, right. I'm cool."

Lauren took a deep breath. If she could set Nadia off, they would throw her into solitary. That would buy them time before she could talk to anyone who might be able to release the footage. But first, she needed to know if she'd already given the okay to send it to the press.

"Cut the crap, Nadia. I want that footage."

"What footage, Lauren? You guys have it all figured out. You have all of my copies... isn't that right?"

"That may be what you told them, but I don't believe for one minute you don't have a back up plan. You always have a back up plan."

"You're right, Lauren. I do. And won't you be surprised when you find out what my plan is!"

"You are a bitch and I regret the day I ever laid eyes on you!"

"That's right! You do! And I will make sure you feel that regret for the rest of your life, Lauren. I told you there would never be another woman in your life. I told you that you were my property... mine forever! But you didn't listen, Lauren. You bedded that surfer bitch and now you, her and everyone who has so much as breathed in either of your directions is going to pay!"

"Bo has nothing to do with this! You WILL leave her out of this!"

"Oh yea? And how is it that you intend to make me do that, Lauren? You have no power here. You've never had any power here! You. Are. Weak. You are nothing but a shell of skin around an empty husk of a little girl pretending to be a woman. No one has ever wanted you. Those women you took to your bed? All they wanted was the power of knowing that they could make you scream out their names because you were so desperate to think that anyone could actually want you! You're nothing but a whore that I rented out for service!"

"You didn't rent me out! You never met any of the women who came to my home!" She baited. She needed the device to record evidence about Mia first... evidence that would either corroborate or conflict with Mia's testimony. Then she needed Nadia to admit the information about Mia as the sole possessor of the footage... or not."

"Did you know that I bought the champagne, Lauren? You didn't notice the brand? It was our favorite."

Lauren searched her memory and realized what she had missed. There had always been clues... always... she'd left a trail of breadcrumbs every step of the way and even though she was a brilliant scientist, Lauren had failed to see traces. How could she have been so stupid! Bo was right... she was weak... from the time she was a child. She was too weak to stand up to her stepdad, too weak to stand up to the kids at school, too weak to stand up to the high school kids on her bus, who called her a freak... she was weak.

Nadia laughed aloud in the phone, her eyes searching the guards as she pretended that the blonde had said something funny.

Lauren sat there, watching the object of her torment. This woman had taken everything from her. Her long curly hair was pulled up in a bun, her head thrown back as the laugh bellowed through the receiver, the veins were popping out of her neck... it made Lauren sick with disgust that her lips and tongue had ever graced that flesh. Bo was right... she should feel disgust when she looked at Lauren just as the blonde felt the same disgust transfer onto its rightful owner. Her eyes caught the numbers on the breast pocket of her orange jumper,

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Oh, Lauren. Do tell. What don't I get, love?"

"I'm not your love. We were never about love, so don't use that word. You aren't capable of love. You are a low-life user who feeds off of others because it's the only way she can have others in her company. You are an empty husk of a human being... nothing more than a meat bag because you are capable of feeling anything... you know why?" She continued, not giving the brunette a chance to respond, "Because you have no soul. You are the worst of what humanity has to offer for you have no humanity. I don't know what happened to you, or when... maybe you were born this way, maybe..."

Lauren began to rapidly recall all that Hale and the other psychiatrists had said to her in her therapy sessions about victims of abuse,

"...maybe something happened to you when you were a child. Maybe your Daddy hit you... maybe it was your Mommy..."

"You leave them out of this, Lauren... I'm warning you! I have back ups of those videos! All of them! Some of them I took a little time with to make them look especially damning... to make you look like nothing more than a whore... the whore I turned you into! Take a little bit of... what was that first one's name? Oh yea... Michelle... found her in a bar on the North side... only had to pay her a hundred bucks to bed you. Now, Nina... she was a little harder to convince. She liked you and felt bad for you, but when I offered her a grand and her back rent, she couldn't refuse... besides, you were very attractive. Then there was the red head... Ummm... I did her after she did you. I could still taste you on her, Lauren..."

The blonde's hands contracted into fists, her nails digging into her skin as she squirmed in her chair. An unfamiliar rage began to build in Lauren's gut as the phrase repeated over and over again in her head... this stops now... this stops now... this stops now... I am not weak...

"... Then there was Tracy and that lovely from Germany who was visiting the states... Mmmm she rounded all of your borders, Lauren... I paid them five grand each. You were quite a lucrative business for me. If only you'd been a little lonelier... but you weren't. If only you were a little hornier... but you weren't. All you care about was saving lives and that stupid hospital! So I had to visit more often and make sure you were feeling sad and broken and weak. After I got you good and bloody, I found Mia. Mmmm... that little delicious morsel was perfect. I mean... you always were a boob girl, Lauren... and she had a lot of student loan debt... and she also needed a place to live. She was all too happy to work for me once she met the great and powerful Dr. Lewis... especially after I told her about your connection to John's Hopkins... it was her dream job."

Lauren's gut twisted... not yet... not yet... wait for it... wait for it...

"I had to leave for my training camp soon... but Mia... she wasn't one of us... she wasn't a beach player... she would be right where I needed to be. She got everything she needed, Lauren... that little old account I created for us where all of your paychecks went? That had gotten pretty damn big, so writing a check to Mia for two hundred grand was just a drop in the bucket. That hospital... who's it named after? Some stupid surfer who broke his neck? Or was the kid a girl? I forget. Anyway... they sure do pay well. You must be doing well for yourself now... but thanks to Mia, there are back up tapes that she knows to release. And if Mia is compromised, she has a special set of back up tapes just for me."

Lauren baited, "Mia wasn't yours! You're lying! She would never have betrayed me!"

"Why? Because she was your girlfriend?" Another great laugh bellowed from the brunette, Lauren's eyes focusing on the number on the orange jumper once again, her mind replaying the mantra once again... not yet... not yet... wait for it... wait for it...

"She cared for me even though we didn't put a label on it!" Lauren played along.

"Oh, come on, Lauren. I already told you! You're unlovable. You're just a body to fuck. That's all Mia wanted you for! That and her big pay day! She probably already retired from Hopkins!"

It took every bit of strength Lauren had not to scream out that Mia was now in police custody along with the back up tapes. She just needed to know where the extra set was. Mia hadn't given those up yet.

"Well, Mia won't turn over any tapes! Even if everything you're saying is true!"

"YES she will, Lauren because she's not yours, she's mine! When she wasn't with you, she was with me, doctor! I played that woman like a fiddle! I have to say, that champagne scene will look quite nice meshed together with the scene of all of those women walking in and out of your room in the Olympic village! Let's see... the team from Canada came to visit, the team from Germany, the team from Sweden... now they were hot!"

Lauren shook her head... wait for it... wait for it...

"Mia will do as I tell her to do. I have a cell phone under my mattress, Lauren. One phone call is all it will take!"

Lauren was laughing hysterically inside... no need to start a fight anymore, although she may do that just for kicks.

"And if Mia does disappoint me, one phone call to our old teammate and the tapes that are hidden in our very special place on campus are released! Are we there yet? Because if we are, I believe I might have our old teammate's first phone call be to a certain newspaper in a far away land where they're holding a particularly important surfing competition for anyone who might be vying for the WSL championship!"

"You wouldn't dare! No one from our old college team would help you! No one!"

"Awww, you're so cute to think they were all loyal to the team captain! Not all were, Lauren. Some of them were very angry with you for taking their spot... like me! I got benched for you, Lauren... to make room for the amazing Lauren Lewis... the freshman phenomena... I rode the bench in my senior year because Miss Amazing was going to win us the championship!"

"You did NOT ride the bench!"

"I didn't start! And Cameron..."

"Cameron? Cameron has the footage too?"

Be careful, Lauren... don't blow it... don't blow it... you need her to say it...

"Cameron would never!" Lauren continued, "She was my friend! She told me she understood why coach would play me in front of her!"

"She was very understanding... until your 'girlfriend' explained to her why she shouldn't be so nice about it! You know, Cam and I had an understanding... we had common ground and baby, I worked that common ground all. Night. Long."

Nadia laughed again, but Lauren didn't give her time to enjoy it,

"Cameron would never betray me now. We're all grown adults! She's moved on and has a family! She would never help you!"

"Awww... you're so cute to not understand the real world. It just so happens that Cameron married a very nice MAN who was raised in a VERY religious family. You see, Cameron found herself a man that came with a church and a religion! A religion that is not very understanding about 'those homosexuals'."

"You blackmailed Cameron?"

Nadia placed her hand behind her head, leaning back in her chair, "What can I say? It's a gift... a skill."

"You're despicable!"

"Those minions are so adorable! Look, our time is almost up! Just know that Cameron and Mia... well, they're pals now. Cameron knows that if Mia doesn't check in weekly, she's to release the copies that Mia sent her! You see? It's all full proof, Lauren! We're at the end of the week right now!"

"And if Cameron doesn't release the footage? What will you do to her? Please, Nadia! You cannot destroy the woman's family! Think about her kids!"

Nadia slammed her hand down on the desk, "No, Lauren! Cameron has to think about her kids! She doesn't release the footage, then I'll find a way to have the footage buried in the place where I first fucked your brains out!"

Nadia pulled back and took a deep breath as Lauren read her body language. The blonde knew in that moment that the inmate had just given up the location of her footage as well as her final accomplice. If she got her hands on that footage, Cameron couldn't be blackmailed. If Cameron couldn't be blackmailed, neither could Mia.

"You lose, Lauren. You will spend the rest of your life alone and Bo... she'll never love you now that you've placed the same reins on her that I placed on you. She'll always be looking over her shoulder. It's a horrible way to live, isn't it? Almost like being in prison, eh?"

"That 'eh'? I always thought it was a cute little Canadian phrase... too bad I don't think you're cute anymore."

Lauren pulled out her phone and texted Danny... he sent her the location of the extra footage and brief account of Cameron's life so he could track her down. He told her he'd call her in about five minutes, but to start on finding both as quickly as possible.

She then looked up at Nadia, "I have a few things to say before I leave since your guard dog just signaled me that our time is almost up."

Nadia sat back with a smirk, "Say your peace, Lauren. Admit defeat."

"Now, Nadia... you know me better than that. You know that I never admit defeat. Even when I lose, there's always another match... another time when I'll meet the person who defeated me... and I will win... need I remind you of our gold medal match in Rio?"

Nadia crossed her arms, almost knocking the phone from her own hand as Lauren motioned to the guard behind her. She stood for a moment and leaned in to whisper in his ear. He looked shocked for a moment, but then motioned to another guard to come to him. They exchanged a brief conversation before the other guard hurried from the room. The guard nodded to Lauren who turned and sat down, picking up the phone again.

"Sorry, I had something I had to take care of... you know... no stone unturned and all."

"What? Come on, Lauren. Admit it! I beat you... and maybe I'll just release a little of the footage just to prove that I can!"

Lauren laughed, "Oh, Nadia. It may have taken me many, many games to finally see how you were playing the game, but I've caught on."

"So you admit defeat?"

"No, no... we're not there yet, Nadia."

"You're such an idiot, Lauren!"

"You're right... I was an idiot. I should have told everyone what was really going on for years! I should have told my boss... trusted him... he's a good man who would have helped me."

"Well then, maybe I'll just have to see what my peeps can find on him too! Maybe he's not the pathetic widower that everyone makes him out to be!"

Lauren laughed, "Go on, Nadia. Take him on... take on the entire hospital!"

The guard came up and whispered in Lauren's ear just as she received a return text from Danny...

 _Danny: Good tip. Biloxi, Mississippi... feds are on their way to pick her up now... quietly... at work... no family will know... same protection as all of your other friends. No disclosure if she cooperates. Your old coach... more than happy to cooperate... she's the A.D. now, by the way. Said you owe her a speaking engagement. On her way to the showers._

 _Lauren: Good news. Tell her to pull out the hot water nozzle... it will be rough, but if she pulls hard enough, it will come out... long story... just do it. Guard just told me they found Nadia's cell phone. She'll be in solitary for at least 72 hours. Told him Hawaii 5-0 task force would be grateful._

 _Danny: True. Thank him for me. Get me his name... I'll put a note of commendation in his file. I'm on a conference call with her... consider it done. You got balls Lewis._

 _Lauren: That's gross, Danny. Guard's name is Paulo Kana_

 _Danny: Okay, you're right. You got boobs?_

 _Lauren: No better._

 _Danny: Coach has a flash drive... no... hold..._

 _Lauren waited nervously as Nadia continually called her name. She wasn't worried. The guard had already given her five extra minutes with the brunette. Finally, Danny replied,_

 _Danny: There are twenty-seven flash drives... she's bringing in custodial to remove the shower frame. She'll make sure we got it all... forensics is on their way over as well._

 _Lauren began to type a concern, but Danny added,_

 _Danny: Don't worry... your coach is smart... she wore gloves and the custodians won't move anything until forensics gets there... chain of possession of evidence will be by plane. Instructed that no one is to copy or view... 5-0 taskforce eyes-only._

 _Lauren: Trust you. Thanks. Call you in five._

 _Danny: Be careful, Lauren._

 _Lauren: I'm done being careful. This ends now._

"Lauren! What they hell are you doing! I'm done here!"

"Sit down, Nadia! You're not done until I say you're done! I just got five more minutes from the guard!"

"Oh, look at this! Bitch has got bite!"

"This bitch has more than bite! She's been your victim for more than a decade and that ends right here and right now, Nadia."

"Oh really? I think I'm holding all of the cards, Lauren."

"No, Nadia... you have never... not now... not ever... been playing with a full deck."

Lauren was taking her time, making sure that she gave Danny and his people plenty of time to have officials in place everywhere... especially with Cameron. It wasn't her fault she had allowed her self to be played by Nadia... Lauren understood how that could happen all too well. Fear was a powerful motivator... but so was love.

"Insults, Lauren? Really? You think insults will win this game?"

"Nope, but all of my card will be on the table in good time, Nadia... the funny part is, you don't even know you've lost yet. You see, I can sit here right now smiling at you because I know that I've won."

"You've won nothing!"

Nadia stood, but was immediately addressed by a guard, "SIT DOWN, INMATE! LAST WARNING!"

"Oh boy... you better listen to your guard dog, Nadia... you might end up in solitary. You see... that's the life you've built for yourself. Whether or not I have a relationship with Bo doesn't matter. I love her... I love her probably more than myself. Maybe in time, I'll be able to change that and love myself as I should have were it not for my stepfather and the high school bullies... and you. But if not, it's all good because she's a good woman deserving of love and happiness in her life. If my actions here today secure her future as well as the futures of Mia and Cameron, then I can live the rest of my life alone with the knowledge that I'm alone because I preserved their futures despite them not being on my side in the end."

"There she is... my moral high road, self-sacrificing Lauren."

"I'm not yours, Nadia... I never was. I just lost myself for a little while. But I have people who truly love and care about me in my life now and they helped me to find a little piece of myself again... a strong piece."

"You are WEAK Lauren Lewis!"

"Awww... that's so cute! I think you think that if you say that enough, I'll actually start to believe it again. But the bottom line is, your power is gone, Nadia. You have no money, no stolen goods and no Lauren. You have no Mia, no Cameron and no other lackeys. Your little gang is gone because their life is wearing a very unfashionable pair of black leather tie shoes and an orange jump suit... and you'll be wearing that... ALONE... in this place with all of the other people... horrible people."

Lauren shook her head, "You know, the sad part is that I'm willing to be that every person in there, was once someone who was offered a hand up in life... someone probably tried to talk them out of doing some of the things they were doing... someone probably tried to warn them... but they didn't listen. It's a waste of life, really... to live the way you're living... caged... in walls of concrete, iron and steel for the rest of your days. I bet you miss that fancy art work you hung on all the walls of MY house."

"It will NEVER be your house! I will get out of here somehow! When I get back to my room, I'm picking up that phone and making that call! I'm taking you down, Lewis! You, Bo, Tamsin... oh, and did I mention that I have the wonderful Homer, Inc. in my pocket as well! I'm sure they can figure out a way to take down Tamsin's daddy's multi-million dollar corporation just for kicks! They are their competition, after all!"

Lauren laughed and looked over her shoulder at the guard, holding up the phone, "Do you care to explain to this inmate what happened to her precious cell phone? No? Oh, I understand... you have to stay on duty."

She turned back to Nadia whose eyes were wide, her face reddening with each passing moment,

"He's a guard... he has to 'stand guard', so he can't talk right now to explain about your phone, but I'm sure that when you and I are finished here, he'll explain it to you."

"I'm going to KILL YOU, Lauren Lewis!"

Lauren didn't flinch as the brunette stood once again and banged her fist against the glass. As guards flanked the woman on both sides, Lauren smirked, knocking on the divider,

"You see... you're in there and I'm out here." Lauren stood, "And I'm not afraid anymore, Nadia. You want to come after me? Come after me. You want to kill me? You're in there and I'm out here. You want to send someone after me when you find a way to get another cell phone, fine... send someone after me. But until that happens, I'm going to go out and be the best version of the me I never had a chance to know because you were keeping me under your thumb. I'm going to rebuild my life in such a way that you will be erased from existence! A new home, maybe a new job and a new diet spending MY money, MY way whenever I want! Until the day I take my last breath, I'm going to live free. Whether that is for the next seventy-two hours or the next seventy-two years, I will live the life I choose, Nadia."

The guards pushed Nadia down into her seat as Lauren finished speaking,

"You will be nothing more than a number in my life from now on, Nadia. I will become the woman my Mother always wanted me to be... I will be fierce, independent and successful... because it's what I'm capable of doing. But most of all, I will be a good woman with a good heart... everything you are incapable of being!"

"You bitch!"

"You see, Nadia? Even when I challenge you to search for the smallest iota of good that might exist in the barren soul of yours, you choose not to. I'm warning you, Nadia. Stand down. I am not that scared little girl anymore. I will NOT go quietly. I will see to it that you spend the rest of your life in solitary if that's what I have to do to make sure my family and friends are safe! The difference between us now is that you have friends nowhere... not even in here... oh, I know because I asked. Me, on the other hand? I have friends everywhere and more importantly, I have their respect... I don't need their fear."

"And what happens when that respect is gone, Lauren? What happens when the footage comes out and they know the slut that you really are?"

"Do you mean the footage behind the hot water nozzle in the shower at Stanford?"

"NO! No! It's not there! It's... it's not... that wasn't our special place." Nadia's eyes were wide as she tried to pretend she was calm. Looking up at Lauren, her smirk firmly in place, "Don't you remember? That wasn't our special place. See? You don't know where to look!"

"Nadia, they found the flash drives... all of them."

"NO! NO!" Nadia stood again and banged on the glass, "I. WILL. KILL. YOU!"

Lauren sat down, staring up at raging Nadia as her face was pressed against the glass by the guards. Her face was pushed down to the table as they put handcuffs on her back, then pulled her back into her seat. Lauren wiggled the phone at the guard who looked at the higher-ranking guard on Lauren's side of the glass. Paulo nodded, signaling to the man to hold the phone to Lauren's ear,

"Nadia, I never wanted any of this for you. You were my first love. But you've never been capable of returning that love, so you've left me no choice than to protect myself."

Lauren unscrewed the receiver of the prison phone and gently removed the recording device she'd placed there at the start of the conversation. Nadia's eyes went wide as she watched Lauren replace the lid before placing the device in a metal case. Lauren then picked up the phone again,

"I'm sure you've become tech savvy enough to know that I've recorded this entire conversation. I don't think there's anymore to say. I gave you a chance at the start of this visit to end this insanity, but you chose not to. Like I said, I bet every woman in this place has, at some time in her life, been offered a way out... but like you today, they refused to take it. I feel sorry for you, Nadia. The woman I fell in love with... the one you were apparently pretending to be... was a much better alternative to the woman you showed me for the past decade. The woman I loved could have had a great life."

Lauren reached into her bag and pulled out a lipstick. Pulling off the lid, she wrote, in reverse print so Nadia could read it, the number 9724671. Replacing the lid, she slowly returned it to her purse with the metal case and her cell phone. Nodding towards the number, she spoke her final words into the phone,

"I truly hope this place can help you to find a way to make peace within yourself and the life you chose to live when you were free. No one has a right to treat people the way you treated me... and so many others... no one. I forgive you, Nadia. I hope that before you die, you will realize that my forgiveness was something that you needed."

Lauren frowned, "You were smart, beautiful, funny and a great athlete. I remember you at summer camps with the little kids we coached... you were really good with them. You could have been so much more... if only you had listened. But from now on, we go our separate ways."

"You hurt me, Nadia... more than my stepfather, the death of my mother, my aunt's disappearance or the thought of losing Bo because of all of this."

"Goodbye, Nadia..." Lauren pointed to the number on the glass, underlining it slowly with her finger as she spoke, "...from now on... this... is who you will be to this prison... to society... and to me... another casualty of a life poorly lived... inmate number 9724671. I truly am sorry it had to be this way. I, for one, can say that I tried. Can you?"

A single tear trailed down Lauren's cheek. She wasn't sure why... maybe she was weeping for humanity since she knew there were probably a million Nadia's out there. Maybe she was weeping for the younger version of herself that she'd lost to the brunette before her. Maybe she was weeping because she was pretty certain that despite her actions here today, it was too little, too late to save the life she had envisioned with Bo.

She stood with a nod to the guards before returning her gaze to Nadia. Gripping the phone tightly, she stared at the curly-headed brunette who raised her eyes to meet Lauren's, a single tear trailing down her cheek as she whispered,

"Your Aunt... I paid her... to never come back. Cayman Islands." Nadia lowered her eyes when she heard Lauren gasp.

"Is she alive?" The blonde asked quietly.

"I... I don't know." Nadia replied, her head down.

Lauren stared at the brunette for a long moment, hearing a quiet _'sorry'_ before inmate 9724671 hung up the phone and was led away by the guards. Lauren watched her leave before she sighed, guilt overwhelming her for being just as manipulative and mean as Nadia had been to her for over a decade. She knew she shouldn't feel bad as she had dished out much less than her ex had over the years, but still, in that moment, there was one thing Lauren had learned about the self she'd never known... she was not a vindictive person... and for that little piece of insight into her own soul, she smiled with relief. Maybe she was a good person after all.

She looked up at Paulo, "Thank you for your assistance. The detective on my case asked me to tell you that the 5-0 task force is grateful for your quick action. He is going to have a letter of accommodation placed in your file for your actions here today."

Paulo nodded, "Just doing my job, Ma'am."

He motioned for Lauren to head through the first gate as it was pulled open for her. He followed as the talked.

Lauren smiled, "That may be, but you have no idea what this means to me."

He placed a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder, "I've worked her for twenty-two years Ma'am. In that time, I've seen a lot of visitors come and go both at the men's and women's prisons. I can spot an abuser within the first two minutes of a visit. That woman did you wrong in all the worst ways and... if I may say... today, you reclaimed your life as your own... and I dare hope that with what I saw at the end... you may have saved your own life while setting that inmate on the road to redemption."

"Saved my own life?" Lauren asked.

"Inmates can find ways to get to people on the outside if they want to do it bad enough. At the end... Nadia wasn't acting like a woman who wanted to do that... you made her think about her own death... about what's beyond that death. I didn't mean to pry, but maybe that Cameron woman... the one who found religion?"

"Yes?"

"Maybe she should pay Nadia a visit now that she has the upper hand again."

"You were listening." Lauren smiled.

"Like I said... just doing my job Ma'am. Anyway... lifers eventually start to worry about whether or not they'll burn in hell for all eternity. I think the problem with Nadia is that she doesn't know if heaven and hell exist. I'm not a religious man, honestly, but I've seen what a book like the bible can do for an inmate to quell some of that anger and need for revenge... sort of focus it inward a bit. Maybe one will find its way to her bed before she hits her solitary room."

Lauren's face was covered with worry as she asked, "But I thought they just took her to solitary?"

He shook his head, "She'll have a meeting with the warden first to review her day. She threatened you and... well... you really didn't need that device you put in the phone... you could actually get in trouble for that, not that any of us will say anything. Anyway, all of our conversations are recorded. If a threat is made, we must pass it on to the warden. Don't worry, Ma'am. She'll be in solitary for seventy-two hours. If not for everything else she got into today, for the multiple threats on your life today for sure."

Lauren nodded as they reached the last gate before her exit, "Thank you again, Paulo. I appreciate your help."

"Like I said..."

"I know, I know... just doing your job. Well, you do it well." Lauren smiled.

"Thank you, Ma'am." He nodded as the gate opened and slammed shut behind Lauren.

The blonde looked over her shoulder and watched as the man walked back through the gates one by one. She turned when she heard the next guard beckon her forward and through the final door. When she finally reached the lobby to exit, two very worried faces greeted her,

"What the hell, Lewis! Are you nuts!" Tamsin shouted.

"Lauren, you have got to take what Bo says with a grain of salt! You're gonna get yourself killed taking her so literally!"

"Are you two finished? I'd like to go home now." Lauren didn't engage the pair, but rather walked through the doors and out to Tamsin's car.

The couple watched as their friend walked away, staring at each other, then back at her several times.

"So... is that good? Good, right? Bad?" Kenzi asked.

"You tell me."

"She was your friend before I was out of high school!"

"Hey!" Tamsin glared at her girlfriend.

"What? You're old!"

"Hey!" The blonde insisted.

"Hay is for horses." Kenzi shrugged and pushed through the door to the parking lot, "You still didn't say if this unusual behavior is good or bad for the doc. Did you see her hurdle the door into the back seat? The girl can jump."

"Uh... Olympic Gold Medalist in Volleyball? You know... the jump really high and hit sport?"

"Right." Kenzi nodded before arriving at the car and pulling open the door.

She looked in the rear view mirror at the blonde in the back seat, "So... are you going to tell us what's going on?"

"I'd like ice cream, please?"

Kenzi and Tamsin looked at each other before Tamsin looked back at her teammate, "You don't eat ice cream. You said it's bad for you."

Lauren smiled, "It's time I started experiencing things the rest of the world got to experience when they were children."

The brunette shrugged, "I could eat ice cream. Of course, we'll have to get it to go since I have to be back for the cook out."

Kenzi turned around in the seat, "You up for a seafood cookout at the school?"

Lauren nodded, "I promised Bo I would visit with Maverick, so that sounds like as good an opportunity as ever."

"Ice cream dessert before seafood dinner. Odd combination, but it works for me." Tamsin shrugged as she started the car.

The three grew silent before Lauren matter-of-factly, "Oh, and I'd like to get drunk tonight."

The two front seat occupants immediately looked in the mirrors of the visors at the blonde in the back seat to see her eyes closed, face turned into the wind with a smile on her face.

"Drunk?" Tamsin asked.

Lauren smiled wide and chuckled, "Absolutely smashed."

Kenzi turned in her seat and looked at the doctor, "Lauren, I'm not sure that's such a great idea. I mean... you just saw your abusive ex and Bo basically told you she can't be with you... I know it's a lot, but maybe you're overreacting a bit."

Lauren looked at Kenzi, a big smile on her face, "I've never felt so free and alive in my entire life, Special K. Do me a favor and call Danny? Just tell him you're following up with my texts. I told him I'd call him back in five minutes, but I'm afraid my phone battery is really low. I turned it off and plugged it in back here."

"Special K? You're naming me after a street drug?"

The blonde smiled, "You nicknamed me after my ass. Besides, it's a term of endearment. It's about your relationship with your sister. You're special to her and that makes you special to me, even if we don't end up together."

Kenzi shuddered as she turned to Tamsin and mouthed, 'What the fuck?'

Tamsin shook her head as Lauren pushed up between the two of them and turned on the radio... loud. As soon as she realized it was a Motown song, she shouted,

"Oh! Bo and Kenzi's favorite!"

The blonde started to sing leading Kenzi to lean over to Tamsin, "What the hell! She went into the prison and came out a Stepford child!"

Tamsin turned down the radio, causing Lauren to yell out,

"HEY! I was listening to that!"

The blonde driver looked over her shoulder quickly, "Sorry, Kenzi can't hear to call Danny."

"Oh. Okay. Turn it back up after she's finished."

"Okay." Tamsin said, giving Kenzi a wide-eyed face as she shook her head, "Call."

Kenzi pulled out her phone and called Danny for the update. Tamsin watched as her girlfriend did a lot of head nodding and gave a lot of single-word affirmative responses. After asking a few questions, she hung up the phone and turned to Tamsin,

"I can't believe it."

"What?" Tamsin asked.

"Did they find Cameron?" Lauren asked, pulling on the two front seats so she could hear the conversation.

"Uh... yea." Kenzi replied, looking at Tamsin who asked,

"Who's Cameron?"

Lauren slapped Tamsin's shoulder, "You remember Cameron! Our teammate? It turns out, she was Nadia's back up plan after Mia. She stored... how many, Kenzi?"

Kenzi caught on quickly to what Lauren was asking, "They found fifty-seven flash drives, seventeen DVD's and thirty seven VHS tapes. Apparently they had to rip out the entire wall."

"Whoa. Coach won't be happy about the bill for that." Lauren replied, drumming on the seat to the beat on the radio.

"Lewis, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Go ahead, Kenzi. I'll fill in the blanks." Lauren looked out at the shops, "Oh! There! Mrs. T's Ice Cream Parlor! I've heard it's great."

Tamsin nodded and pulled into the parking space available just past the store. Parking the car, the women all adjusted their hair as Kenzi began explaining. Lauren grabbed her wallet and shoved her purse under the seat before jumping over the side of the car and running into the store.

The driver exited the car through the door and turned to her girlfriend, "Kenzi, what the hell is wrong with Lewis!"

"Okay, quick version... Lauren totally 007'd Nadia into a full confession of everything! Somewhere, she has a recording of the entire thing, but Danny was already emailed both the video and audio recordings of what went down during the final Hotpants and Nadia gunfight at the OK Corral! I mean... there weren't actually guns, but Nadia apparently threatened Lauren's life and was all banging on the glass and going crazy because Lauren got her. She got the back ups to the backups to the backups! Nothing will be released and your teammate Cameron is on her way her for Danny to take her testimony in exchange for her silence."

"Why did she cooperate?"

"Something about her embracing religion and her husband possibly leaving her if he ever found out she'd had 'relations' with a woman. She's got three kids now and she doesn't want to lose it all, so Danny said she told them everything that happened over the last decade with Nadia."

"A decade?"

"Uh... yea. This has been going on since you guys were in college."

"Geezers! Lewis! I can't believe she's been carrying this around for so long, Kenzi. How is she not totally insane?"

"Uh... did you see her just now? I think she actually is... she snapped, T-Bear."

The bells on the shop door rang as Lauren popped her head out, "Come on, you guys! I'm treating! They have SO many flavors! I'm tasting them all so I can decide what I want!"

The blonde disappeared into the shop again, leaving the two standing on the sidewalk in stunned silence until Kenzi said,

"See? Certifiable."

"I'll call Ciara and ask her to talk to Danny, then meet us back at the cook out."

"Good idea. I think I'm going to get ice cream drunk now." Kenzi said, walking into the store.

Tamsin pulled out her phone, "Be in soon."

"Hurry. I don't want to be alone with a crazy person."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"KENZI! Look! There are so many flavors and they are SO good!" Lauren jumped up and down, clapping her hands like a three-year-old.

"Calm down, girl! If you eat too many samples, you'll spoil your ice cream... or... something. Besides, it'll give you a sugar high and you do not have enough experience with ice cream to eat too much of that."

"Relax, Kenzi. It's not like it's beer."

Kenzi shook her head, "Of course. We don't have to worry about the effects of sugar on you at all, Lauren. You can clearly handle it just fine."

The attendant looked at Kenzi as she handed Lauren another sample with a wooden spoon. The brunette mouthed sorry to the young girl before she introduced herself,

"Hi. I'm..."

"You're Kenzi Dennis. I've seen you around and I've seen you surf at the point. Mad skills, girl... mad skills."

"Thanks. So, this is..."

"Gold Medalist Lauren Lewis. I know who she is too... my family was glued to the TV for the whole three weeks. We love beach volleyball. I'm hoping to make the US Team for surfing in 2020."

"Well, good luck! That would be great as long as you leave a spot for me!"

"That would be SO awesome if I could surf on your team!" The girl smiled as she rolled her eyes when Lauren pointed to another flavor she wanted to try.

"Well, it won't be my team, it will be our country's team. Yo, Hotpants... if you try too many flavors, you'll confuse your taste buds. If you're going off of your ice cream fast, you can come back any day you want to get other flavors. It's not like the world is going to run out of ice cream today."

Lauren's eyes went wide as she turned to Kenzi, "You're absolutely right!"

She turned back to the girl, "Okay, so... you put it in a bowl, right?"

"Or one of these cones, or a waffle bowl or you can blend it with these candies in a cup."

Lauren's eyes ran over the selection, "So many choices."

Kenzi shook her head and laughed, as she explained to the young girl, "One thing this Olympian has denied herself since before college is ice cream. It's apparently not good for the training regimen."

Not looking away from the ice cream case, Lauren corrected, "Oh, I've never had ice cream in my life."

Kenzi and the girl spoke in unison, "Ever?"

"Ever. There wasn't a store within walking distance of my house when I was little and we didn't have a car. We couldn't afford it after my parents died. In college we weren't permitted to have it and... well, I just stuck to the diet after I learned what it does in your blood."

"Do NOT tell me! If you ruin ice cream for me, I will SO kick your but, Lewis!" Tamsin entered the store with a smile and moved to the counter, "I'd like a small cup of Rocky Road with whipped cream and a cherry on top."

Kenzi stepped to the counter, "I want a large cup of Piles 'O Pecan mixed with Mint Chocolate Chip. Don't get any peanuts in anything... deathly allergic."

The girl finished dipping the first two orders and then turned to Lauren, "Do you know what you want yet, Miss Lewis?"

"This is SOOO hard! Do you have any recommendations?"

The girl laughed, "I know it can be really overwhelming for first timers. Do you have a favorite fruit or snack?"

"Almonds... love almonds. I love S'mores. I had those for the first time over at the Kenbo School."

"Love that the Dennis sisters opened that school. One of my friends was homeless, so she and her brother are there now until their parents can get back on their feet. It's cool that they don't have to go into the juvenile system or foster care."

Lauren smiled, "I agree."

"So, how about Rocky Road like your teammate? It has chocolate, nuts and marshmallows."

"Okay, but can I have some vanilla with the chocolate chips in it too? Or, can you mix all of it together?"

"I know exactly what to do." The girl said with a smile.

Lauren pulled out her debit card and swiped it in the machine, then looked at it, confused, "Uh... Miss? I don't think this is working." She turned to face her friends, "The swipey thing isn't working."

Kenzi saw the worry and panic on Lauren's face and ran to the register, "It's okay Hotpants. She didn't ring up the order yet. Do you remember when you did this with Bo?"

"I can't do this! I don't remember!"

Lauren ran out of the store while Kenzi called to her, "Lauren! It's okay! Lauren!"

Kenzi turned to Tamsin, "Can you handle the payment? I'll be right back."

"I don't know her code!"

Kenzi waved her off and ran out the door. She looked up and down the street before finding Lauren sitting on a bench under a tree. She sighed and walked over to the blonde,

"Hey. Why all the panic in there?"

She lowered her eyes to see the tears streaming down Lauren's face, "Hey. Why the tears, LoLo?"

"I'm just... shit, Kenzi. I'm such a child in this world! I don't know the basics about being an adult! How did I ever allow myself to be..."

"Hey! No more! I am not going to get into this pity party with you, Hotpants. What I do know is that you said ice cream and we came out with you. You said you'd buy and we have three orders to pay for. Tamsin is in there without the code to your card, so you need to go back in there and pay."

"The code is..."

"No! You're doing this. Now, put on your big girl pants and come learn the lesson."

Kenzi stood, "Come on."

Lauren sighed, wiping her eyes, "Can you please explain it to me so I don't look like a total idiot in front of that kid?"

Kenzi smiled, "She's going to enter all of the prices for the three ice creams into the cash register just like you've seen them do at the grocery store when you would go shop for your salad stuff."

Lauren frowned to which Kenzi replied,

"I was giving Bo a hard time about taking you shopping, so she explained. You'll be grateful I know since she's not here, so don't be mad at her for telling me. We share... It's a sister thing, so get over it."

"Okay, she enters numbers in, then what?"

"Read the card scanner. It will tell you the total, and then tell you to swipe your card. Look at the slot on the right and turn the long strip just as it's pictured on the card reader, then swipe it through flat and fast. The screen will process and then ask for your code. Punch in the number, hit the enter key and she'll give you your receipt."

Lauren nodded, "I remember now. Then I take the receipt home and write it in my checkbook."

"Didn't Bo show you the electronic checking?"

"I like paper."

Kenzi shook her head, "You, my dear, are going to the Kenzi Dennis school of life this week. No arguments... daily lessons from dinner to dusk, nightly. Dinner because you'll be cooking for me all week, nightly because it will take a while to bring you up to speed from age ten to age twenty."

The two turned to walk back into the store. Just before they entered, Lauren turned to Kenzi, "Thanks."

"No problem. It's our job to keep you out of trouble. Now, let's go spoil our appetites."

Lauren entered the store, feeling awkward as she approached the register, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Tamsin told me about the break up you went through with your ex today. I say, good riddance. You're better off without him!"

Kenzi and Lauren frowned at Tamsin who replied, "What? Okay, fine! I'm sorry for telling someone something personal about you, but if this crap hits the papers, at least someone will know the damn truth!"

Lauren nodded, "I don't think we have to worry about that."

The server interjected, "I swear, I will not mention it to anyone!"

"Yea, sure you won't, kid." Kenzi quipped as she watched Lauren swipe her card.

"No, really! I'm not like those girls that are into social media and gossip stuff. I don't even have a Facebook account. There's more important things in life... like surfing and... well... old people."

The three women all stopped as she handed Lauren her receipt, "Old people?" Lauren asked.

"I think people don't respect their elders enough these days. I mean... everything we have... all of our knowledge... started with each generation and built on that. Then, they retire and we treat them like something on the bottom of our shoe. We wouldn't have what we have if it weren't for their work and the sacrifices they made."

Lauren nodded, "Wow, that shows a lot of insight for a young girl like yourself."

"Well, I'm sixteen and I have two jobs. One here and one at the geriatric center over near the hospital. I work there five nights a week. I read or sing to the patients. Sometimes I take them for a walk if they're willing to leave their rooms. I get them to play games and tell me stories. Really, they're amazing people. Some of the things they've done are so cool. The places they've traveled and the things they've seen. I think I learn more in three hours a night there then I do in my social studies class."

Lauren smiled, "Yea, but with them, you only get their point of view. Social Studies class assures that you think about all points of view."

"Yea, I guess."

Kenzi suddenly had an idea, "So... these old people... are they... well, would they want to leave the hospital?"

"Well, some can't. Others are a little less high-maintenance and probably could for a little while... I mean, if they get back in time for their meds. I guess it's really up to them what the feel like they can do."

Kenzi was quiet for a moment, "Who's in charge?"

"Kenzi?" Lauren asked.

"I think they would be great volunteers for us, don't you?" Kenzi asked, looking between the two older women.

"At your school?" the young girl asked, "That would be SO cool! I mean, I'm a teenager and I love hearing their stories! Your kids don't have any parents or grandparents so they could be like an adopt-a-grandparent program!"

"You know, kid... I think you just found yourself a third job! Or, maybe a second job with a lot of field trips included."

"Oh gosh! That would be incredible! Do you think they center would let them come over to your school?"

Kenzi smiled, "Well, a little known fact about this half of Team USA is that she is also highly respected doctor."

The girls' eyes went wide, "You're a doctor? I want to be a doctor! I mean... I want to surf first and see how far I can go, but then I totally want to be a doctor and specialize in geriatric medicine. I think elderly people deserve more respect, better health care and better quality of life in their later years."

Lauren smiled, "I'm impressed. You are clearly wise beyond your years, young lady. May I ask your name?"

"Sure. My name is Lanie Kealoha."

"Well Lanie, it is very nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Lauren Lewis and I work at Kenzi's school as well as at the hospital."

"Cool. Do you think I could come and visit you at work some time? I applied at the hospital but they said I was too young."

"Well, I'll see what I can do. For now, what do you say we plan on Kenzi calling you to set up something with the center and then we can talk over dinner at the school one night about your future."

"Thank you so much!"

Kenzi smiled, "I'll need your phone number and you'll need to set up a meeting for us with your boss."

The girl quickly grabbed an order tablet and pulled out a pen. Writing down her number, she tore it off and gave the top copy to Kenzi and the bottom copy to Lauren. She then offered the pen and pad to Kenzi,

"Do you guys think... I mean... you probably get tired of this... but is there any way I could get all of your autographs?"

"As long as you keep Lauren's secret about her ex."

"I swear I will not tell a soul!"

Lauren nodded, "Okay, but if you do, all bets with the hospital and geriatric plan are off."

"I won't tell. I won't blow this! Honest!"

"Okay, Lanie. Well, we'll talk soon then. Right now, my ice cream is melting all over your counter, so I want to get to that."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

The three women moved over to the table and sat down to eat their now soft ice cream. Kenzi and Tamsin watched as Lauren took her first bite of the blended flavors she had ordered. Her eyes went wide as she had her first taste and Kenzi took a quick video,

"Oh. My. God. This is better than sex!"

Tamsin shook her head, "Uh... then you've been doing it wrong because there is no way sex is better than ice cream. Now... sex WITH ice cream... now we're talking."

Lauren froze, "Sex with ice cream would be amazing!"

Kenzi and Tamsin laughed until they saw the blonde frown. She looked up at them and shook her head,

"Sorry. This is really good."

Tamsin placed a hand on the blonde's, "Hey. What's going on in that head."

"It's nothing."

"Come on, Lewis. You're living free now and we're free therapy!"

"I just... well... it's embarrassing but... I just pictured... I mean the only person I've really had meaningful... you know... relations with... was Bo... and... well... sex with ice cream suddenly didn't seem so appealing without... well... you know."

The two sat looking at each other before they turned back to Lauren when she said,

"Still... I will not allow the love life I have destroyed ruin my first experience with ice cream."

They watched as Lauren's eyes teared up a bit.

"Geez, I'm such a sap! How is it that literally everything reminds me of Bo? My first grocery experience, my first orchard experience, and my first this, that... everything! Bo has been there... and now..."

Kenzi nodded, "I get it. She's not here for your first ice cream experience. So instead of bottling it up, talk about it, Lauren. If Bo was here, how would you describe this experience?"

She sat for a moment, taking another bite, unaware that Kenzi was still filming, "It feels like happiness on a spoon. It's cool in contrast to the warm day. It's sweet in contrast to the sour taste that was in my mouth after talking to Nadia at the prison. It's like the cool breeze I felt on my face after walking out of that dank, dark, stale room where I met with her... it's... it's incredibly tasty and... well... it's... comforting."

"Awww... our girl finally understands the term comfort food!" Tamsin smiled.

"I am not eating macaroni and cheese, Tamsin. It is still a heart attack waiting to happen."

"And ice cream isn't?" Kenzi asked.

"This is a once every several months thing. Mac and Cheese, some people – who will remain nameless, but her initials are Tamsin Torrent - consider it a weekly meal!"

"Hey! It's an American classic!"

"It's an American death trap!" Lauren replied, laughing at her teammate.

Kenzi asked, "So, how do you feel after confronting your demon?"

Tamsin added, "Danny viewed the tape from the prison. He said you kicked Nadia's ass."

Lauren dropped her spoon into her ice cream, "I don't know that I kicked her ass. When I first got there, she started doing what she always does and I shriveled up like a child. But... well... then she threatened Bo... and all of you... and... I don't know what happened. I just felt this... I can only call it rage. It settled into my gut and it felt like it was boiling up until it just shot out of my gut. I didn't just ramble... I listened to her insults as if I wasn't really in my own body. It was as if I was reading a transcript of the conversation and I just used everything she told me to put together all of the pieces of the puzzle."

"You didn't freak?" Kenzi asked.

"I had my moments, but really, I just kept repeating to myself to wait... just wait. I kept telling myself that I was not leaving that prison until this was over. She destroyed me and in turn, destroyed my greatest hope for happiness in my life."

Lauren sat quietly for a moment before she looked up at Kenzi, "When she threatened Bo again, something in me snapped and I just... I just knew there was no way I was going to let her force Bo to live a life looking over her shoulder for when Nadia would catch up to her. That's my burden to bear, not hers. So, I did what I had to do to get the information I needed to make sure that Bo would have a chance at a happy life filled with all of the love, happiness and success she deserves."

"Thank you, Lauren. Thank you for putting an end to this."

Lauren nodded, "Bo deserves someone who can love her and give her the life she deserves and she deserves to find someone she can love and trust. Don't get me wrong. I'm devastated that it's pretty much a given that person won't be me, but that doesn't mean I don't want that for her. I love her enough to give her the chance at happiness... to let her go so she can have that if I must. I got her into this mess... not that she deserved that in the first place... but I had to be the one to get her out of it."

"And you did." Kenzi replied, "Although, next time you want to go visit a crazed bitch in a prison, please give us a heads up instead of running off to be a hero. Back up is always a good thing to have."

Lauren shook her head, "I didn't want anyone else there. You have all done enough and have been pulled into my black hole of a life enough. Now, it's all over and I can finally live a life... It will take me a while to adjust to what that life will look like without Bo, but I know that once my heart and mind heal, I'll live."

Tamsin nodded, "And love?"

Lauren's eyes teared up, "I... not right now..." She gripped her chest, "I've never felt... I just... she was my... my heart has never felt so full as it did when I just stood in the same space with Bo... and I blew it. It's my fault..." She shook her head as the tears fell, "...I don't want you to feel sorry for me. It's like Kenzi said..." Lauren wiped her eyes, "I've gotta put my big girl pants on and own my own shit. I did this. I caused this. I stopped it, thank God, but I hurt her and that is unforgiveable."

"Well, I didn't say all that, but yup... time for little LoLo to grow up." Kenzi replied, shoving her cell phone in her pocket, "Well, speaking of being grown ups, I guess we all better get going. Dinner will be ready soon!"

The three women threw out their trash as they exited, waving to Lanie.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The cookout at the school was filled with laughter, music, dancing and surfing until the sun went down. By then, huge campfires were roaring courtesy of Professor Meade as many of the kids sat nearby while he told stories of his geological adventures. He'd seen many natural disasters in his life and the kids were particularly interested in hearing about the many earthquakes, volcanoes and underwater reefs he had explored. He promised to have his slide programs sent from the University so that they could see them in the classroom some day next week.

Kenzi was sitting with Tamsin over at the Back Bay, watching the younger kids in their kayaks while over on the ocean side, the waterfront instructors were all working with the Finn class sailors.

"It's a beautiful sunset. Almost time to get the kids out of the water, right Kenzi?"

Tamsin looked over at her girlfriend to see her texting on her phone.

"Hey? I thought we were having a romantic sunset evening?" Tamsin asked, shouldering into her girlfriend.

"Sorry. Bo texted me... she arrived in Fiji. It looks like Luis came through... all equipment present and accounted for."

"Well, that's good right? So why do you look like someone stole your favorite surfboard?"

Kenzi handed her the phone so Tamsin could read the text she'd received last.

"She knows something's going on and wants to know. I don't know what to do. For the first time in my life, I don't know what to tell my sister. She surfs in two days. I mean... is that enough time to recover if I tell her? I mean... to have her head in the game?"

"Well, the question is irrelevant if her head is not in the game to begin with, Shortstack."

Kenzi nodded, "I don't know if I can get her to let it go."

"Why don't you call her?"

"Then I know I won't be able to get her to let it go."

Kenzi's phone dinged again. Tamsin looked down, "Oh boy. You're gonna have to tell her something."

"I can't look." Kenzi replied, covering her eyes.

"Okay, so as I go through these texts, the first one she thought you did something she'd be mad about. The second one was that someone came to inspect the school because word got out about the footage. The next one was that something happened to one of the kids. Now she thinks that something happened to Lauren. You have to call her Kenzi."

"I'm going to send her the footage from the ice cream shop."

"No! Absolutely not! That is a violation of Lauren's trust!"

"Well, Lauren thinks that she and Bo are history!"

"Well, from what you told me, it sounds like that's pretty much the case!"

"Not true! Bo just said she needed space to get her head together and she thought it was best that Lauren took some time to get her life together."

"They're broken up, Kenzi... now it sounds like they're even more broken up!"

"No they're not! They're just... they're... on a break."

"A break? Kenzi, really? A break? Aka I need time, aka I need space, aka I need to find myself, aka it's not me it's you?"

"No! A break as in they're fighting and they're just taking a little time out to adjust to mass amounts of information being shoved into their bodies all at one time. You know, like that little wheel that turns and turns and turns on your computer screen when you throw too much at it all at once."

"So that's a great analogy. We all know that the spinning wheel of death on a computer screen ends with a blank blue screen and loss of everything you've ever done! You immediately go to the freezer and pull out a gallon of ice cream, get a spoon and eat your feelings."

"Well, see? That's progress. Lauren has already had the ice cream. They're half way to fixing the problem."

"Yea, next step is buy a new computer. So you're telling me all they have to do now is go out and find someone new. Great... I see a wonderful ending from the cheap seats."

"Ugh! Fine! I'll call her! Just... go away so I can talk without you coaching me."

"I do not coach you!"

"Yes, you do! She's your friend so you'll have all kinds of advice to give my sister about how to save your friend from a broken heart, and that's not necessarily what's best for Bo."

"Really? Have we not both agreed that what's best for Bo is what's best for Lauren and what's best or Lauren is what's best for Bo?"

Kenzi shook her head, "Maybe not right now. Look, T... you guys have your gold medals. Everything we did for you guys was all about making sure nothing fucked with your precious gold. Well, maybe the WSL championship isn't as big to the world as a gold medal at the Olympics, but to Bo, it's her gold medal... same as it is to me. We don't have an Olympics and even if I go, it's only an exhibition sport. This is everything to Bo... she's been doing this since she was three, Tamsin. Three!"

"I know! I get it! I'm sorry... you're right. But I don't know if Lauren is remembering that."

"Okay, well then maybe you should go tell her that while I talk to my sister about getting her head in the game. She can't be worrying about what's going on here with any of us if she's going to win. She can't afford to lose an event right now."

Tamsin nodded, "I'll go find Lauren."

"She was sitting out on the jetty with Maverick. Just... be careful, okay? If they look like they're having a serious conversation, please wait for her to come in from the jetty. The kid is pretty beat up over his life and has been asking to see Lauren for a solid week. If he's finally getting her time and attention, I don't want anything to interrupt that."

Tamsin scowled, "Hey! Look at me!"

Kenzi looked up to see her girlfriend's frown.

"Do you remember who you're talking to right now? Have I not been here with you for months? Do you really think I don't know everything you're telling me right now?"

Kenzi lowered her eyes and looked out across the bay, "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm worried about this. You haven't been here for long, Tamsin. I'm not trying to offend you by saying that, but I think because Bo seems so obsessed with her job at Torrent, making surfboards and taking care of the kids that people think surfing comes last in her life. You know how close we are but you don't know the conversations we have every night... our dreams, our secrets from our childhood... we still talk about our parents every single day, Tamsin. Winning this championship will validate everything she's ever done... it means everything to her."

Tamsin knelt down behind her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her, "Then why are we here and not in Fiji?"

"Because she doesn't trust anyone else with the school." Kenzi replied.

Tamsin's head spun around when she heard a voice, "Well, I'm not an elementary and secondary teacher, but I am a college professor. I'd think that might qualify me to run a school."

The blonde stood and greeted the Professor, "Good evening, Dr. Meade. The kids were loving the campfire stories."

He nodded, "Yea, they're great kids, but I'm not as worried about them right now as I am about my star pupil's kid sister."

His eyes met Kenzi's, who stood and brushed the sand off of her bottom, "Hi Doc."

"Problems in Fiji? Did she break a board?"

"Actually, no... it's more... personal stuff."

"Ah... I see. That sounds like a problem that can only be solved by other women... say a kid sister and her girlfriend?"

"You know about Lauren?" Kenzi asked.

"Dr. Lewis? Is something wrong with her?"

Kenzi shook her head, "No, I mean... well, when you said girlfriend..."

"I'm sorry. I thought that Tamsin here was your..."

"Oh! Oh, yes. Tamsin and I are a couple."

He nodded, "I see. So your sister and Doctor Lewis are..."

"Well, they were, but... well, they've hit a rough spot and..."

"That explains it then."

"Explains what?" Kenzi asked.

"Well, Doctor Lewis doesn't exactly seem... herself... lately."

Kenzi nodded, "Yea, well... it's a really, really rough patch."

"I see. Well, I certainly hope they will get through this... rough patch together."

"Yea, we do to. They're good together." Kenzi replied.

"You know, my wife and I hit a few rough patches in our long marriage. Relationships are never easy, but the heart knows what the heart knows."

"Sounds to me like you're the one that should take a trip to Fiji." Kenzi laughed.

"I'd love to, but your sister did not relieve me of my duties here."

Kenzi frowned, "You wanted to go to Fiji?"

"I'd go just about anywhere, Kenzi... but Fiji would be like a geological engineer's playground!"

"What's the big deal about a bunch of islands?" Kenzi asked.

"These are islands basically formed of volcanoes... some of the islands they call islands are actually volcanoes. There are four volcanoes there and they haven't erupted for a very long time. It's the perfect time to study the rock!"

"Well, what's stopping you from running off to Fiji to study rocks?"

Kenzi mumbled to Tamsin, "Geologists and their rocks. I just don't get it."

"This place... it's... it's magnificent... and the children are so interested in learning. It's been a long time since I've felt this kind of energy in my classroom. Truthfully, it's infectious."

"Well, I can cover you here if you'd like to go to Fiji and see Bo surf. After the competition, she has to stick around to do some PR for our boards, but she may even have time to go study rocks with you. I know my sister loves that stuff."

Professor Meade laughed, "Yea, I've heard the gentleman at Torrent, Inc. make some less-than-gentlemanly comments about how Ysabeau being a geologist gets their rocks off."

Tamsin sighed, "I'm sorry about that. My father has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment. If he knew that was happening, those guys wouldn't have a job."

"I'm not trying to get anyone fired, but Ysabeau is special to me and I hate to see men seeing her as breasts before brains."

Tamsin and Kenzi laughed, "I love that!" Kenzi replied, "She is definitely more brains than breasts, though I'm not blind and do realize my sister has quite a bit of both."

"Well, I won't comment on that, but I will defend her honor. Anyway, I've interrupted, so..."

"Doc, would you like to go to Fiji to see Bo's competition? She surfs day after tomorrow."

"But my classes and Ysabeau's project..."

Tamsin shook her head, "I can handle both... Lauren can help me with your classes."

"Well, okay then. I supposed I should go get a ticket to Fiji!" He clapped his hands together but Kenzi stopped him,

"I'll handle the tickets, Doc. We've got a ton of miles, so we basically travel for free."

"No, I couldn't..."

"No, you can. Seriously, we travel as part of our job and most of the time we don't pay for the flights... our sponsors do. We use our business credit card and get miles on that as well. Like I said, more brains than breasts... Bo figured out how to save on airfare when she was like twenty-two."

"Very well, then. What else can I do before we depart?"

Tamsin replied, "You can show me the ropes at the campground. I'm not great with making fires. I'm usually the one putting them out."

"Indeed you are, young Torrent. I've seen you doing it often at the office. It's quite a talent you have."

Tamsin smiled at Kenzi, "Did you hear that? I'm talented."

Kenzi smirked, "Yea, I'm well aware of many of your talents." The raven-haired girl winked at her girlfriend before licking her lips.

Tamsin leaned in and whispered to her, "You are so bad."

"You like it when I'm bad." Kenzi smiled as her girlfriend kissed her cheek and turned to walk away, "I'm going to call Bo. You'll check on Lauren?"

Tamsin nodded as she waved goodbye and followed Professor Meade down the path.

Kenzi sighed and picked up her phone. Dialing her sister, she sat down on the beach once again and waited for her sister to pick up.

" _Hey, Kenz! What's up? I'm just having lunch!"_

"Well, I'm just about to pull the kids out of the water. Sun is almost down here."

" _How was the cookout?"_

"Great! All fresh fish and the Professor went all out crabbing. He wore his cute little waders most of the day. He's adorable Bo. I can see why the two of you get along so well."

" _Yea, well we both speak rock."_

"Sure do and he's very protective of his precious Ysabeau."

" _He's defending my honor?"_

"Have you heard the phrase 'brains before breasts'?"

 _Bo laughed, "He uses that all the time when guys are disrespectful to the intelligence of women in class. Why?"_

"Apparently, some of the guys at the office made a comment about you getting their rocks off and he didn't like it."

" _Yea, well the guys at the office are really creative."_

"Apparently."

" _So, everything okay at the school?"_

"Yup."

" _Everything okay at the Back Bay construction site?"_

"Yup."

" _Slater Wave Pool in?"_

"Yup. Used it today and it is more than I could have hoped for in my lifetime. So much fun!"

" _Good, I can't wait to get in there. Everything okay with the beach sites? No one got hurt surfing or anything?"_

"Yup... all clear."

" _Everything okay with Tamsin?"_

"Yup. All great in the Kenzi love-life department."

" _How's Maddie? She ready to see her new boat?"_

"She will be by the time you get back. The coaching staff said she's still not as smooth with her jibe as they want her to be, but she's a fast learner. They said a better boat may be exactly what she needs to shave the time off for qualifying."

" _Good. Well, if you have to christen it and give it to her sooner so she's ready for her first competition, do it. I will sacrifice my ego if it means her success."_

"I'm well aware of that and will do as the coaches recommend."

" _How's Maverick?"_

"He's with Lauren right now."

 _Bo was silent for a long while before she replied, "Good. Good."_

"You alright?" Kenzi asked.

" _Sure."_

"Yea, well that was convincing. What's on your mind, BoBo?"

" _You're keeping something from me, Kenz. I don't like it."_

Kenzi sighed. This was why she had called her sister and now she didn't know where to begin.

" _Kenzi? Just tell me, please? I'm about to go get in the water and it would really help me if I knew what was going on back home. Are you sure everything is okay at the school?"_

"Okay, look... just don't freak out, okay? I need you to hear everything I have to say and then I'm going to send you a video clip to sort of explain the last part. It's better than hearing it from me."

" _Oh shit. More footage?"_

"Actually, no... well... not that kind, anyway."

" _Fine."_

"Just listen... no reacting."

" _Kenzi!"_

"Okay, okay! Don't get your panties in a twist. So, after everything you said to Lauren at the airport, she felt... motivated... I guess you could say."

" _Shit. What did she do?"_

"Stay calm."

" _I'm calm."_

"You're not calm, Bo!"

" _Kenzi!"_

"Fine!" Kenzi took a deep breath, deciding she was just going to have to speak really fast so that Bo couldn't stop her and freak out. She gathered her courage and began telling the entire story... in pretty much one long sentence... fast...

"So, you see Bo... Lauren went to the prison to see Nadia and at first the bitch got the upper hand but she didn't know that when Lauren ran from the airport to the prison without me and Tamsin knowing that she stopped at Radio Shack and bought a mini recorder which she put in the phone receiver and taped the whole conversation but Nadia lost her shit and then Lauren lost her shit but she kept her cool and she worked the bitch over and found out who the other person Nadia had given the footage to was other than she-who-must-not-be-named and she used her religious husband to convince her to side against Lauren even though they used to be teammates and Lauren was really smart and got the cell phone that Nadia had hid under the mattress at the same time that Danny did his super detective shit and nailed down the back up copies in Lauren's old college showers using her old coach who is not the A.D. and they found all of the copies, they have both of the peeps that Nadia was using and Lauren got a recording of their whole conversation before in the end, she forgave Nadia because she knew Nadia would eventually need to hear it and she also got Nadia to cry before the bitch apologized just before she left after threatening to kill her twice but now she can't because Lauren showed her the bug she put in the phone taping the whole conversation and Nadia knew she lost the game so she left all sad and handcuffed for threatening Lauren and was put in solitary confinement because Lauren told the guards about the cell phone so Nadia couldn't call anyone to get to her and the guard said he's gonna give her a bible in solitary because it makes death row inmates see a need to change their evil ways so they don't go to hell and Danny is gonna send the religious chick to talk to her too since she can't hurt her anymore. So after that was all finished, Tamsin and I found her at the prison and she was all weird, but wanted ice cream and to get drunk so we started with ice cream which started this partnership I'm trying to get started where we get really old people in to work with the kids as volunteers like you wanted but then Lauren was having her first ice cream ever and she thought of you and then she got all weepy and all woe is me but it was more like Bo is me and I had been filming her first experience with ice cream, but kept filming so don't hate me but I got it all on tape when she was talking about how she wants you happy with someone else because she loves you enough to let you go since it's what you want so you can be happy and find the real love of your life who won't lie to you and yadda yadda yadda. I'm coming to Fiji with the Professor while Lauren and Tamsin cover everything because he really wants to see you surf and maybe play in the Fiji rocks with you before you leave because he's really proud of his rock prodigy and that's what's going on."

Kenzi was breathing heavily and she felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest as she waited a very long while for Bo to respond.

" _So... let me get this straight. It's over?"_

Kenzi stood up, "Is that all you have to say? All that and that's all you ask me?"

 _Bo chuckled, "Danny called me earlier, Kenzi. He played the whole recording for me from the prison and sent me the footage to go with it. If you sync the numbers on the video counter with the audio, you can get a really good idea of what happened in that room. While I'm happy it's over, I'm not happy that Lauren put herself in that situation, but I was so damn proud of her, Kenzi."_

"She said she just kept telling herself to wait... not to give anything away until she had everything recorded. I haven't seen the video but Danny played the audio for Tamsin and I earlier today. You could hear the threats and all of the pounding on the glass. I probably would've peed my pants and run out of the room."

 _Bo sighed, "I have to admit, it was hard to sit there and actually witness the way that Nadia was with her in that room. Kenzi..."_

The younger sister heard Bo's voice break and felt her throat tighten,

" _...I don't know how she handled more than a decade of that treatment... but... I think now I understand why she became submissive to it. Nadia is bigger, stronger, very intimidating and... angry... very, very angry."_

"But she said 'sorry' at the end. I didn't get that." Kenzi replied.

" _I did... I mean, when you hear the audio with the video... I get it. Lauren forgave her and then told her all of the good things that attracted her to Nadia in the beginning. She told her that she could have been a great woman, but she didn't listen to her... from that moment on, Nadia's head is down. Lauren finally got through to her, but the woman left a path of devastation miles wide before she finally listened."_

"Yea... well, about that path of devastation... we got Lauren drunk on ice cream..."

" _What?" Bo asked._

"Well, she's never had ice cream before..."

" _I know, she won't touch the stuff."_

"Well, she had her first ice cream... sugar high is an understatement... and then I thought she was gonna drunk dial you..."

The younger sister pulled out her phone and sent the video she had already prepped for messaging.

" _Kenzi, what are you talking about?" Bo asked, frustrated with her sister's inability to communicate events with facts._

"Check your phone, watch the video and you'll see the conclusion to the prison visit today. By the way, she ran out of the restaurant when she couldn't remember how to use the debit card... we got her back in and handled it, but right now, it's Lauren confidence, 0... life, 1."

Kenzi was silent while she listened the video play. While it played for Bo, Kenzi was watching it play on her own phone so she would be able to explain anything Bo asked about. As it played, she could hear some sniffles coming from her sister but said nothing, allowing Bo to feel whatever it was she needed to feel. When the video was finally over, the sisters sat quietly in their respective locations. It wasn't the first time they'd done this. Sometimes it was just comforting to know the other sister was actually there, even though it wasn't in person. Finally, Kenzi broke the silence,

"So, BoBo, as I mentioned if you caught it, I'm going to come to Fiji with the Professor..."

" _Yea, I caught that. Lauren didn't want to come?" Bo asked, her voice hesitant._

"You did just listen to the video I sent you, right? She thinks you're done with her Bo, and I've gotta tell you, I think you're gonna have to make a decision here, sista. You can't keep this girl thinking you're done, then tell her you're not, then tell her you're done... it's not right and mentally... well... you're hurting her Bo and I like Lauren. I don't want to see her hurt, least of all by my own sister. She doesn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve any of this. You said it yourself, you can understand why she became submissive to Lauren."

" _But that doesn't mean I can just forgive all that she has done to us, Kenzi."_

"All that Nadia has done to you, Bo. Lauren was not capable of stopping what was happening to her and when she volunteered to go see Nadia, YOU were the one that said no."

" _And I was right! That woman is dangerous!"_

"Yea, but the minute you left for Fiji, Lauren went for a run from the airport to the prison and confronted Nadia all by herself... for you, Bo. She did that for you because of what you said to her in the airport. She told you she was trying to fix everything and agreed that she needed to do that... you gave her permission to see her with that statement, Bo!"

" _That was NOT me giving her permission to see that bitch!"_

"Listen to yourself, Bo! Lauren doesn't need your permission to do anything! You've dumped her, remember? You're not together because YOU chose that! You didn't let her go to see Nadia when she wanted to, so the situation was allowed to escalate and YOU paid the price for YOUR decision to go in her place! Always the protector, you didn't trust Lauren to handle Nadia on her own... what were you afraid of? That she would run back to her and live a life as a victim of abuse? Who didn't trust who, Bo?"

" _It's not like that!"_

"Oh go defend yourself to someone else, Bo! You're so full of shit I can't even talk to you right now! Watch that video I sent you a few more times, then go back and watch the video footage. From the time you guys were in Rio and Lauren pushed Nadia off of herself, she chose you... it was in that moment that she started to fight for the two of you."

Kenzi sighed, taking a breath as she ramped up for more,

"Of course, in Rio, you played the faithful girlfriend who was going to support her lovers need to get help so she could be whole for you... but you shut yourself down and pulled away from her and have continued to do that since she came out of therapy. Make up your mind, Bo. You don't need time or space, you just have to decide if you love this woman enough to take a leap of faith or not. If not, let her go... let her go find someone else who can treat her the way she deserves to be treated. She thinks you're the only good woman on the planet! Well, that's because she only knows you and Nadia and she doesn't realize yet how damn controlling you can be! Let her go, Bo. Let her go or love her, but don't keep her on your indecision merry-go-round. I watched you do that to Katie and it sucks. Lauren deserves better."

Click.

" _Kenzi! Kenzi!"_

Bo threw her phone down on the table and looked out the window of the hotel restaurant. Shaking her head, she stood from the table, deciding it was time to surf.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

By the time Tamsin walked into the Dennis home, the house was dark. She stripped off her outer layers before entering Kenzi's room and falling back onto the bed.

"Everything okay with Lauren?"

"I don't know, Kenz. I dropped her off at my parents house, but she didn't say much the whole was there... what she did say... well, I don't know that Bo would like it very much."

"Why? Is something up with Maverick?"

"Nope. Maverick is great, the emergency training site is great and she even already talked to the geriatric center to get the ball rolling on your elderly volunteers."

"So what's the big deal?"

"She said she may move back to California, Kenz. She doesn't know if she can be here with Bo. She's heart broken and while she wants Bo to move on and do what she has to do to be happy, she doesn't think she can watch her do that with someone else. She feels like her whole life has been nothing but drama and one let down after another."

Tamsin smiled,

"And you're smiling about that?" Kenzi asked, lifting her head up onto her arm.

"No, I'm smiling because my dear friend and teammate has finally decided she is deserving of a life that is filled with more than let downs. She said she feels like after all she's had to fight against in her life, that she thinks she owes herself the chance to be happy. If Bo isn't willing to give her that chance, then she's going to go find a life elsewhere."

Kenzi nodded, "Is she applying for jobs yet?"

Tamsin shook her head, "You know, I don't think you and Bo really get it. Doctor Lauren Lewis doesn't have to apply for jobs, Kenzi. All she has to do is pick a hospital and show up. They will make room on the staff to have her there. She tells everyone her specialty is Emergency Medicine, but she only does that because she doesn't want the average person to know how freakishly gifted she truly is."

"Meaning what?"

"Kenzi, she has three specialties, which is why she has surgical privileges in the ER. She is a Vascular Surgeon... one of the best in the world, I might add... and an Orthopedic Surgeon. Combine that with the fact that in Afghanistan, she invented surgical procedures that are named after her... well... you get the idea, right?"

"Wow. The doc is super smart."

"Uh... yea."

"So do you think she'll take Johns Hopkins up on their offer?"

"Only if she can avoid contact with Mia." Tamsin replied.

"Oh, that's right. She was spy-banging Lauren too."

"Kenzi, I just have to say this and if you want to be mad at me, that's fine but I won't sleep unless I get it off my chest."

"Okay."

"I'm really, really mad at Bo."

"Well, that's good to know because I am too... and I told her so. I said some really shitty stuff to her before a massive, massive competition and right now, if she lost the championship because she was upset over what I said, I'd be happy as a pig in shit."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because she's not acting like a champion right now. She's acting like a loser. I would want her to see that second or third place medal hanging wherever she would hang it as a constant reminder that this was the year that she screwed up the best thing she ever could have had in her life. Lauren's a keeper and Bo is just too stupid to know it."

"So, are you still going to Fiji?" Tamsin asked.

"No. I'm sending Ciara. You didn't notice her when you came in? She's sleeping on the couch tonight so we can take her to the airport in the morning. She asked Dr. Renninger to be on call for Lauren and her other patients."

"I probably threw my jacket right on top of her. Oops!" Tamsin laughed.

"Right, oops! I'm sure she appreciates that, T."

"Whatever. Is she in the loop about everything?"

"Yup. And I already told her to make Bo the priority, not Dyson."

"Geez, those two are disgusting together."

"I know, don't remind me. I heard him whisper to her the other day that he's 'the big bad wolf', then something about eating her up and I was like... Eeww gross."

"Oh, gross." Tamsin replied, "And I'm going to brush my teeth and get ready for bed."

"I'll wait here. I'm too tired to move."

"There is exactly where I want you." Tamsin winked.

"You are not getting lucky tonight, so just forget it. I'm exhausted, I have a headache and I am really, really worried about Lauren right now. Oh, and then there's the little concern over my sister getting herself killed because her head isn't into surfing."

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door.

"Who the hell is banging on our door at midnight?"

The knocking came again, only more insistent.

"Kenzi, it might be something with one of the kids. You'd better get it."

"Damn! I forgot!"

Kenzi jumped out of bed and ran to the door, waving off Ciara who rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head. Kenzi unlocked the door and pulled it open with some force, only to find Lauren standing there.

"LoLo? What are you doing here? It's midnight! Come in, come in."

Lauren came in and took a seat at the kitchen breakfast bar where Kenzi pointed. The surfer waved Ciara out of sight when she saw her head pop up over the couch. If Lauren was about to vent, she wanted Ciara to here everything without serving as some form of bottle stopper to the flow of information.

"What can I get you, Doc?"

"Water would be great. I ran over here and forgot a water bottle."

Kenzi looked down at the doctor's feet, "You ran here barefoot?"

"Uh... yea... well... it's funny actually. I was about a mile in before I realized I was barefoot. Sometimes emotions run so high that they cause a very high secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, better known as the adrenaline response. Combined with the ACTH triggered cortisol that is released, a person can experience super human strength or suffer pain they don't notice due to the subsequent rush of endorphins, hormones which serve as the body's natural painkillers."

"Uh... right. Water it is, Doc." Kenzi grabbed a glass of cranberry juice for herself and sat down across from her visitor. She picked up her phone and, holding it under the counter, sent a quick text telling Tamsin not to come out, but to call when she got the text and she would answer so she could listen in on speakerphone.

Tamsin's response was almost immediate as the phone vibrated in Kenzi's hand. She accepted the call, hit speaker and slid the phone under the lip of the bar where Tamsin could hear the call. She felt bad that two other people were listening to a conversation that Lauren thought was private, but as Tamsin had said earlier, Lauren was her best friend and Ciara was a therapist. She wasn't really qualified for anything other than offering advice on Bo.

"I'm sorry, Kenzi. I heard you were leaving in the morning for Fiji and I just had to get this letter to you to give to Bo. Well, actually, it's two letters. The first one is sort of a motivation letter for her competition... it's the pink one. The second one... well... you can give her that one on the way home... it's the blue one."

"Blue one as in sad one?"

"Well, I doubt that she'll really see it as a sad letter. She'll have a win to celebrate and... of course... she has all this to keep her busy and motivated... it may actually be a relief for her. It's a let-her-off-the-hook letter."

"You're leaving, aren't you." It was a question, but Kenzi had already made the conclusion.

"Kenzi, there's nothing here for me. I mean... this is all amazing, but it belongs to you and Bo. I'm not a part of this... maybe I never have been. I don't fit into this world of yours anymore. While I was here, I want you to know it was amazing..."

Lauren's eyes brimmed with tears that slowly fell one by one,

Kenzi asked, "What about your testimony next week?"

Lauren wiped her face, but more tears fell, "I'll be video conferenced in if the defense agrees. If not, they'll fly me back to testify."

"I see." Kenzi replied, lowering her eyes from Lauren's.

"Kenzi, you were like the little sister I never had a chance to know. All of the people I met are fantastic and they were so kind to me. It got me to thinking that maybe... just maybe... there are other people like these people in the world. That maybe I just need to go somewhere else to meet them and... like you all did... they would accept me... only I would have a clean slate since I would have left my baggage all behind and you wouldn't have a constant reminder of the girl who threatened your peaceful existence."

Lauren shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kenzi. I'm so sorry that my baggage landed here. I didn't mean for that to happen at all, but... Gods, Kenzi... I can't be here without Bo. I just... I can't. My heart hurts so badly and I feel like I can't breathe knowing that I've lost her. I know I'm not supposed to be attached to anyone right now because of my therapy, but I think it's bullshit! I mean... if I were married, would they expect me to separate or divorce my spouse because I was struggling emotionally? Hale and Ciara had both of us believing we can't be together to be healthy, but apart we're definitely not healthy! There are lines we can't cross and... well... how can you earn someone's trust when you can't be honest with them?"

Lauren was spinning the water glass around, her gaze fixed on the liquid when Kenzi saw Ciara pick her head up again. She waved her down once more before she turned back to Lauren,

"I'm listening, Lauren. I don't know that this is my area of expertise, but I'm listening."

Lauren smiled, "I don't know, Kenzi. I just know that humans aren't meant to be alone! We associate places, events and things with others. I mean... I look out to the water and I think of Bo. I look at the Back Bay project and I think of how Bo tried to involve me in her world. I look at Maverick and I think of Bo and this silly dream that one day he could be our adopted son. Tonight, I picked up a piece of fruit and I thought of the day she took me to the orchard. She's everywhere but with me, Kenzi and I can't handle it... I can't handle the pain and emptiness I feel without her loving me. The bottom line is... I don't think I can take any more pain. It will break me... I know it will."

Lauren clutched her chest as she finished, "I'm so sorry, but... I'm catching a flight at the end of this week."

Ciara's head snapped up as her wide-eyes met Kenzi's shocked steel blue ones. She shook her head vigorously, trying to get Kenzi not to let her do it, but Kenzi waved her off as Lauren wiped the tears from her cheek and began to speak again, forcing a smile onto her face as she explained,

"I talked to Dr. Mansfield who told me that he was retiring from his position at the Olympic Training Center and had recommended me to fill the position. I'm flying out to Colorado to accept the position on Friday."

Kenzi shook her head, "Lauren, please don't do this. Bo just needs a little time."

The blonde shook her head, "You know what, Kenzi... I've given almost twenty-eight years of my life to people who gave me conditional love. I finally realized that true, honest, open love shouldn't come with conditions. Differences, yes... but conditions, absolutely not. If you love someone, you have to be with them as much as you need air."

Kenzi considered Lauren's statement for a moment before she replied, "I guess I can understand that. I thought I couldn't be without Tamsin until I realized that it wasn't about a label of gay or straight. It was about love and wanting to share a love. The decision was pretty simple from there even though I doubt that I would ever love another woman."

"Can you see yourself loving another man?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi pondered the question for a time before she shook her head, "Nope... I see Tamsin and... well... I just can't see beyond her... or... without her."

The surfer blushed, as she remembered that Tamsin was listening on the other end of the phone that was planted beneath the counter. She had never admitted such deep feelings to her girlfriend until now. Sure she'd said she loved her, but an everlasting love? Nope.

"You know, I thought that Bo loved me unconditionally, but today I started replaying all of our conversations over and over again in my head, and then I sat in a police precinct after dinner and watched my meeting with Nadia three times."

Lauren wiped her eyes again before she continued,

"It was like all of a sudden, it hit me that everything in my life was being controlled by someone. It started with realizing how much control I'd given up in my adult life, then funneled back to where it all began... how I learned to surrender control of my life so easily."

Kenzi handed Lauren a tissue to wipe her nose. The doctor took a moment and then continued,

"The hospital forced me into part time work because they decided I needed to come back slowly after therapy. Hale decided I needed to be admitted to long-term care once I agreed I needed therapy. The Team USA coaches decided what Tamsin and I needed to eat, how we should work out, what plays were best for us to run and what we should wear. Bo thought that the Back Bay project would be good for me. Bo decided that we needed a break. Bo decided it was my fault that Nadia's shit rained down on her... never considering that I might not have had any other options... that my only way out of the situation I was in with Nadia was death... at least, that's what I had thought several times over the years and was pretty much convinced of by the time that gold medal was draped over my neck in Rio."

Lauren ran her fingers through her hair, "I learned at a very young age that I couldn't control my step father's anger, but if I could endure just three punches, my step dad would leave me alone and send me to my room. All I had to do was take three punches and it would be over. I think that's how I learned to take his beatings, the bullying, the relentless academic schedule, my Mother's death, my Aunt's mysterious disappearance which we now know wasn't so mysterious after all, the college practices, the USA trials, the internship and residency schedules... I guess I should thank my step father for teaching me self-discipline, huh?"

The blonde laughed a nervous laugh, "Anyway, I think I have myself all figured out and I can see the truth quite clearly now. The only person who ever really loved me without judgment and who was honest 100% of our lives together was Tamsin. I think it's why we won gold together. She has always accepted me for me. Even when she didn't like Nadia or agree with me dating her, she stood by me... advising me, supporting me, but never judging me. It's funny that I told Nadia about people who refused to listen to people who tried to warn them to stop a certain behavior."

"Why is that funny?" Kenzi asked.

"Because Tamsin tried to warn me about Nadia and I refused to listen. It's sad, really. The person who I trusted the most in this world and I was blinded by what I thought was love. Maybe that's all this is with Bo? Maybe it's just another blind love brought on by the extreme circumstances of her near death. I really won't know until I get out there and explore the world, right?"

"Lauren, I'm begging you... please wait... go next weekend... give Bo a chance to talk to you when she gets home from Fiji."

"This little break she wanted, Kenzi... it's a good idea for her. If I'm gone when she gets back, she can start fresh with a clean slate. Besides, she can have this whole house when you and Tamsin are ready to move in together because you guys can have my brand new home on the hill. It's all paid for, so someone might as well use it. Otherwise, I'll have to sell it."

"Lauren... listen to me... do you remember what you just said about not listening to people who are trying to tell you that you are making a huge mistake? Well, I'm that person... I'm telling you not to do this. I'm telling you that you are making a huge mistake. Text Bo... call her... please tell her your plan before you go."

"Don't you see, Kenzi? If she didn't want to be without me, we'd be together right now."

"That's not true! Sometimes people need a little break from each other! Geez, Lauren! She asked for a week, not the rest of your lives!"

"Kenzi, she's your sister. I get it. You don't want to see her upset, but I promise you, she will be fine without me. You haven't been there for our conversations, but trust me when I say that she's made it loud and clear to me. She and I are finished."

"Lauren, that's not true! She does love you unconditionally! She was ready to give up her surfing career for you! She told me so in Rio!"

Lauren laughed, "Because she thought that I would make that a condition of our relationship? I would never do that, Kenzi, but before Bo left, she did place the condition on me that I had to fix the aftermath of Nadia... and I did... and I know that Danny told her I did... but has she called? Has she texted? Why is it my responsibility to always please my lovers?"

"She is not Nadia! She doesn't expect that from you!"

Lauren shook her head, "I'm just... look, Kenzi... I appreciate what you're trying to do but... I'm tired, Kenzi... I'm so tired. I just... I can't look at Bo and not remember what I put her through. I can't look at her and not remember that she keeps calling me out on me betraying her trust, yet she betrayed mine by viewing private footage that I did not give her consent to view! The trust street doesn't work both ways with Bo Dennis. The blame street doesn't work both ways with Bo Dennis and clearly, the unconditional love thing isn't even on Bo Dennis' radar!"

Lauren took a few deep breaths before downing the rest of her water. She stood from the bar and turned towards the door,

"Lauren, please don't go. Stay here tonight. You can't seriously be thinking about running back to your house barefoot at one o'clock in the morning. It's all uphill from here!"

"I'm a runner, Kenzi. It's what I do."

"It's dangerous, Lauren."

Tamsin entered the room, "Sorry, Kenz, but this is where I enter the conversation."

Ciara popped her head up from the couch, "Me too. Lauren you cannot run home now."

Lauren looked at Kenzi, her eyes brimming with tears, "They were listening? You knew they were listening and you didn't tell me?"

Kenzi stood there, staring at Tamsin and Ciara who turned to look at Lauren. The blonde threw her hands up in the air,

"And I'm the one who has to earn the trust of my so-called friends and family? I'm leaving!"

Tamsin stepped forward, "If you're gonna go, take my car, Lewis. Please! I'll take Kenzi's car to the airport in the morning and then swap the cars out on my way back."

"Fine." Lauren replied.

Tamsin put up a finger, "Just let me go get my keys."

The house phone rang, but everyone remained still. It ran again and Lauren sighed, "You can answer it, Kenzi. I'm not going to run out until Tamsin gets back in."

"It's okay. They'll leave a message. If it was anything serious, they'd call my cell."

The answering machine picked up and Dyson's voice streamed through the house,

"Kenzi, this is Dyson. Look... I don't want you to panic, but Bo had a pretty gnarly fall a little while ago. She got intimate with a reef. She asked if you could please bring her wetsuit and a few more shirts. Everyone's getting pretty cut up out here when they ditch. The officials are thinking of relocating the site. Text when you get in tomorrow and I'll let you know if we're moving."

It took about two seconds for Kenzi to lunge for the phone, "Dyson?"

Kenzi nodded as the living room fell silent, "How bad?"

Tamsin wrapped an arm over Kenzi's shoulder, the young goth looking up at the blonde.

"So, she has stitches? I thought you couldn't get stitches wet?"

She looked at Lauren who nodded that it was a good question.

"Oh, the stitches are internal?"

Lauren covered her mouth, as if trying to hold back words.

"Dyson, where is the cut?"

"There's more than one?"

"Kenzi, please put him on speaker." Lauren said, as Ciara came to her side.

"Dyson, I'm putting you on speaker. Lauren, Ciara and Tamsin are all in the room with me."

"The ladies are having a pajama party!"

"Dyson!" Kenzi yelled, rolling her eyes. Ciara just shrugged when all eyes turned to her.

"Sorry! Most of the wounds are on her torso. She has one small cut on her forehead."

"She hit her head?" The panic in Lauren's voice was obvious.

"Lauren, my head is fine. I scraped the coral. It wasn't really an impact."

"Bo?"

There was a long pause before she responded, "Yea, Lauren. It's me. I'm fine, really."

"You're sure." Lauren asked.

"Yea, but really... you don't have to worry. I heard you have bigger fish to fry than small time surfers like me. Mitch got an invitation to work at the Olympic training center today. Dr. Mansfield called him... told him he'd be working with the new Head doc... a Doctor Lauren Lewis."

"Bo..."

"Imagine my surprise when I learned third hand that you were moving to Colorado."

Bo's voice was laced with anger, but Lauren didn't back down.

"Well, you made it pretty clear that you and I didn't have a future, Bo. Why should I stay where I'm not wanted. I think I've already lived over twenty-five years of that scenario."

There was silence before Bo spoke again,

"Kenzi, did Dyson give you a list of things to bring with you?"

"Yup."

"Thanks. I'll see you afternoon my time."

"Okay, Bo."

"And Lauren?"

"Yes, Bo?"

"I would have fought for you."

Lauren chuckled, "Is that statement your grand gesture, Bo? I'm saying this more for Kenzi's benefit than yours since we were just talking about it, but what you're saying is that if I had stayed here, you would have fought for me... if I had suffered longer waiting for you to decide if you could love me or not... you would have fought for me... if I had waited for you to decide if you could trust me or not... you would have fought for me... if I had done whatever it was that you, Bo Dennis, needed... wanted... demanded that I do... then... and only then... would you have fought for me. I'm just wondering, Bo... exactly how is that different than the life I was living with Nadia?"

Lauren looked up at the three women with tears streaming down her face as she picked up Tamsin's keys and walked out of the door, closing it quietly behind her.

"You know what? You're right, Lauren. Just... just give me until I'm home. I'm just... I have this competition right now... I just need to get this done and then I swear we'll talk."

"You're too late, Bo."

"Kenzi, what are you talking about?"

"She left after she made her speech."

"Left for where?"

"Bo, you should know that she ran here... barefoot... tonight. She ran here in her pajamas and bare feet from the Torrent Estate. When she came in, Tamsin was in my room and Ciara was asleep on the couch. I didn't tell her they were here because I wanted them to hear what she had to say and I was afraid she would clam up if she knew they were here."

Tamsin moved over to Kenzi, placing her work phone on the counter. She placed a hand on Kenzi's shoulder as she spoke,

"If you have time, I'll play the conversation for you. I recorded it so that we could talk about it with Ciara and get her advice after Lauren had left. I feel like a total asshole now for recording it, for not revealing myself and will probably feel worse after I let you hear it, but you need to know what she's thinking and feeling right now, Bo. You also need to know that I think you're being a total dick to my best friend and I'm not happy about it. At the same time, I'm pissed at her for not waiting to leave. She of all people knows you can't leave that competition without sacrificing the championship for her right now."

Tamsin hit the record button. The room fell silent as they replayed the conversation from earlier. They all listened as Bo's sniffles turned to full blown sobs. When the recording was finally over, the brunette spoke,

"Kenzi, forget coming tomorrow. As soon as the competition is over, I want the first flight out. Dyson and Vex need to earn their keep. They can handle the P.R. on the new gear. Dyson was going to be the model anyway. All we have to do is find a few local girls to model the women's gear but Vex can definitely make that happen. Can you get me that flight?"

"Even if I have to charter a private plane. I'll get you home before Lauren leaves. Professor Meade?"

"Send him down... you know what? Use your ticket and send Maverick with him. You have his legal documents, right?"

"Yup. All of the kids have current passports locked in the safe. I'll call tomorrow to get permission from his case manager to take him out of the country."

"He'll be so excited to see your competition." Ciara added.

"Don't say anything until you're absolutely sure it's all approved, Kenzi. No let downs."

"I know, BoBo. You know, he doesn't really know the Doc very well. Are you sure he's going to be willing to travel with him?"

Bo was silent for a moment before she replied, "If he won't fly with the Professor, ask Lauren if she'll fly down with him."

"If Lauren flies down with him, do you still want the same return flight?"

"That will depend on if she decides she's flying to Colorado or not."

"So, make sure the flights are flexible." Kenzi replied.

"I guess so."

"Bo?"

"Yes, Kenzi?"

"Can I ask you what your plan is?"

There was a pause before Bo replied, "First, I'm gonna get those shirts you're sending with Maverick. Then, I'm going to tell him how he saved my skin by hopping on a plan and bringing them down. Then, I'm going to win. Wish me luck."

Bo ended the call leaving the three women looking at each other for a long while. Finally, Ciara asked,

"What's her plan for Lauren?"

"You heard her... win." Kenzi replied.

Tamsin laughed, "So, you're going to tell the Professor that he's not going, aren't you?"

"Nope. I'm going to buy three tickets and send all three of them. I'm going to tell Lauren that Maverick won't fly without her and we already told him he can go see Bo surf. I'm sending the Professor so he can watch Maverick when our girls finally decide to talk. Besides, Maverick loves volcanoes and so does the Professor. Considering that Fiji is basically one big volcano, I think the boys will be just fine together."

Tamsin laughed, "You're a genius."

"Yea, as long as you let the boys in on the plan. You do NOT want Lauren to catch you in a lie this time." Ciara warned.

"it's not a lie, it's a deception. There's a difference."

"There is?" Ciara asked.

"Sure. A lie violates trust. A deception is a magic trick meant to make magic happen. If these two actually end up together, I am definitely a magician."

Kenzi placed the two glasses in the sink and headed out of the kitchen, "I'm going to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day!"

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	11. Chapter 11: Making Memories

_**A/N: First, congrats to all of the countries in the Olympics... love the spirit of the games! So exciting and such great competition! So there were lots and lots of opinions on how things should proceed... let's see what happens! Maybe one of you needs to be the BoLo relationship guru! Here we go... please excuse mistakes, I made posting the priority over proof reading! Sorry if it's a grammatical disaster! The summer heat is frying the brain!**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHAPTER 11: Making Memories**_

Kenzi had gotten the Professor, Lauren and Maverick off to Fiji in Tamsin's car by seven a.m., thanks to Maverick's caseworker thinking the trip was a good idea for the young boy's vision of his future in the world.

Lauren, however, was another story. So, she enlisted a certain little boy's help, possibly telling him that Dr. Lewis did not really want to go because she had to pack up her belongings for a new job that she MAY be taking. From there, Maverick made it his mission to talk the doctor into staying at Kenbo in Hawaii.

The young student had wanted to bring along his rock collection, but the Professor explained that his precious treasures may not make it through the security check, so instead promised to go through the collection with him when they got home.

The flight had gone without issue other than the fact that their internal clocks were a mess because of the day and a half time jump they had to do. Once they got to the airport, Val picked them up, hustling them through the airport as she explained the venue had been changed due to the hazardous conditions, leaving Bo with less time to warm up. To top it off, she'd lost yet another shirt to the reefs yesterday in addition to more skin and she was basically about to surf naked if they didn't get the gear bag Kenzi had packed to her right away.

Lauren decided to offer her services at the medical tent, telling Maverick that when he saw Bo to let her know she was here and watching from the medical tent. He agreed, excited to see his favorite mentor. Professor Meade agreed to keep an eye on him for Lauren so the group split up, Val running off to work the Kenbo product launch booth with Vex.

Once at the tent, Lauren had found Mitch and, after scolding him for diming her out to Bo, asked how she could help. The young therapist was excited to have the doctor there, but the conversation soon became about the elephant in the room,

"So... I was surprised when Doc Mansfield told me you were moving to Colorado. I thought that you and Bo were... well..."

"Bo and I hit a road bump... it happens, right? She'll go her way and I'll go mine. It was nice while it lasted."

Mitch noticed the doctor's teary eyes just before she turned away and grabbed a towel from the bench. He smirked as he noticed her use it to dab at her eyes before she pretended to fold it, replacing it on a massage table.

The young therapist wasn't about to let the topic go. He's spent the last few days with Bo and had seen she and Lauren when they were together. This was no ordinary love... anyone could see it, especially with how upset Bo had gotten when he gave her the news... maybe intentionally.

"So, that's not what it looked like to me and I'm pretty sure Bo doesn't feel that way."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, uncoupled couples don't talk about each other all the time. I mean... geez... it's Lauren this and Lauren that... so... you dumped her, I guess?"

"What? No! No! She did the dumping!" Lauren insisted.

He frowned, his eyebrows knitting together, "Wow. You two need to get your stories straight then. She said you dumped her on the phone last night."

"Actually, she dumped me in person in the airport the day she left the states to come here."

"Oh, that day. She told me you were just taking the week to breathe a little after a disagreement you had."

"Disagreement? That's what she called it?"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger, Doc."

Lauren folded her arms over her chest, standing still until a young man came running up to the medical tent,

"Hey Doc... sorry... you a doc?"

"Doctor Lewis. How can I help you?"

The young man turned around, his wet hair dripping down his back held three deep gashes,

"Coral reef?"

"Man, they weren't messing around when they told us they had to move the site. It's shallow out there! We thought we'd stay there and warm up while the women put their finals down, but I think I'd rather wait for the regulation warm up."

"Lay down, face down on the table, please." Lauren pulled on a pair of gloves, "I can certainly get on board with that idea."

"Is it okay if I look up? You gotta see these chicks surf, Doc. They're a righteous bunch, this group. There's gonna be some epic moments!"

"Of course. I'd hate for you to miss an epic moment in life." Lauren smiled as her patient settled on the table, propping himself up on his elbows."

"The surf is rough, Doc. You're gonna have some business today. Hopefully nothing too serious... no matter how much you wanna win, you never want to see the competition go down hard... no one wants that."

Lauren bit her lip as a surge of fear passed through her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath reminding herself that these people were all professionals... that Bo was a professional. She'd probably surfed thousands of waves with nothing but a few cuts, scrapes and bruises all of her life before her drowning. She'd be fine. After all, surfing was going to be something she would now be dealing with in Colorado. It was a new sport – albeit exhibition for now – in 2020.

"Yea, I'm definitely not a fan of anything too serious."

"I can certainly understand that, Doc."

He lifted his arm to point, but Lauren was quick to address the action,

"Okay, I'm going to need you to remain in one position, uh..."

"Mark. My name is Mark... from California."

"Well, hello Mark from California. I'm going to need you to lie still. You can watch, but from a stationary position."

"Got it, Doc. Sorry. I just wanted to tell you to look up... that's Carissa, one of the big three... well, at least that's what my country calls them."

"Oh yea? Why's that?"

"Carissa, Alana and Bo... the big three. The question is, what will be the ranks when the season ends. I gotta tell ya, my money is on Dennis. She's a rad surfer and damn... she died and was brought back to life by Poseidon himself! A Dennis Championship? It's just meant to be, Doc."

Lauren gave him a tight smile. She would have liked to think that she had something to do with Bo's 'rebirth', but if the surfers wanted to declare her the God Poseidon, who was she to argue. She chuckled to herself, before looking up at the woman currently riding a huge wave... but the moment ended quickly... and fiercely...

"Oh dude! Wipe out! That's gonna leave a mark!"

Lauren's hands were tightened into fists as she watched the man on the wave runner search for the surfer. It felt like hours before she finally saw the bright yellow tip of a surfboard emerge from the water, the surfer not far behind as she handed the board to the driver, then climbed onto the sled and up onto the seat of the fast water craft. They drove off to safety, allowing Lauren to return her eyes to the surfer's back.

In that moment, she realized that this is what her life was about to become. Most sports could be very dangerous while others... not so much. She was going to get to know all of these athletes, knowing that she was going to have to watch them get hurt on occasion... sometimes, badly. She would have to find a way to reconcile these fears that survived with Bo's incident somehow or she would not be able to do the job she was being hired to do.

Looking back up at the water, she sighed as she spoke to her patient,

"So, Mark... you don't surf for a few hours?"

"Probably. It depends on how long it takes Dennis to stack up her points. She's shredding it out there this week. Woman is surfing like she's possessed."

"You don't say." Lauren mused as she went to work making sure the wounds were clean, "Do you have a dry shirt to put on for a while?"

"Sure. Does it need stitches?"

"Well, I'm going to use surgical glue the deepest part, then stitches before using a waterproof dressing. I don't suppose you brought something that will keep this dry while you surf?"

"Actually, I did. It's a little cold out there, so I have waterproof, dry suit... you name it."

"The name is keep it dry." Lauren replied.

"Got it, Doc." The boy pressed up off the table, "That it?"

"That's it." Lauren smiled before she spoke again, "Mark? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing, Doc."

"Why do you do it? Why surf and put your life at risk out there."

Mark smiled, scratching his chest, "It's the rush, Doc. There's nothing like it in the world. I mean, I've ridden roller coasters, bungy jumped, gone sky diving, base jumping, snow boarding down some radical faces, but this... this is you against the big mother herself!"

"The big mother?" Lauren asked, quizzically.

"Mother Nature, Doc! When you're out there, you're taking on the most powerful force on the planet and trusting her to cradle you to her big double D's rather than spank you like you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar!"

Lauren laughed, "Great analogy." She smiled, "But... aren't you ever afraid?"

He looked out at the surf for a long moment before he replied, "Afraid of feeling a wall of water wrap around me, creating my own little universe that blocks out all of the noise of the idiots in this world? Nah. That's peace, Doc... the ultimate peace. It only lasts seconds, but it's worth it. Of course, I've also loved puzzles all my life. There's not greater puzzle that solving a wave. How will I enter it, how long can I ride it, what tricks can I do on it and can I thank the wave for a great ride and exit it without looking like a total idiot... that's... well... fun."

"Fun." Lauren replied.

"Yup. Fun. Do you have fun at your job?" Mark asked.

"Well, I don't know that I would call it fun... I mean... putting people's bodies back together again after they do stuff like this..." She thought for a moment, trying to be careful not to offend the surfer, "...I guess if I'm successful at treating them, I feel... satisfied that I've done something to help them. If I'm not... well... that's just flat out depressing."

Mark frowned, "Yea, I get that, I guess."

"I've always been a puzzle solver... I loved working in the lab, researching cures and finding solutions to diseases. That was a rush for me, but people kept telling me what a great surgeon I was and I guess... I guess at first, I felt an obligation to use my gift. Now, I'm excited to take on something new that's related to sports and my licenses as both an Orthopedic Surgeon and Emergency Medicine physician. I don't know that it's fun, but it's definitely exciting."

Mark nodded, before turning back to the action. He immediately pointed towards the ocean,

"See! Look! Dennis is up... I'm telling you, since her accident she's been surfing like a whole new surfer. They say she released her burden."

"Oh yea?" Lauren really wasn't sure what he was talking about, but he continued.

"Yup. She gave it up for love... let it all go and... well... you can see. She's writing love letters in the waves. Dude, she's a-mazing!"

Lauren looked up to see Bo perched atop a massive wave, cutting back and forth over the crest,

"Ah, it's a perfect ride! Watch this... Do it! Do it!" Mark held his hands up, "YES! 360! The woman is pure! Oh yea, dropping into the barrel... hanging out behind that monster curtain! Tuck, grab the rail, get your weight over your front foot and put the pedal to the metal, Dennis! I tell ya, Doc, she's amazing! Tucked behind the curtain, looking through the window, there is nothing like it in this world..."

Lauren's eyes were wide as she wondered where the hell a window was. She couldn't see Bo at all, so how in the world could Bo see anything?

"YES! Look at her adjust her line! She keeps her forward momentum going, still holding onto the rail to keep control rather than bailing off! She goes straight along the face of the barrel! Most of us, point our boards down, but not Bo... OH MY...! Damn girl! Did you see her kick back straight back in behind the curtain?! Oh no... it's gonna close... get low, Bo... speed... it's collapsing..."

Lauren held her breath watching Bo disappear again inside a tube of whitewater, her hand gripping the table as Mark shouted,

"OH! Oh dude! She's out! She's freaking out! Only Dennis, baby! How the hell did she get outta that! The woman has an angel on her shoulder! That barrel should have collapsed right on top of her! No way!"

Another young man walked up and high-fived the patient on Lauren's table,

"Dude, Dennis is a fucking goddess. She's got to be the daughter of Poseidon himself, I swear. Anyone else would have gone DOWN on that one!"

"I know, right? Too bad she bats for the other team. Word has it her girlfriend is a blonde hottie who just won an Olympic medal or some shit like that."

"I wish I was a lesbian." Mark's friend replied.

Lauren choked back her laughter as Mark spoke,

"Hey Doc, this is my buddy Sam. He's the only one who won't need your services today! See? Not blood, no cuts! He's the only one of our group! What do you think about that, Doc?"

"I think Sam is smart." Lauren replied.

"Nah... Sam is cautious."

Lauren came back, "Some would say that cautious will keep Sam alive."

Mark shook his head, "You don't surf, do you, Doc?"

"I'm a beginner." Lauren replied, her mind flashing to making love with Bo atop the long board at night, the pink, orange and purple hues of sunset shrouding the brunette in a fantastic light. Shaking out the thoughts, she turned back to Mark,

"Well, let me give you a more advanced lesson. When you're in surf like this, there's no such thing as cautious. You have to ride the wave and remember that the wave isn't going to slow down for you. If you don't stay at the front end, it'll bury you and send you down to the coral so your back can be turned into ground beef like mine."

Sam leaned over, "Dude. That is so gnarly! It looks like you got attacked by an alligator or something!"

Lauren sighed, "Well, be careful. Going into open water with that wound can be very..."

"I know, Doc. It's not my first rodeo. MRSA, flesh eating bacteria and a lot of other nasty parasites can find their way into the gaping holes in my back. Keep them clean and keep them covered."

"And..."

"And come back after I'm done so you or one of the other brilliant life savers over here can make sure it's clean and stitched tight before I get on the plane for home."

Lauren nodded, "There's going to be bruising, so expect any pressure on your back to hurt for quite a while. That one cut is much deeper than I'd like for surfing, but I'm clearing you with the promise that you will come back to get it rechecked when you're finished."

"Thanks Doc... and by the way... if you hadn't cleared me, I would have signed the waiver letting me surf anyway."

"Of course you would." Lauren smiled, "Be careful out there, Mark. Go on then... go win your Bo Dennis bet."

"I'm gonna get her digits, Doc. She may think she's a lesbian, but I'll prove her wrong."

Lauren smiled, "Good luck."

The blonde watched as the young boy walked away and a young woman approached, "Hi Doc. My back is cramping up and I'm in the next heat. Anyone available to help me out?"

Lauren looked up at the team of massage therapists, "Any clear tables, Mitch?"

"Andrea's free."

Lauren pointed towards the back table and smiled at the thank you she received. Taking a seat at the table outside of the tent, she looked out at the ocean. Mitch came and leaned over her shoulder, handing her a pair of binoculars,

"If anyone gets hurt, it helps if you see the modality of the injury more closely when they bring them in. Use these."

Lauren smiled up at Mitch, squinting into the sun, "Thanks."

"You bet, Doc." He said, "She's a pro, Lauren. She doesn't fall much... she knows when to be all in and she knows when to fold. She's a lot smarter now... a more mature surfer who doesn't take unnecessary risk. She's more focused, better conditioned and more relaxed. All of those things are creating quite a bit of chatter around her in the judges' circle. They really like what they're seeing. She's got a real shot now and I don't think that would have happened if she hadn't drowned and met you."

Lauren smiled and turned back to the ocean. She looked down at the binoculars, willing the feeling in the pit of her stomach to go away. Adjusting the width to fit her eyes, she lifted the eyeglasses up and watched one of Bo's competitors ride the wave. She focused first on the woman's facial expression... the focus, the concentration and somewhere behind both... excitement... happiness.

She allowed her eyes to wander down to her stance, watching how her feet moved on the board, the use of her knees, hips and core. The scientist in her turned on and she began to analyze the biomechanics of a surfer... one after another until she recognized a stance... Bo. She remembered the lesson the brunette had given her about goofy foot stances versus natural footing, then explaining that she was a switch footer.

Kenzi explained that's why Bo was able to do some tricks that other people couldn't... at least, that was the young sister's belief. Bo was a lefty and it was pretty common for them to be goofy foot surfers, but when Lauren learned that she was cross dominant and swung a baseball bat right handed, she started to gain interest in how that effected athletes and their skills.

Lauren opened her phone entering a note to herself that when she got to Colorado, to look into any studies regarding biomechanics and dominance in sport. If there weren't any that satisfied her questions, she'd set up a study of her own. Truly, the research aspect of helping athletes to run faster, jump farther and be stronger, among other skills, was what she most looked forward to in her new job. She was not looking forward to having to repair ACL tears just months before the 2018 Winter Olympics, trying to get the best of her country back to peak level.

She sighed, knowing that it would happen and there would be nothing she or her staff could do about it other than create the most comprehensive and sound conditioning and training program to make the athlete's bodies as resilient as possible, while still allowing them to train for peak skill development.

"Doc? Excuse me, Doc?"

Lauren shielded her eyes as she looked up at one of the event officials,

"Sorry. Can I help you?"

"Got any sunscreen?"

Lauren was saved by Mitch who called out, "Big bin of it right to your left, courtesy of Hawaiian Tropic."

Mitch smiled at Lauren who turned back to see Bo high atop a massive wave. As she slid down the face, the therapist came to stand next to her,

"Wow... big wave..."

"I see..." Lauren replied.

"Shit." Mitch said as the pair watched helplessly.

"Bo." Lauren whispered as she watched the brunette disappear into a rush of whitewater, her board popping up only to be tossed over and pulled under again. Lauren's breath caught as she watched Dyson zoom across the waves, focused on a spot that appeared completely void of any life.

It was a long moment... a long moment that took Lauren back to that day on the beach... the frantic look on Kenzi's face, the blood on the rescued surfer, face covered in dark wet hair, body limp and lifeless...

"She's good."

The worlds left Mitch's mouth, but remained a distant sound. Lauren felt like she was clawing for the surface, paddling through memories trying to get to present day life to believe what she heard her colleague say... panic... fear... relief. She was alive, Lauren reminded herself. She was alive back then and she's alive now.

She whispered to herself, _'Let go of the fear, Lauren. Bo's life is her choice. Her choice is surfing. She knows the risks. She knows the rewards. It's hers to choose and no amount of fear is going to help her or prevent her from doing what she chooses. You do not have a right to try to control her choices though others have spent their lives controlling yours like it's their job. Let it go, Lauren.'_

"Lauren? Did you hear me?"

The blonde looked up at Mitch, clearly not completely focused on his words as she replied, "Yea... yea, I did. She's fine."

Lauren looked up to see Bo paddling back into the group behind the sets, "She's going back in?"

Mitch nodded, "Until the horn sounds, she's all in, Lauren. That's how you win championships."

"Right." Lauren nodded, repeating her latest mantra to herself.

It was eight minutes later... and Lauren knew because she counted every second... that the final horn sounded. She watched as others around her cheered. She caught Mark's eye as he jockeyed to get into position to have a better view of the water, yelling to her,

"I should have bet you, Doc!"

Lauren smiled back, not understanding what he meant until she looked up to see the crowd of surfers and wave runners gathering around Bo. There were reporters with microphones on surfboards and cameramen in the water as Bo's hands were raised triumphantly over her head.

A dark-haired woman paddled over to Bo and hugged her, pulling her off the board while two other blonde women gave her a hug as well. They were all laughing and celebrating. Dyson idled the wave runner behind the group, smiling as he watched the group as well.

"Another win. It's really amazing, Lauren. There is just no way that woman should be back up on the board and doing what she's doing this season. Medically speaking, she just shouldn't be out there." Mitch smiled, still applauding with the crowd.

All Lauren heard was 'another win'. She'd won? How did they even determine that? She'd fallen, right? Was it the most falls? The most waves? She had no idea how the determined a victor. She always imagined it was whoever came back out of the water at the end of the day.

"That's great, Mitch."

"That's great?" Mitch asked, "Your girlfriend just won the friggin' Fiji Pro and you say, "That's great?"

Lauren scowled, "She's not my girlfriend anymore, Mitch and I don't know enough about surfing to understand the magnitude of what Bo has just accomplished."

"Well, it's like getting into the semifinals for the gold medal match every time she wins an event... she just has to win a shitload more semifinals than you do to get the pretty little necklace."

Lauren nodded, "I'm not quite sure, but I think I've just been insulted."

"Nah... you were one in millions who achieved what you achieved. You done good, Doc."

"That sounds like the equivalent of 'that's great'."

"Exactly." Mitch smiled, "Well, your non-girlfriend will certainly want to see you, so I'll get you covered."

"That's okay, Mitch. I can..."

"No way, Lauren. Bo will have my ass if I let you stay here all day as an excuse to not deal with whatever it is that's going down between you. I'll be back as soon as I can find someone. She'll be out there a while and then she has to talk to a million reporters. You've got time, so don't go hyperventilating over having to actually talk to your not-girlfriend."

Mitch walked away, leaving Lauren to sit, staring out at the brunette through her binoculars. The sun glistened off of her hard body as she climbed back onto her surfboard and paddled over to where a reporter was waving from, clearly eager to get an interview.

She watched as Bo calmly spoke, the reporter seemingly more excited than Bo was. The brunette glanced towards the beach on occasion, seemingly distracted. That was when she saw her looking right at her. Bo smiled before turning her attention to another voice calling out to her.

Lauren pulled the binoculars from her face, watching the group in the distance. Maybe life didn't have to be lived in a close up.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It had been a long day and the men were now up. Bo had gone off to do some press stuff while the Professor and Maverick had gone to explore some rocks along a local mountain with a guide. Mitch had gotten relief staff to cover for Lauren who decided that with nothing else to do for now, she'd just go down and sit on the beach. Watching the event throughout the day had taught Lauren that the number of wipeouts that would happen was relatively low among these professionals. While they looked horrible and scary when they happened, every surfer except one had come back to land with no more than a few cuts from hitting the reef below the surface.

The woman who had been brought to the tent on a stretcher was experiencing some numbness and tingling in her limbs after a particularly bad tumble, so Lauren and Mitch had agreed that a scan at the hospital of her neck and back was the best precautionary measure to take. The surfer had resisted at first, but her manager had stepped in and urged her to do as asked. She was not in the running for any of the top slots in the overall championship anymore and would receive no more or less pay for her efforts today if she bowed out before the last several minutes of her group.

Watching the ambulance leave had been hard for Lauren, again bringing up memories of Bo. But as the day went on, she found herself appreciating the sport as well as the abilities of these athletes more and more. It didn't seem such a crapshoot anymore. They were skilled and knowledgeable just like any other competitor in any other sport.

She also learned a lot from observing and took some camera footage of how the event was set up. If this world were to be part of her life in her new position, she would damn well be prepared and competent enough to know her job.

"Hey there."

Lauren looked up to see a familiar voice standing over her, "Hi."

"Well, I'm finished my duties for work, mission accomplished."

"I saw that... congratulations, Bo. You were amazing... well... at least I think you were. I really don't know anything about how the decide who wins, but I'm sure the judges know what they're talking about."

"Were you afraid?"

"Of and on... could have done without the wipe out."

"Yea, tell me about it. Not my proudest moment, but certainly not a bad wipeout by my standards. I didn't feel like I was in a washing machine. Just stayed down until I saw the breakers chill out over my head, then came up and swam to where I knew Dyson would be waiting."

"So what... you were just hanging out on the bottom of the ocean all that time?"

"Well, it beats the alternative of trying to swim up through a massive wave that's going to flip you over and over again until you're not sure where the sky is anymore."

"Washing machine..." Lauren thought, "... Oh! Now I get it."

"I knew you would." Bo smiled, "You're the smartest woman I know, after all."

Lauren smiled, before turning back towards the men who were starting their competition.

Bo frowned at Lauren's seeming disinterest in engaging in a conversation with her, so offered,

"Well, the geologists are off on their rock hunt. I guess that just leaves you and me. Anything you'd like to do in Fiji?"

"You're finished?"

"Yup."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is just more press stuff and selling my boards."

Lauren looked back at the surfers, "Well, this is all sort of last minute for me. I've never really had a chance to do anything when I was here for volleyball, so I guess..."

Lauren hesitated, then decided to put all of her cards on the table,

"Look, Bo... I just want to say that... I came her to bring Maverick to see you. I came here to learn about surfing... for my new job... I mean... I'll be overseeing all of the Olympic programs which means I'll be the first ever Team USA Surfing physician. You know my professional life is very important to me and I want to be sure that..."

"Lauren... please... stop. Look, I'm not going to mention staying in Hawaii or going to Colorado. Your life, your choice... but I do plan to try to make the decision difficult for you before you leave." Bo smiled.

"So you plan to mess with my head and badger me until I decide to stay in Hawaii for a big fat maybe with you?"

Bo frowned at the anger in the blonde's voice, "No, Lauren. Look... I'm trying to be friendly here. I'm trying to begin to mend a fence and tear down the big wall that has apparently been erected between us... by both of us, not just me, Lauren. We've failed as a couple because life through a ton of shit at us that neither of us were prepared to handle. We've got a lot to work out and whether that means we're doing it in separate states or not, we can still try."

"Are you suggesting a long distance relationship?" Lauren asked.

"No. I'm suggesting a long distance friendship... for starters." Bo replied, "I'm not going to try to make you do anything you don't want to do, Lauren. But I am going to do everything I can to make you hear exactly what you did not hear before I left..."

Lauren nodded, "I'm listening."

Bo pulled out her cell phone, "Good and since recording conversations seems to be a thing these days, I'm going to record this one and send it to you so you can listen to it over and over again because I don't want you misconstruing my meaning again."

Bo hit record and held the phone out...

"Bo, I didn't..."

"No, Lauren. You did. You jumped to conclusions before. Now listen... I love you... I've never stopped loving you, but watching you go from this strong determined woman to this submissive woman... seeing you in that jail at the beginning of your visit... I hadn't seen that kind of response in years... not since my Aunt. So, I now understand a lot about what happened with Nadia and how she was able to manipulate you. I see the confusion and pain in you and I want that to heal... but that takes time, Lauren. So, I'm giving you that time... I'm giving you that space... I'm giving you that freedom."

Bo's voice cracked as she turned away from the blonde, "I'm giving you all you need so that you can heal and find yourself... the real you. Then, when you feel that has happened, I hope that you will reach out to me... maybe you can do that along the way as well... you know... keep in touch, maybe see each other once in a while... and we'll see what happens. I'm leaving it up to the old 'if it's meant to be, it will be', phrase."

Lauren turned to see tears streaming down Bo's face. The brunette shook her head, "I'm sorry... I promised I wouldn't cry, but... how do you turn to someone you love and have thought of having a life with and say that I'm going to trust I'll still get to live my dream with you some day?"

Lauren smiled, wiping away Bo's tears, "Just like that."

She pulled Bo into her embrace and allowed the brunette to cry. She cried with her... they cried together for what they'd found in each other, for what they'd been through, for what they'd lost and for fear of what they may never find again... still... there was a sort of peace in this moment... a bit of hope.

"Okay then, let's not spend our last days together before I leave crying on a beach." Lauren stood, offering her hand to a still teary-eyed Bo, "You've showed me your version of grocery shopping, now show me your Fiji."

Bo smiled and took the offered hand, standing up and following Lauren down the coastline.

"Well, this is Namotu Island, Tavarua, Fiji." Bo smiled, opening her eyes and spinning in a circle, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lauren smiled, "It is."

"Did you know it's shaped like a heart?"

Lauren shook her head, "I didn't. Is this the Bo Dennis fun facts tour of Fiji?"

"Well, I am just loaded with fun facts... I am quite the scholar."

"I am very impressed, Miss Dennis."

"Why thank you, Dr. Lewis."

Lauren smiled. It had been a very long time since she and Bo had been together with such an easy presence. It was... fun.

"So how many times have you been here?" Lauren asked.

"To Fiji? Once or twice a year since I was sixteen and surfed in my first qualifier to become a WSL Pro."

"And what kind of surfer was the great Ysabeau Dennis at age sixteen?" Lauren was curious about how early Bo started in the WSL. She'd thought she was in high school and then college. She didn't think her surfing career began until after her parents were gone.

"She was pretty reckless, according to her parents... and even more so after my Dad died. I got suspended just before college, so my Mom told me I couldn't go back until I got my emotions under control. She said a depressed surfer didn't care about themselves or others, so she wanted me to get my education out of the way first." Bo looked out to see, retying her pony tail before she added, "As it turned out, getting back into it after college became a necessity to survive and I was even more angry because by then, both of my parents were dead."

Lauren nodded in reply, "The waves here are really, really big... and powerful."

"Were you nervous?" Bo asked.

"Do you think the family of race car drivers, jockeys, motor cross riders and skydivers are nervous when they do their thing?"

Bo smiled, "Of course, but I think they just trust that they know what they're doing and that they'll be okay."

Lauren nodded, "Well, I'm sort of like those families... but with less experience at keeping the nervousness at bay. Actually, the more I watched, the more I realized that the first heat that I saw you in, probably surfed twenty waves and combined, you only fell twice."

"Yea, thanks for the reminder."

Lauren nodded, her eyes remaining straight ahead as they walked past the huge breakers of the location where she had seen Mark warming up when he got cut. She felt Bo grip her wrist, effectively bringing her to a hault,

"Hey... I wasn't in the washing machine. I was just..."

"I know... you were staying below the whitewater until it was safe for you to come up and not get flipped end over end by a wave." Lauren said matter-of-factly, silently recalling the panic she'd felt before Mark had explained why the brunette hadn't surfaced.

"You knew that?" Bo asked.

"I learned it from a surfer named Mark and his friend Sam."

"Twin sons of different mothers! You met them?"

"You know them?" Lauren asked in reply.

Bo laughed, "Did Mark show you my autograph?"

"He has your autograph? But he's a pro surfer!"

Bo nodded, "And we all collect each other's autographs. If we ever get into financial trouble, we can always sell them... it's our way of taking care of each other. We hold benefits for surfers that are critically injured and can't compete anymore, too."

"Sounds like a pretty tight-knit community."

"We are... well, you saw that in Rio with Manny and Miguel."

Lauren nodded, "Well, Mark didn't show me your autograph, why?"

Bo laughed, "I guess we were about twenty four or so when he asked me to sign his right ass cheek. I did and he then took his drunk self to a tattoo artist who permanently attached my initials to his hind quarter."

"No!" Lauren laughed.

"Yup. If you ever run into him again, you should tell him he needs a tetanus shot in his ass just so you can see it... right cheek."

The blonde smiled, "I'll do that."

"Oh, I hope he wasn't too... well, he can make some pretty crude comments about... well... my body. I hope he didn't upset you."

"He commented on your chest and wishing he was a lesbian so he could prove to you he was a better catch than your hot blonde volleyball player girlfriend, but I wasn't offended."

Lauren laughed as Bo's face twisted into a frown, "I'm sorry about that."

"it's okay, Bo. I'm used to crude comments from guys. It happens... I mean... I usually say something, because it's not okay but I deal with it in my own way like most women."

Bo shook her head, "No, I mean about the girlfriend comment. There's a lot of rumors about who I'm dating and... well... I guess some photos of us found their way to social media during the Olympics, so..."

"Bo, I'm not ashamed to be labeled as your girlfriend by others. Frankly, it's no one's business what the status of our relationship is. I just chose not to comment on his comments."

Bo followed Lauren as she continued to walk, "Wow... that's very... mature... of you."

"Well, it's not like I can run around telling every person who might know that I'm not your girlfriend. Don't worry about it, Bo. Really."

Lauren was going to add that soon enough she'd be gone from the island and the rumors would fade, but she decided not to go there. She didn't feel a need to repeat her intentions of leaving to Bo and she really didn't want to hurt her.

"Well, that's enough of that stuff. Let's go have some fun. Kenzi said you were renting a car... did that actually happen or did you arrive to no car?"

Lauren laughed, "You don't trust Kenzi with travel plans much, do you?"

"Experience IS the best teacher. Val and Vex usually handle the travel reservations. When Kenzi does it, something usually goes wrong."

All Lauren could think of was that she hoped nothing went wrong on their return flight. She had spoken to Pops about renting out the house once it was finished until she decided where she was going with her life. She'd spoken to Chief McCorrigan, apologizing profusely for resigning. He was so understanding and promised that if she ever decided to come back, a position would always be made available to her in any department she chose. Of course, that was after he informed her that when she had returned full time, he had planned to make her the Chief of Emergency Medicine... Evony's replacement. It was board approved and a done deal except for the salary discussion.

"Lauren?"

"Oh... I'm sorry, Bo. My mind just... drifted off."

"It's okay. I'm sure that Kenzi got your return travel plans right. You'll make your flight to Colorado."

"Bo, I..."

"Lauren, it's okay... really. Can I ask what's going to happen to your house?"

"I asked Pops to rent it out once it was built."

"You're not going to sell the property?" Bo asked.

"I don't know yet, to tell you the truth. If this job works out, I may want a warm place to dwell in the winters... I mean... I am moving to Colorado."

Bo smiled, "That is true. I guess while I'm riding waves in the sun, you'll be riding a snowboard in twenty feet of snow."

"Well, I don't know that I'm going to become an extreme snowboarder over night, but yes, I'll be giving it a try. Maverick won't have it any other way."

"I can have him come out to visit you, ya know."

Lauren felt her eyes tear up at the thought of not seeing Maverick whenever she wanted to... or whenever he needed her. She'd grown quite fond of the boy.

"That would be nice, Bo."

They were silent for a moment, before Bo asked, "Would... I mean... if it was okay with you... I would like to bring him out there... I can send him with Dyson if you'd rather. He and Ciara both love snow. Dyson is a snowboarder and Ciara loves to ski. Come to think of it, they might be more qualified. I've never been on snow in my life."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "I'm a beach bum through and through. It's not that the thought has never crossed my mind, but I was always too worried I'd miss a surfing event if I went snowboarding."

"I'm sure you could make sure Kenzi got the flights right."

"Oh, no... that's not it. I mean... you'll find this ironic, actually. I was always more worried about breaking a leg snowboarding than I was about drowning in big waves."

Lauren nodded, "That is ironic, indeed."

They walked for a little while. When they could see the parking lot, Lauren casually said, "I would like it if you would bring Maverick out. He could teach us both to snowboard."

Bo's heart swelled at the invitation. Maybe there was reason to hope after all.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

They arrived at a dock with boats unlike anything Lauren had ever seen before. She followed Bo, as she waved to an older man tending to the vessels,

"Hey Sup! You taking care of my boy?"

The older man laughed, giving Bo a hug, "Both of your boys! You didn't tell me your Professor was nothing more than a gray-haired ten-year-old!"

"Well, I didn't know until I saw him and Maverick playing in the tide pools a last week. Where are they?"

"Sorry, Bo. You just missed them. Maverick told me to tell you he promised to keep his life jacket on and that it has a flashlight and whistle attached to it in case he gets in trouble."

"Okay. So, that doesn't answer my question."

"Oh. Sorry, I thought you knew. They went snorkeling... don't worry, they're not at Cloudbreak... and then they're going to the Skate ramp and then to Kiddie Land."

"Kiddie Land?" Lauren asked, whispering to Bo.

"Oh, that's a place where kids can learn to ride waves. I asked Sup to hook him up with the surf pros who work there... I thought he could use some male bonding time while hanging out with 'real surfers' as he calls them." Bo replied, before turning to the older man, "Sup, this is my... my friend... Lauren."

The brunette lowered her eyes as the blonde stepped forward and shook the man's hand,

"It's nice to meet you, Lauren. You all ready to go?"

Lauren looked at Bo, "I sort of planned some stuff when Kenzi told me you were coming."

The blonde smiled, "Thank you, Bo. It was nice of you to do that, but you really didn't have to."

Bo shook her head, "If you have other plans or want to be on your own, that's fine, Lauren. I won't be offended. Sup can take you out alone to... if you'd rather I stay behind so you can explore on your own."

"Bo..."

"No, Lauren. Really... I don't want you to feel obligated to spend time with me. I know you only came her for Maverick. It's okay. If you want to go and catch up with him you can. I just... I want you to do what you want to do... you know... for yourself."

Lauren nodded, "Well, if it's okay with you, I'd like to spend some more time with you today. The reality is, we may not see each other for quite some time, Bo... so let's just enjoy what you have planned for now."

"And you'll let me know if you want to take off on your own at any time?" Bo wanted to be sure that Lauren was spending time with her because she wanted to... not because she felt obligated out of some sense of guilt for leaving.

"I promise, I will."

"Okay, well we're going to put that to the test right now because Sup is going to take us kiteboarding."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "No! Absolutely not! You mean that thing where you tow me with a rope and I fly up in the air, then crash to the earth and die! I knew you were upset with me, but I didn't think you'd actually try to kill me, Bo!"

Bo shook her head. There is was... that famous Lauren Lewis panic... the fear was there and it was Bo's intention to take it away. She did not want Lauren to carry that fear with her to Colorado. If she did, the blonde would do nothing but remain in the safe confines of a lab and her athletes. She didn't want Lauren to move away to find a new life and not actually find a new way of living.

"Lauren... will you please hear me out?" Bo asked.

"I am not going up there, Bo."

Sup excused himself to get the boat ready to launch while Bo turned back to Lauren, "I know you're afraid, but Lauren... your fear began the first time your step father hit you... and yes... I know... word travels fast even when I'm away. Don't be mad at Kenzi. She's just worried about you... everyone is, Lauren... because we care about you... we love you and want you to be happy no matter what."

Lauren stood perfectly still, her arms folded across her chest. Bo had to laugh inside as she thought of how much she looked like a certain little boy when he first arrived,

"You know, the way you're standing right now... the stubborn look on your face... you look like Maverick when he first arrived, challenging me to make his life any better. Look, I'm no psychiatrist, but it makes sense to me that if you learned to fear when you were that young and then learned to fear more when kids started riding you because of your big brain, it probably provided the perfect opportunity for Nadia to permanently plant fear in your heart as well... permanently."

"Bo... I'm not..."

"I hear you, Lauren, but I'm not buying it. If you continue to live in fear of trying new things, staying stuck in nothing but your research and your athletes, how will you ever truly know who you are and what you love in life? How will you ever find your passions, hobbies or your one true love? How will Colorado be any different than California or Hawaii? If you keep sticking to what you know out of fear, taking a new job becomes more about geography than personal growth... I mean... like I said... I'm not the doctor here, but you are and... I don't know... does anything I'm saying ring true with you?"

Lauren stood still, her eyes glancing at the back of the boat. Her eyes were brimming with tears as her gaze slowly moved up to meet Bo's,

"I'm just... I'm so scared, Bo."

The brunette's heart broke at the fear covering the blonde's face, "I know you are, but just like the first time you climbed onto my long board in the ocean, I'll be with you every step of the way. I've never asked anything of you, Lauren... never... even though I think you believe I have. What I've been trying to tell you... trying to ask of you... is that you get strong for you. I love you and want you to be the best you that you can be because I know that you will never be happy if you are anything less than all you can be. So please, Lauren... do this for me?"

Lauren slowly nodded, taking the hand that Bo extended to her, "I promise that if you relax and trust in me and Sup, you will be safe... and you will be amazed at the view. Free yourself, Lauren... free your soul and allow yourself to embrace all the wonders of this world... keep reminding yourself... free yourself... free your spirit."

Bo could feel Lauren's hand trembling in her own as they approached the boat, but still, the blonde followed her until she was safely seated under cover in the center of the boat house. Bo cast off the dock ropes and hopped on as the small group headed out towards their first adventure.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

As Sup drove the flat-bottom boat onto the beach, Bo jumped out and pulled it in, tying the boat fast to the large stakes that Sup had placed on the beach years ago.

She turned to where her friend was handing things to Lauren and motioning to take them to shore. Finally, he watched as he handed her the bag Bo had packed for the blonde.

The pair walked to Bo who had stripped off her sweatshirt and shorts, leaving her in only her bathing suit bottoms, rash guard and life vest. She could see the hesitation on Lauren's face as she listened intently to Sup explaining why they were on this particular island. There were no power lines, houses, rocks or trees anywhere near their take off and landing area.

Bo moved closer to the pair and listened as Sup explained that they needed a sandy beach with a sandy bottom and the safety reasons behind those points. He then pulled out the kite. As he set it up, he began reviewing the various parts before explaining the required wind speeds and how wind can increase or decrease. He then instructed her in the wind window, before placing the grip bar in her hand and stepping behind her. Once the kite was all laid out, Sup began,

"We're going to fly the practice kite now. We're going to imagine the window I explained and move it to the clock positions. Here we go, now hold on tight even though I'm with you. We're going to back up and keep our arms straight and the kite will lift up. It will give you a good pull. You ready?"

Lauren just nodded her head nervously, causing Sup to look over his shoulder at Bo. The brunette smiled and nodded with a chuckle. Sometimes Lauren's fears made her adorable.

Bo watched as Sup called out the time and allowed Lauren to get a feel for the motion of steering the kite, having her hold it steady for five seconds in each position,

"Okay, now imagine that big clock in the wind window, right?"

"Right. You're holding on, right?"

"I'm here, Lauren. Now, let's get the flight to fly steady for five seconds at twelve o'clock. Good... now one o'clock... good... now two... good, now back to twelve..."

Bo watched as Sup expertly handled both Lauren and the practice kite from ten to two several times on the clock he'd described. Bo smiled, remembering how the kind old man had first taught her the same basics. It had taken her several days, but she finally caught on and once she did, Bo was hooked. She just knew that Lauren would love it if she could just relax and let go. She sighed, hoping the blonde would give it a real chance.

Bo finally pulled her kite and board out of the bag and set up to take Lauren out. She and Sup had agreed that since Lauren had very little surfing experience, the only way up for her was in a tandem vest with Bo. By the time she was set up and clipped into her harness, Sup was approaching the brunette with his student.

"Wait... what if I get you killed?" Lauren asked.

"Lauren Lewis, sometimes you are adorable. Do you really think I would let you get me killed? I've got to much to live for darlin', so we won't be leaving this plane of existence today."

Lauren sighed, "Bo, I don't want you to risk your..."

"Okay... here's the deal, Lauren. I'm going up whether you join me or not. The wind in my hair, surfing and flying at the same time... it's a freeing experience that I happen to love and thought you would want to share. Now... it's put up or shut up time. Now, can you summon the ability to say 'fuck it all' for just fifteen minutes and fly with me? You know exactly what the chances are of you and I ever getting the opportunity to do this together ever again. I'm going... with or without you. Grab your phone and take pictures from the shore or step up on this board in front of me, let me clip you in to my vest, grab the bar and hang on... trusting me to take care of you."

Bo lifted the bag with the gear she'd brought and tossed it at Lauren's feet, "You'll need to put that on. Use the boat if you're shy. I'm taking off in three minutes. Clock it, Sup."

"You've got it Bo." Sup replied with a wink, setting his watch for three minutes.

Bo watched as Lauren stared at the bag for the first thirty seconds. The brunette then began to tighten her harness and run through the check of the kite ropes, making sure that everything was connected and not twisted.

She looked up to see that Lauren was still standing in the same spot staring at the bag.

"Two minutes to lift off, Bo."

Lauren groaned and picked up the bag, running to the boat. The alarm sounded on Sup's phone just as she stepped onto the dock. Bo stood staring at the blonde who froze just as she stepped onto the sand.

"Three minutes is up, Lauren. Staying or going?"

Still, the blonde stood, wringing her hands as her eyes ran back and forth over the kite and board. Bo was surprised to see Sup walk towards Lauren. He leaned in and whispered in her ear for quite some time before stepping away and sharing a long look with the blonde. He extended his hand, which Lauren took and walked her towards Bo.

She stepped up to Bo, "Uh... do I have to stand right in front of you?"

Bo nodded, "We're going to be touching... if that's the problem here, I can step off and Sup can take you up. Like I said, if you can't do this, you can't do it, Lauren. I'm asking, I'm not demanding or making you do anything. I think it would be good for you... fun, even... but you have to be willing to let go and trust me... if you can't trust me... you shouldn't fly with me."

This was the moment and Lauren knew it. Bo was asking not for her trust in kite surfing, but her trust in life, no matter what happened between them. She was well aware that Bo knew she had trust issues. Lauren thought for a moment about all the brunette had said to her about how her past had impacted the woman she was today. The brunette was right... she couldn't trust because no one had ever come through for her... even Bo had let her down recently, but in truth, she had let Bo down first... and in many ways.

"Okay." Lauren replied, stepping forward and slipping her feet into the appropriate spots on the board. Bo clipped them in before reaching around Lauren to grip the handlebar the Sup handed her.

"Grip the bar, Lauren... hold on tight. Do you remember how you steered... what it felt like?"

Lauren nodded, "Bo, I'm really scared... I really don't want to do this... but I don't want to let you down."

Bo pulled the bar from Lauren's hand and dropped it to the ground. Sup immediately stepped on it, turning his back to the pair to give them some privacy. The brunette spoke from behind the blonde,

"You won't let me down if you don't do this, Lauren. Frankly, it doesn't matter what I think of you. You don't owe me anything and I don't expect anything of you. Move past it, Lauren. What's really stopping you?"

"I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

Lauren stood, silent and shaking... it broke Bo's heart, but she still held out for a breakthrough,

"I'm afraid of everything... of life... of failing... of not knowing."

"Of not knowing what?"

"Everything! What will happen when we do this? Will we live? What will happen if I go to Colorado? What happens if I get there and I can't do it? What if... what if I miss... everyone... what if I'm making a huge mistake? What if I lose you? What happens if I don't? I don't want to die, but you're right... I'm afraid to live."

"Suppose we don't do this Lauren. Suppose we get back on that boat, go back to the island, get into your rental car and are killed at a traffic intersection. What if we die without having done this today? How would you describe your life then?"

Lauren was quiet for a long moment before she finally said, "I would have achieved my goal of being a doctor and a gold medalist. I will have had two good friends. I will have shared time with a woman I loved truly and deeply."

"Is that enough for you?" Bo asked.

Lauren was silent for a moment... a long moment... a moment long enough for Bo to say,

"Okay, Sup. Let's pack it up. Maybe tomorrow."

"No." Lauren said, picking up the bar, "We do this now or never."

Bo smiled at Sup who gave her a thumbs-up. Extending their arms together, the pair watched as the kite lifted up. Bo whispered,

"Remember all of your surf lessons. Bend your knees, okay?"

Lauren nodded, unable to speak as they began to lift up off the ground. Bo watched as the blonde suddenly released one hand from the bar, gripping her forearm with the other,

"Uh... Lauren, I need my arms to steer!"

The blonde immediately gripped the bar again, looking down as they rose higher in the air,

"Okay, here we go!"

Bo listened for any sign that Lauren was still conscious, but the only indicator she had was that the blonde's hands and arms were rigid enough that it was difficult to steer and her knees were bent so deeply that she was pulling Bo forward in the harness. Bo knew from experience there was one sure way to get Lauren to relax... or get herself slapped when they got back on the beach. She leaned forward and whispered in the blonde's ear,

"Relax, Lauren. Please, baby... trust me... relax so I can give you something that feels almost as good as it felt when we would lay naked together in bed."

The blonde's head fell back onto Bo's chest as a surge of heat shot straight to her core. Bo continued,

"Feel my body against yours... move with me, Lauren... help me steer us down. We're going to touch down on the top of the next set of waves and then launch back up. Relax your hands on the bar and just feel the way I steer us. Keep your butt against my legs so you can feel how I move my legs and hips on the board when we land and ride."

Lauren swallowed hard, her body feeling so many things while her mind went crazy with fear as they plummeted towards the water. When they touched down, she leaned back with Bo, feeling the board riding the wave beneath their feet as they picked up speed. The only sound she could hear was the wind rushing past her ears. She felt Bo pull back, pumping the kite so they would gain altitude again,

"How does that feel, baby?" Bo asked, her lips just grazing the blonde's ear.

They touched down again, this time Bo could feel the blonde relax a little more,

"That's it... I can feel you relaxing now... just lean back against me and enjoy the ride, Lauren. Let go... free yourself... just feel... feel everything, Lauren. This is real life... this is the thrill of real life."

Bo pushed the kite a little harder now, gaining more speed and altitude, aiming for the face of bigger waves. Lauren tensed, then relaxed until she began to get into the rhythm and feel of Bo behind her.

By the time Bo's arms were burning, she had Lauren screaming out across the ocean, a brilliant smile on Bo's face matched the enthusiasm of the blonde. The brunette really didn't want this to end. She knew this would likely be the one and only time they would get to do this... possibly the last day they would spend together for a very long time... but the bottom line was, if she stayed up much longer, she would put them both in danger. Sadly, she told Lauren the news,

"Okay, baby. I'm going to have to put us down now."

"No! Stay! This is... please, Bo! Just a little longer!"

"Lauren, I promised you we weren't dying today. My arms are on fire, honey. I have to land us or we really may get hurt."

"Okay. I understand." Lauren replied, "But Bo?"

"What, Sweetie?"

"I've never had a better time in my entire life. Thank you so much for being patient with me."

"Always, love."

"Bo?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry I'm leaving you... but I need you to know that I really do love you."

Bo nodded as tears began to blur her vision, "I love you too, Lauren... and as much as my heart is breaking at the thought of losing you, I know you have to go."

The pair landed softly on the beach, Bo lowering their arms to Lauren's hips. Sup ran to the pair, unhooking the harness so Lauren could step out. The blonde turned around and watched as the brunette bent down, wiping tears from her face before stepping out of the board. She stood and quickly turned around, not allowing Lauren to see her face. She exchanged some words with Sup who walked to Lauren,

"Okay, now you learn how to pack the equipment back up. It's wet, so we'll put it away temporarily, then lay it out when we get back home."

"Bo?" Lauren called to the brunette, trying to step around her tutor.

He stepped in front of the blonde, "Lauren... please... give her a moment. You've made your choice and forced her into a situation where she has to adapt and deal with that decision. She's trying... she's trying very hard, but her love for you runs very, very deep. I've known Bo since she was sixteen. She was reckless, rude and arrogant. While she has matured over the years, the impact you have had on her is not something I can explain to someone who didn't know her when she was young."

He took a step back and leaned down, handing Lauren the life jacket Bo had stripped off,

"Just know that while she's been focused on helping you deal with your demons, she has been dealing with them too... while dealing with her own as well. Just give her a few minutes. She'll bounce back and give you a day you will treasure forever. As much as you sometimes need things for yourself, know that she sometimes has her own needs as well. Now... help me do this. She'll be right back. She's just gone to grab her gear and change... maybe take a short walk."

"I want to help her, Sup. Where did she go?"

"Lauren, you can't leave her and help her at the same time. Just like you are about to take a journey on your own, you must let Bo begin a journey as well. Just remember... you knew for days you were going to do this... she has known for less than twenty four hours Fiji time. Please... just give her some time alone."

Lauren frowned, torn as to what she should be doing. Should she not go to Colorado? Should she go? Being up there with Bo was... exhilarating. She'd forgotten what it felt like to have the brunette's attention... to be with her... to laugh with her... to just have fun. What exactly was she giving up?

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

After about thirty minutes, Bo returned with a bag in hand. She walked down to the dock, releasing the ropes and shoving the boat off as Sup steered them back towards the island. She moved to the rear of the boat where Lauren sat wearing Bo's Kenbo jacket,

"Do you like the design?"

Lauren nodded, "It's really comfortable... and soft. Do you need it? I can just put a towel over my shoulders."

"Everything in that bag was for you. I mean, you may not have use for the rash guard and bikini in Colorado, but maybe some time you'll miss Hawaii and come for a visit if you get some time off."

Bo sat down on the bench next to her, placing the bag on the seat between them.

"What's in the bag?" Lauren asked.

"I felt like a walk... actually, I felt like fresh peaches and there's a woman who lives about a half a mile from here who grows the best peaches... well... anywhere, I think."

Bo unwrapped the bag, giving a loud whistle. Pulling out a peach, she tossed it towards the wheelhouse at the center of the boat where Sup opened the window and caught the peach. He winked at her before closing the window again and turning back to steer the boat.

"It's like you two read each other's minds. You're so in sync."

"Yea. I don't know what it is, but... well, he's a great guy. When I first came here as a kid, he noticed me... well... he noticed Kenzi who was stole from his crab traps and then yelled at me because of it. I wasn't much for rules back then, so I yelled back telling him she's a poor kid and hadn't eaten for almost a full day."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "Yup. It wasn't true. I mean, my Mom was still alive and we were fine financially. We were just two angry kids who had lost their dad. I think every time I went out on the water, I just lashed out at Poseidon for his death. Anyway, Sup saw me surf and told me that I needed to release my burden."

"He's the one that taught you that?"

Bo nodded, "My parents had too, but I didn't really get it until he explained it. He took me out paddle boarding. SUP is the acronym for stand up paddling. He's the best there is and he's also the instructor that everyone who's anyone in the paddle boarding world has learned from."

"So you call him by the acronym?"

"Well, I didn't give him the name... the Chief did. He says it's an honor to get a nickname among his people – especially won that places him as a teacher of a skill."

"I didn't know that."

Bo nodded, "Neither did I at the time. Anyway, he took me out paddling and... well, I failed miserably. I had no balance for slow or stationary riding." Bo laughed, "By the end of the day, my core was so sore from falling and standing back up again. He finally told me that I was allowed to kneel."

"He didn't tell you that?"

"Nah. He said that since I wasn't very good at listening, he didn't bother offering much instruction because I either wouldn't have listened or insisted that I knew what I was doing."

Lauren laughed as Bo continued, "By the end of the week, he'd had me parasailing, boogie boarding, wind surfing and kite surfing. I remember when he told me...

' _Rookie, if you want to be a real surfer, you have to know how the ocean behaves so you know how to behave. You don't respect the ocean and one of these days, the ocean is going to show its disrespect for you.'_

... but naturally, I didn't listen. That big scar I have on my rib cage on the left... that was the ocean showing it's disrespect for me... big time. Cocky little Bo Dennis went out in the big surf at Cloudbreak when not one native surfer of Fiji was out there. It was rough and I told them I could surf everything. That was the first time I almost drowned."

"You mean it's happened more than once?"

"Not like what happened that day with you. Some scary moments, like a race car driver who spins out or a gymnast who has that really bad fall on vault... that kind of stuff."

"Well, you'll pardon me if I don't understand. Volleyball always gave me the luxury of not putting my life at risk... although I did get a Spalding tattoo on my forehead when we played Brazil in the World Championship the first year Tamsin and I partnered together."

"Geez, Lauren... you could have been killed!"

"Ha, ha. I did get a nasty concussion though."

"Wow... you must have failed at least one test that week."

"Again... you are so funny, Dennis."

The pair laughed for a while before Bo reached into the bag and pulled out two peaches,

"Are you ready to taste one of the greatest things to ever hit your taste buds in this lifetime?"

Lauren looked at the peach, "You're referring to the peach, I take it?"

Bo smiled, "Yes... the peach, Lauren."

"You know... you got a little flirty when we were up there."

"Well, I figured if I did, one of two things would happen. One, you would relax and focus on me instead of your perceived impending doom thereby allowing me to actually have control over our kiteboard."

"And two?"

"Well, the undesirable number two is that you would slap me as soon as we hit the ground."

Lauren smiled, "The thought had crossed my mind, but... well... you were upset so I restrained myself."

"Yea, sorry about that."

"Are you okay?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know... I mean... it felt so natural to talk to you when we were up there and then when we hit the ground, it was like reality came crashing down around me. I guess I've been in a bit of denial these last hours and... well... now it's real. In a few days... that's it... I may never see you again."

Lauren shook her head, "You'll see me, Bo. I have a house here... I have a Maverick here... I love that little boy and have every intention of seeing him again one way or another. Plus, Tamsin is my best friend and her parents are essentially my parents. Besides, if Kenzi makes Team USA Surfing, I'll be seeing her which I hope would mean you would come to see her once in a while."

"If Kenzi makes Team USA Surfing, I won't get much time away from the school. Half the team will be gone."

"Oh, well I have a feeling that by then, the Professor, Dr. Mansfield, and the rest of the school staff will be able to run that school just as good as you do. Maybe while I'm working on getting rid of my fear, you'll work on getting rid of your need to control everything?"

Bo smiled, "I guess that is something I could work on."

"Bo, I really need to know... are you going to be okay?" Lauren asked.

Bo shrugged, swallowing back the tightness in her throat as tears threatened to fall once again,

"I don't know, Lauren. Ask me in a year."

"Fair enough." Lauren replied.

Bo asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"I am, Bo. We love each other, but as the saying goes, some times it's not enough. It's killing me... leaving you like this... but I know that if we're going to ever have a chance together, we need to be apart right now... and I think you know that too."

Bo nodded, "I haven't been myself. I'm acting like my crazy, hormonal neighbor when she was going through menopause. One minute she was laughing hysterically and the next she was bawling like a spoiled child. I know that one minute I'm calm and supportive of all you're going through and the next it's just one cut too many."

Lauren nodded, "Death by a thousand cuts... I get it, Bo. When we first started out, I led you to believe you were getting involved with a woman who was unattached, which was not true despite how much I desparately wanted to pretend it was. You thought I was a strong professional woman who could match your intellect and level of independence... but nothing could be farther from the truth. I was a professional woman who was bowing to the threats of her psychotic boss and was no where near independent."

Lauren laughed before she continued,

"I didn't even have control over my own grocery list. It's really quite comical now that I think about it."

"Please don't joke about that. I'm sorry, but... what she did to you... it's just not funny."

Lauren smiled, "Bo, if I don't laugh about it, I'll cry about it and frankly, I'm tired of crying. We were so good together and... well, at the Olympics when she showed up, I turned into a lunatic. Despite my behavior, you were there... always a steadfast supporter. My irrational fear was another wedge between us..."

"Well, you took a big step in that area today."

Lauren nodded, a big smile stretching across her face, "Bo, no couple should have to deal with what we're dealing with. We need too much help and support to deal with our issues about trust, fear, control, loss... not to mention our professional life, Evony's trial and getting through the last of the issues with Nadia and the footage. I just think that a break will do us good."

Bo nodded, "I know you're right... in my mind... but my heart is angry with my head right now."

Lauren smiled, "Yea... I have that problem too."

"I need to know... are you going to see other people? I mean... is this a clean break... as if I don't exist?"

"Oh, Bo... you will always exist to me... in my heart and my mind. Will I date? If the opportunity arises and I'm interested in a date... yes, I will, Bo. I'm sorry if that hurts you to hear, but I've got to learn about how normal couples... dating couples... are supposed to work. I've never done it before... well... not until you, but... well, we didn't meet under normal circumstances and our life together wasn't normal."

Bo nodded, "So dating is okay and... am I one of the people you would consider dating if I came to visit or you came here?"

Lauren nodded, "I'd like that."

"Did you have fun on our date today?"

"You mean it's over already?"

Bo smiled, "Not by a long shot, Doctor. Not by a long shot."

Dating... Lauren thought... she had never been on a date with anyone but Bo... if this was what real dating was about... she decided she liked dating. The only question was... should a girl kiss on the first date?

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"BO! WHAT DO I DO NOW?"

Lauren was staring down at a flopping fish on the deck of the boat, her rod tip still hanging over the boat while she kept her feet moving to avoid stepping on the first fish she'd ever caught in her life.

"Relax, Lauren... I'm coming."

Sup gave Bo a stern look, reminding her that Lauren needed to do this on her own... it was his way.

"TAKE IT! TAKE IT!"

Bo shook her head, "Sup's boat, Sup's rules, Lauren. He already told you that if you bring it into his boat, you have to handle what you catch."

"THROW IT BACK! THROW IT BACK!"

Bo laughed, looking over his head at Sup who had his hat off, scratching and shaking his head as he worked to keep Bo's line from ending up under the boat.

"Lauren, I am not throwing our dinner back into the sea."

"DINNER? WE'RE GOING TO EAT THAT?"

Bo laughed again, "Sweetie, we've eaten fish together at least thirty times since we've met. I hardly think this is the time for you to suddenly become a vegan."

"Well, I'm definitely considering it right now!"

"You like meat too much... especially now that you can actually buy any food you want."

"The key word there was BUY it, Bo... not catch it myself!"

Bo stepped behind Lauren and pressed down on her arms, bringing the rod back into both of her hands while she held the line taught,

"Reel, Lauren. Take up the slack like we showed you."

The blonde took a breath and did as she was told. Bo smiled, "Good. Now, you're going to have to take the hook out of its mouth."

"WHAT? NO!"

"Lauren, you do realize that the fish they sell in stores is caught mostly in huge nets. We're killing of entire species that way. You're doing the earth a favor, Lauren and I know the environment is important to you."

"Not today! Today, the world can eat all the fish it wants."

Bo laughed, "Lauren Lewis, you are behaving like a stubborn three-year-old. Now you said you wanted to have this adventure, so you're going all in."

She handed Lauren a towel, "Here, wrap this towel around the fish's body so you can hold him."

"Please do it for me, Bo. I really don't want to..."

"No, love. You have to do this one yourself." Put the rod back in the... what did you call it... rod sleeve?"

Lauren nodded, her tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she maneuvered the rod into the holder while avoiding the fish.

"Now, come on... get a good grip on it."

The blonde grimised as she gripped the fish.

"Now, take these."

Bo handed Lauren a pair of fishing pliers, figuring it would be much easier for her to remove the hook with the tool than her bare hands.

"What do I do with these?"

"Reach into his mouth and grab the hook at the bottom, then work it out quickly and carefully. You hooked him perfectly, so it should come out easily... especially since you're a skilled surgeon."

Lauren looked into the fish's mouth and inserted the pliers before skillfully removing the hook.

Bo's eyes went wide as she saw the ease with which the blonde removed the hook and had to ask, "You've done this before?"

Lauren smiled, "An old man took his grandson out fishing for the first time and instead of hooking a fish, he hooked his grandfather's eyebrow. Apparently he had hooked the gentleman's lucky fishing hat three times before hooking catching skin."

Bo nodded, "Doesn't sound like the fishing hat was very lucky."

"Mmmm. Do you have a needle and thread?"

"For what?" Bo asked.

"I tore some of the skin with the spine of the hook. I'd like to stitch him up so he doesn't lose any more blood."

Bo laughed, "Lauren, we're going to put him in the tank... to be cooked... for dinner?"

"So! It doesn't mean he can't be treated with some degree of humanity until then!"

Sup called out to Bo, "Fish on!"

The brunette turned and hurried to her rod, setting the hook and beginning the process of working her catch towards the boat. Sup looked up to see Lauren going through the tackle box,

"What are you looking for, Lauren?"

"A needle and thread."

"Lauren, put the fish in the tank."

"But I need to..."

"Lauren! Put. The. Fish. In. The. Tank."

Lauren sighed, "If he's in pain, it's on you."

The blonde grudgingly walked over to the tank and shook the fish from the towel, dropping him unceremoniously into the tank before tossing a fake smile to Sup and slamming the lid shut.

"I'd be more worried about his brain if you're going to slam the lid like that."

Lauren pivoted on her feet and walked back to her fishing rod until she heard Bo call out to her,

"Net! Lauren, get the net!"

She grabbed the long pole and ran to Bo's side, the brunette providing instructions, "It's big and it's heavy, so be sure you get under the tail and hold on to the pole with both hands, okay?"

Lauren nodded, "It's... it's huge!"

As Bo pulled up on the rod, Lauren carefully lifted the fish in the net in unison with the brunette's actions. After a long, tense moment, the fish was in the boat, Bo reaching into the net to lift the fish out by his lower jaw, her other hand lifting the large body.

"Ew! You're sticking your finger in its mouth!"

Bo laughed, "That's how you hold it, Lauren. We don't usually just yank them into the boat and let them flop around on the deck."

"Hey! It was my first time!"

"Yea and you gave your little guy a concussion."

Lauren frowned before turning back to Bo's fish, "So, what is it... I mean... other than huge... or dinner."

Bo smiled, "This, my dear, is a Yellow Fin Tuna!"

Sup moved over the pair, "A little one for these waters, but still a good 15 kg catch."

"Sup..."

"Sorry, Bo... a little over 30 of your Yankee pounds. You guys really do need to go metric."

"Not happening." Bo replied, "Okay, so we've got dinner!"

"Yes, we do. I told my grandsons they had kitchen duty tonight." Sup said, as he headed back to the wheel house."

"So, we're heading back to the island for more fun!"

Lauren sighed, "More?"

Bo walked past Lauren to grab the blonde's rod, elbowing her as she went, "Well, if other women are going to be vying for the attention of the woman I've got my eye on, I want to make sure I give Doctor Lauren Lewis a full day of laughter, smiles and pleasure she won't soon forget."

Lauren frowned, her hands on her hips as she watched the brunette wipe down the equipment, then move to the bench at the side of the boat to organize Sup's tackle box and stow it in the storage boxes built into the side of the bench.

"Bo?"

The brunette responded, her eyes never leaving the task, "What's up?"

Lauren's shoulders sank, her hands falling to her side as she walked to the bench and sat beside the brunette.

"Will you look at me, please?"

Bo shook her head, "In a minute, Doctor Lewis. I don't want to stick a hook in my finger."

The brunette's smile told Lauren that she was keeping it light.

"I'm not going to forget you."

Bo gave the doctor a quick glance before looking back at the box, locking it tightly, then standing up to click open the storage bin's front hatch. Sliding the tackle box, nets and rods into the compartment, she spoke,

"Lauren, we both know how this will work. For the first few days, you'll wonder if you've made the biggest mistake of your life, but you're a professional who has signed a contract, so you will stick it out. Two weeks in, you'll get homesick and call Tamsin, telling her how much you miss your life in Hawaii. You will awkwardly find a way to ask her how I am and she will tell you I'm fine."

Bo closed the bin and moved to the table, grabbing the towel to wipe the fish guts from the surface. She leaned over the lowest side of the boat to wet the rag, causing Lauren's eyes to travel to her firm behind and long muscular legs before Bo stood back up. The brunette walked back to the table and squeezed the seawater onto the board, giving it a final wipe before draping the towel over the handle on the side.

She went to her bag and pulled a bottle of fresh water out, pouring it onto her hands as she continued,

"Eventually, the conversation will end and you'll settle down with a cup of tea and finally drift off to sleep. In the morning, you'll get up and resign yourself to the fact that you've got a job to do."

She drank down the remainder of the bottle before reaching into her bag and pulling out another, tossing it to Lauren,

"Drink. We've been out here a long time. I don't want you to get dehydrated."

She pulled another bottle out and opened it for herself. Leaning against the side of the boat, she looked in the direction of the wind, the hair blowing back off of her face. She pulled her sunglasses off of the top of her head and sighed before she spoke,

"After that, you'll start to talk to the people you work with... meet the athletes... fully emerse yourself in your research and lose yourself in your work until one day, a nice girl will invite you out for a drink. You'll accept because you're sick of doing nothing but work. You'll rationalize that you shouldn't feel bad about doing it because you told me that we would see other people... and by that time, I still won't have come to see you because I promise you, Lauren... I will not show up uninvited. This is your choice as is the decision to see me or not..."

Bo sighed, knowing that her words came out stronger than she'd wanted, but she needed Lauren to know that if she was going to make this choice for herself, then the ball for their relationship was completely in her court.

"...Anyway, one thing will lead to another and eventually, you'll kiss... or maybe you won't feel anything, so you won't on that first time. Of course, I know better... I was once that girl you ran into and we ended up in bed together. Maybe that's how that night will go."

Bo frowned at the thought, but quickly smiled and recovered, "Either way, you're going to date other people and... like you did before you ever met me... you will get lonely and you will likely want someone to make you feel wanted, attractive and desirable... so... I understand you will sleep with someone... maybe several someones before we talk."

"Bo..."

"Lauren, it's okay. The longer we're apart... the longer we don't talk... the more awkward it will feel for you to pick up the phone and actually try to talk to me again. If and when you ever do, we'll see how you feel about it when you hear my voice and we'll see how I feel about it when I hear your voice. You may call me to tell me that one of those trysts of yours turned into something with the potential to be something more and you want to pursue it."

Lauren stood, "Bo, you don't know that any of that will happen."

The brunette nodded, "Well, I certainly hope it does, otherwise I won't have a clue as to why you're walking away from us now. You want to find yourself and you want to have the experiences you should have had when you were a teenager. Go... have them... don't look back. But please... don't you dare come back to me and put me through this again. You go to Colorado and leave no stone unturned, Lauren Lewis. Because if you do ever come back to me, I want to know it's because you looked high and low and there was nothing that could enrich your life more than what you had with me."

Lauren went to hug her, but Bo stepped aside, "I want to give this bottle of water to Sup." She smiled, her eyes meeting Lauren's for only a split second, "It wouldn't do for us to miss our next adventure because we let our boat captain and guide pass out from dehydration."

Lauren folded her arms across her chest as she watched Bo walk away. She felt more conflicted than ever about going to Colorado.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Bo... I'm scared..." Lauren said as she watched the brunette give a wave to Sup to move the boat forward.

Once they had dropped off the fish, the blonde had watched as her two companions for the day loaded a cooler, five large black bags and what Lauren saw as a mishmash of rope, clips and harnesses. Her questions were met with silence or avoidance, awakening that familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Now, the blonde found herself sitting in a harness next to Bo with what she saw as a giant parachute attached to the back of the boat above them while Sup's first mate attached their harnesses to the bar above them.

"Lauren, I'm right here beside you. I won't let anything bad happen to you. The equipment is certified and I double-checked everything myself as we packed it. I'm promise you... just like with the kite boarding... you're going to have a blast. Just think of it as having a chance to get an aerial view of this amazing coastline."

"I don't think I want to do this..." Lauren said as her feet left the deck of the boat and her hands gripped the harness above her shoulders tightly.

"It's a little late to tell me that now, sweetie." Bo said, moving her hand from her harness to wrap over Lauren's, "Look at me... keep your eyes on mine... you know I love you... do you really think I would risk your life? When you look down, you're going to see the most beautiful sight you have ever seen in your life. Until then, just keep looking at me... trust me once more today, Lauren... please... I only want the best for you in this life and will do whatever it takes to make sure you have it. I would never do anything to hurt you... you're safe with me – even in this crazy contraption."

Lauren kept her eyes on Bo's, seeing nothing but love there. She knew that the brunette wanted her to love this... knew that she wanted her to have fun... she just needed to move past her fears like she had earlier today when they'd kite boarded, wind surfed, bungee jumped and zip lined across Fiji. It had been an amazing day and now, just before sunset, Bo had thrown one more challenge at her fears.

"Okay, Lauren... look down... look down and see the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life!" She yelled above the rush of the wind against their ears, "Tell me what you see!"

Lauren pulled her eyes from Bo's and looked down,

"Oh God..." She rolled her fingers over Bo's and squeezed at the sight of the distance they had climbed from the ocean surface, "We're so high... Bo..."

But Bo didn't hear her as she whispered her concerns. Instead, she was screaming into the wind at the top of her lungs,

"WAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!"

Lauren looked at Bo's face... at the pure exhilaration... the ear-to-ear grin... the wide eyes... she wished that she could capture the moment and put it in a bottle to keep in her pocket as she traveled to Colorado. It was only in this precise moment that she finally admitted to herself... only really remembered the true feelings that had grown inside of her this past year... Bo was special... and her love for her ran deeper than she'd ever cared to admit.

She swallowed hard pushing back tears as she was overcome by the sensation of missing the brunette before she'd even left. She took a deep breath and decided that here is where she needed to be. For right now, she would stay in this moment with Bo and do all that she asked. She would experience ever sensation, every sight, ever sound the woman presented her and carry it with her on her travels. She had no idea what the future held for them, but she did know that missing Bo was something that was going to be harder than even Bo could imagine.

How did everything go so wrong? How is it that she was dreaming of a life with this woman and all that it took was Nadia showing up to tear her world apart again?

"LAUREN! LOOK!" Bo's voice redirected her attention to where she was pointing down below.

Adhering to her promise, Lauren looked down, ignoring the nagging in her gut about the danger. She saw so many shades of the ocean, the clean coastline, lush forests and deep blue skies. Bo was right. It was truly beautiful. She looked up at Bo, thinking to herself,

' _She was wrong about one thing... this is not the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. No... the most beautiful was the brunette now seated next to her hanging in mid air.'_

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Bo asked.

Lauren grinned ear to ear, looking directly at Bo as she replied, "NEVER BETTER! YOU'RE RIGHT! I'M LOOKING AT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN!"

Bo smiled at Lauren, moving her hand to interlock their fingers around Lauren's harness as they shared a smile.

"LOOK DOWN! WE WON'T BE UP HERE FOREVER! YOU WANT TO SEE IT WHILE YOU CAN! YOU WON'T GET BACK TO FIJI FOR A LONG TIME!"

Lauren did as Bo asked and looked down, her eyes focusing on the beauty of the Fiji coast... the brilliant colors... how alive it seemed. She felt the goose bumps rise on her skin as it reacted to the strong wind in her face. The sensation of her heart racing with the exhilaration of the experience was something she was suddenly very much aware. She was also cognizant of how fresh the sea air was high above the water.

But above all of the things bombarding her senses in that moment, the single thing of which she was most aware, was the awakening of her body to Bo's touch as the brunette's fingers thread through her own. Always warm and familiar, strong yet gentle and nervous yet steady, it was a touch that stirred emotions in Lauren that she knew she would carry with her in moments when her name would be mentioned in the news, a familiar song played or she thought of home. She may be leaving their home state in a few days, but Lauren knew that Bo would be with her for a long time to come.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Dr. Lauren! Dr. Lauren! Look! Look what we found!"

Lauren's attention was drawn to the small voice on the beach as she hauled the last bag from the boat and carried it towards the dock house. A voice from behind caused her to turn her head,

"Go on. Greet your fan club. I'd like you to have as much time with him as you can before you leave."

Bo took the bag and turned to walk away before pausing, "Lauren?"

The blonde stopped and turned back to Bo with a smile, "Yea?"

Bo hated to take the frown from her face, but the blonde needed to be reminded, "You're going to have to tell him... soon, please."

Lauren shook her head, "Not yet, Bo... please... let him have this trip. I'll talk to him when we get back."

"That's not going to happen, Lauren."

The blonde took steps quickly back towards Bo, "What do you mean?"

"I'm keeping him here with me until I leave. Only the Professor and Vex are flying back with you."

"But Bo..."

"Lauren, I have to do what's best for him. It's my job and you know it. I will not subject him to the huge farewell that is surely going to happen... and... I won't be there for it either."

The blonde's mouth dropped open, "What do you mean?"

Bo looked up at Lauren, "I mean that when you and I say goodbye, it will be at the airport... here. I'm not going to be home when you leave."

"But you could surely change your flight..."

"Why Lauren? Would it change anything? Why should I go home, watch you pack and then be subjected to a bunch of tearful goodbyes? You chose leaving and I am graciously stepping aside, but please don't... not for one second... think that you get to choose what you will put me through as you go."

"I thought that we could have a few more days together, Bo. You know... in our home."

Bo laughed, "But that's just it, isn't it? It's not your home anymore. It's not 'our' home... it's my home. Every time I look at the new facility on my property, I'll be reminded of you. Every time I enter the PT facility, I'll be reminded of you. Every time I drive past your house, go grocery shopping... hell, go to the bank or ATM machine, I'll be reminded of you. And every single moment I spend with that boy over there, I'll be forced to think of you – even if by some miracle, he doesn't ask about you."

"I'm sorry, Bo..."

"Oh, stop with the apologies and own your choices, Lauren. I'm putting on my big girl pants and doing what I have to do so you can be happy and figure yourself out. I'm mad as hell at the world for what its put you through... for bringing you into my life when you weren't ready for me... and while I can be supportive, kind, understanding and loving to you in most moments, there are those times... like right now... where I'm mad as hell at you... jealous... that you get to go to the new place where there will be absolutely NO reminders of me!"

Bo turned and walked away, slamming the door of the dock house behind her. Lauren stood, stunned by the sudden turn in the brunette's mood, her words striking more truth than Lauren was prepared to face.

"Dr. Lauren? Is Bo mad at you?"

Lauren closed her eyes, her jaw tensing as she worked hard to put a smile on her face before she turned to the youngster,

"She's fine, Mav. We're just trying to work out some grown up stuff."

"Oh, that. My parents used to have grown up stuff too, but they always told me that no matter how much they yelled, they always loved me."

"That's very true, Maverick." Lauren said sadly, trying to turn the little boy's frown back to the excitement she saw when she'd first seen him, "So, what did you want to show me?"

"Ohmagosh! I almost forgot! Look what we found!" He held out a large rock and handed it to Lauren.

"Well, you're going to have to explain this to me, my young friend. I may know the human body, but I don't know a lot about rocks."

"Oh yea. Bo's the geographist."

Bo emerged from the dock house and walked towards the boy, ruffling his hair, "That's geological engineer, smarty pants. Nice rock!"

"Dr. Lauren doesn't know what it is!" He laughed.

"She asked you to drop the doctor, what... like ten times now?"

He looked up at Lauren, "Sorry." He looked back at Bo, "She still doesn't know what it is."

"Well, are you going to explain it to her?"

"Oh! Yea! It's a volcano rock!"

Bo shook her head, "That is not what it's called. Use your lessons!" Bo called from the beach where she had gone to help Sup get a fire started for after they'd eaten dinner.

"I forget! What's it called?"

Again, Bo shook her head, "I told you what it was called three times in class and you also got it wrong on the quiz, so I wrote the answer on your test! Come here!"

Maverick started to run towards Bo, but turned back, grabbed Lauren's hand and dragged her with him towards the beach where his teacher and mentor tossed him her phone,

"Look it up. From now on, anything I've repeated more than three times, you'll have to look up yourself."

Lauren watched as the boy did as Bo asked, smiling at the tip of his tongue that was protruding from the corner of his mouth as he worked. Finally, he stood up and held the phone up to Lauren,

"I knew it! It's called a igneous volcanic rock because you find it on the ground after a volcano. There are rocks under the magma and those are called igneous plutonic rocks."

Lauren looked at the rock, "So what's important about this particular rock? I mean... it's just rock, right?"

"Uh... it's the rock that most of this island is built on... that and sand. It's important to know this kind of rock exists because if it didn't, there would be no hope that if California or Hawaii or another other states that have volcanoes could ever be built by nature again if they get exploded by lava."

Bo laughed and shook her head at the young geologists explanation. She really should correct several things about his statement, but she had no desire to dampen his mood knowing what was coming. He had experienced so much loss in his young life so she wished that she could shield him from losing Lauren... if she had known all she knew now, she would not have introduced him to the blonde. Not because she wouldn't have wanted to, but because it was the one thing the social workers that she employed repeated over and over and over again to the entire staff. Consistency of support is crucial to the recovery of abandoned children.

The brunette shook her head, finally taking a seat on the bench of the picnic table not far from the fire, the Professor sitting across from her. She smiled at the massive collection of rocks they had amassed during the day.

"Did our man Maverick do all of this?"

Professor Meade nodded, "He's truly amazing, Bo. I had such an incredible day with him. He came back, pulled out his book on rocks and began identifying all of them. I thought that was it, but then he pulled out a tablet of paper and a pencil to create the labels you see under each of them."

A proud smile covered Bo's face as she lifted each rock and checked the label beneath for accuracy and spelling,

"That boy sure does love his rocks." Bo laughed.

"He said he loves them because they're always there when you need them."

Bo looked up, "What else did he tell you?"

"All about his family and how they died, about how you teach him 'stuff that matters'... his words, not mine... and that he was scared of losing Doctor Lauren... that he'd never see her again."

Bo nodded, looking up at where the two were still talking about the rock in his hands... at least, that's what she thought they were talking about.

"What did you tell him?"

Professor Meade scratched his head, "I told him that just because people are not physically present where we live doesn't mean you lose them. I reminded him that you have a phone and that there's this wonderful thing called technology that lets people keep in touch these days."

Bo nodded, her eyes down, "I don't know how to handle this."

"Who does? When people you care about leave you... whether relocating or through death... it's never easy."

The brunette smiled, "He's had so much loss, Professor."

"He has, but that doesn't mean he is losing Lauren. She can call him. They can use all of those new-fangled toys you kids have. What's that thing called that they use in the online courses at the university... Skype?

Bo nodded, her eyes still focused on the table beneath her hands, "That's true. I just... I don't want to get his hopes up that Lauren's going to keep in touch. Once she gets settled in there, makes new friends and starts working with the athletes, she'll be quite... focused. I don't even know if she would think to call him on a regular basis. She may just be too distracted."

"Out of sight, out of mind?"

Bo nodded, unaware that Lauren had slid in next to the Professor after hearing the end of their conversation.

"Are you worried I'll forget about Maverick... or you, Bo?" Lauren asked.

The brunette's head snapped up, her eyes falling on Lauren's. She didn't know what to say or how to answer. She just stared at the blonde knowing that her eyes went from surprised, to angry to questioning to... broken. Standing from the table she spoke,

"If you'll excuse me. I'm going to go help with dinner."

She looked up to where Maverick was gathering shells on the shore, "Mav! You're going to have to bag the rocks again, studly! We need the table to eat dinner."

"Okay! Just five more minutes!"

"Three... two..."

Bo didn't need to get to one before the young boy ran to the dock, placed his shells carefully on the wood and ran to the table. He clearly knew the drill and jumped when he was reminded.

"Thank you." Bo said, acknowledging his cooperation, "You can look for more shells after we eat."

"Can we surf in the real ocean tomorrow, Bo?"

The brunette smiled, "Only after you show me what you learned today at your lessons."

"I learned so much! Right, Professor?"

Professor Meade cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows towards Bo as he nodded his head, "He's got a point there, Miss Dennis. He's a natural in my inexperienced opinion."

"Okay. We'll see what you can do tomorrow then."

Bo pointed at the rocks, reminding him what he needed to do before heading into Sup's house to help with dinner. Left with no response, Lauren sat in silence. She had never considered what Bo had told her on the dock. She had thought that leaving everyone behind would be easy, but now she realized that being the one left behind... with all of the reminders of the one who'd left... was even harder... possibly unbearable at times.

Her eyes moved to Maverick, remembering the night she'd walked into the dorms to help with bed checks and found the young boy tossing and turning in his bed... the reminders of the killing of his family ever present... even during sleep. Despite the fact that he wasn't surrounded by snow in Hawaii, he'd told her on more than one occasion of things that had reminded him of his sibling or his parents. It seemed that there were reminders everywhere.

She then looked at Professor Meade who was watching Maverick intently. He'd lost his wife... the love of his life. He'd told Lauren that coming here was the best choice he'd ever made since sitting at home in the house where they'd lived was a constant reminder that he was alone. All that remained of her was his memories and their possessions. She that he'd spoken with a sad smile as he explained,

' _Some days, I get up and see her picture and it makes me smile. I'm flooded with memories of a great life with an amazing woman. Other days I wake, see her picture and miss her so terribly that I just want to roll over, pull the covers to the top of my head and lay there until God sees fit to take me to her.'_

Lauren had asked, _'How do you get through those days?'_

' _Slowly... and painfully. I throw myself into my work and hope that the next day I wake up and miss her a little less, but I never do.'_

She was pulled from her musings by the sound of the Professor's voice,

"You can go collect shells until we call you for dinner, but make sure you rinse your hands off at the sink on the dock before you come to the table."

"Okay, Professor. Thanks!" Maverick ran off towards the water.

"And stay out of the water!"

"I know!" The young boy waved.

The two adults watch him settle in on the shore among a large pile gifted to the beach by high tide. Professor Meade laughed,

"He's a lot like I was as a kid. I was always exploring... we explored all day."

Lauren nodded, "He is truly special. I wish his parents could see how much he's grown and how strong he's become."

"So, did you explain your departure yet?"

Lauren shook her head, "Bo didn't tell me..."

"I see."

"Does she really believe..."

"Out of sight, out of mind?"

"Stop doing that!"

"Reading your mind?"

"Yes!"

"I'm sorry... I am a Professor. It's my job to read my students... and the story of you and Bo is not that difficult to figure out."

"Well, it seems pretty complicated to me and I'm half of the story." Lauren replied.

The Professor nodded, "Look, put yourself in Bo's shoes."

"I did... out there on the dock when she exploded on me. I don't know what happened. We'd had such a great day and then all of a sudden, she was just... angry."

"She saw you with Maverick and went into protective mode. Like I said, Lauren... put yourself in Bo's shoes. She lost both parents and knows what that loss feels like. She doesn't want Maverick to experience any more loss because she feels responsible for it... for his connection to you, Lauren."

"She introduced him to me, he got attached, I'm choosing to leave and he's going to feel that loss... more loss. Well, it's ridiculous that she thinks that is her fault. I'm the one who's choosing to leave... she didn't know this was going to happen when she introduced me to him. Frankly, if I'm putting myself in her shoes, I would have believed I was staying too."

Lauren closed her eyes, for the first time owning what she had done to Bo. She had led her into this relationship and made her think they had a future together. Now she was leaving her behind with all of the memories and none of the promises of a future she had hinted they would have.

"Doctor, you must trust that Bo will be okay eventually. She's a tough cookie who has a lot of experience with loss. She'll figure out how to go on without you and help Maverick to do the same."

"Just like that?"

The Professor nodded, "Just like that."

"Well then, good for her." Lauren spit the words like a snake spits venom from its mouth.

"Isn't it?" He asked.

"What?"

"Isn't it good that she'll be able to get over you and life her life... be happy? It's all she wants for you. It's why she's letting you go. It's why she's staying here with Maverick instead of going back... it will make your departure easier... for them... and you."

"None of this is easy." Lauren replied.

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Bo will be fine... angry for a time... but fine. You just can't expect that she's going to be all sunshine and rainbows all the time, Lauren. She's in love with you and trying not to show you how much because it would mean admitting it to herself... then she would have to address the loss she feels and someone like Bo... well..."

"She's already lost so much."

"She has and in her mind, this is the third time she's losing you."

Lauren nodded, "I haven't exactly been the most... consistent partner lately."

"So, the only question that remains is how does this knowledge change things?"

The blonde shrugged, "It makes me feel guilty."

"Ah, but no one can make you feel guilty without your consent, Lauren. Do you believe it is Bo's goal to make you feel guilt?"

"No, not at all. On the contrary, I think she's actually trying to help me to have a great last day with her and Maverick... and you." Lauren smiled.

"Yes, me... of course." Professor Meade rolled his eyes at his name being added to the list, "So, will you allow yourself to enjoy the day with her and respect her decision to stay when you leave as she is respecting your decision that you are moving to Colorado for an undisclosed time with no promise of ever returning let alone having a relationship with her?"

"I've been selfish."

Professor Meade nodded, "Yes, but I don't think it was intentional. Your reasons for being selfish are valid... you've been through a lot and you need to figure out your life again. I don't know all that you have been through, but Bo tells me it's a lot."

Lauren only nodded, grateful that Bo had not disclosed personal information to the Professor.

"Well, with that said, we all agree that it's best for you go and find yourself or whatever it is you need to do, but it doesn't mean you get to be disrespectful to the relationships you have here... that is, not if you ever hope to have those relationships continue in some way or another. Love must be nurtured, my friend. If you don't keep in touch, they will think you don't care."

"But doesn't that work both ways?" Lauren asked.

"Yes and no. Remember, Lauren... you chose to leave and most of them do not agree it's a necessary step... most believe you could work things out here. It would be different if you were moving to Colorado and asking Bo to go with you, but that is not the case. To make matter worse, not only are you basically asking her to stay here, you're asking her to stay here so you can go have... uh... relations... with other women."

Lauren nodded, "Isn't the fact that I've been honest about all of this a good thing?"

"It is, but you can't believe that because you're being honest it's all easy to hear, can you?"

"I suppose not." Lauren replied.

Just then, Sup called out, "Dinner! Come fix your plate at the buffet, then you can eat outside. Maverick, Bo says to wash your hands!"

"I know, I know!" Maverick dropped some more shells on the dock before moving to wash his hands, "Professor! Help! I can't reach the sink!"

"I'm being summoned. Think about it, Lauren. Just remember... she's very much in love with you despite your time apart and the fact that you have apparently lied to her. She thought you were... the one... think about how it must feel to suddenly be told you're leaving."

Professor Meade stood and headed off to help Maverick leaving Lauren behind. She wished that she had answers for Bo, but without answers for herself, she couldn't make any promises. She stood and sighed as Maverick ran towards her,

"All ready! See!" Maverick held up ten fingers, wiggling them in front of Lauren's face.

"Good man. Let's go eat. I'm starving!

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Dinner was polite between Bo and Lauren. The men were entertaining and Maverick was... well... the center of attention as usual. Sup took his four guests back to the parking lot by the beach to where Lauren and Bo's rental cars were left when they'd all left for their daylong excursions.

"Well, I think the men will take your car and head back to the hotel, Lauren. This little guy is all tuckered out." Professor Meade said, buckling Maverick into the back seat of the car and pulling the keys out of his pocket.

Lauren argued, "Professor, we did not bring you along to play chief babysitter. You've had him all day, so I'll just go back with you so you can sleep. He wakes up most nights because of his dreams. I'll keep watch."

Bo nodded her agreement, "Lauren's right, Professor. I'm sure you're all very tired anyway. Jet lag can be rough on the body and mind. I appreciate the three of you staying awake for as long as you have to explore the island... and to support my efforts in the competition."

The competition. Lauren never even congratulated Bo on her win. Was she really this insensitive to Bo's dreams and goals? She'd sat on the beach and allowed herself to judge the mentality behind the sport, never once asking about the score or how Bo was doing when her patient Mark was in the medical tent.

"Uh... congratulations, by the way." Lauren blurted out.

Bo's eyes met hers for a moment before she shook her head and laughed, "Yea... thanks."

Lauren knew it was too little too late and making the comment as an afterthought probably just made Bo feel worse. The brunette had gone to the Olympics, putting her life on hold for three weeks to support Lauren's gold medal quest. She'd almost gotten herself killed by foiling Evony's evil plot at trying to kill her and Tamsin. Even before the Olympics, Bo had come out to her practices by wheelchair when she was in the hospital. Lauren remembered how pale and sullen she appeared... how worried she'd been about Bo being more than a block away from her doctors, but her then-girlfriend had insisted on being there.

The two adults watched as Bo pulled a note from her windshield. As she read the note, they saw her face twist into a pained expression before she folded it up and tucked it into her the back pocket of her shorts.

"Is everything okay, Bo?" Professor Meade asked.

Bo forced a smile, "Sure. Everything is fine. I hope you sleep well. I'm sure Kenzi didn't spare any expense on the accommodations, but that doesn't always mean the bed is the best."

"I've done many hotels, so I know exactly what you mean. Still, I have to admit I am quite fatigued, so I think I could fall asleep on a coffee table right now." Professor Meade stated with a laugh.

Bo nodded, giving a small smile before looking up at Lauren, "I hope you had a memorable day of excitement and firsts."

Professor Meade opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, pulling the door shut before starting the engine and allowing it to idle.

Lauren stood, staring at the ground for a moment before Bo spoke,

"He's waiting, Lauren."

"Bo..."

"Please, Lauren... don't try to say anything to make this better. If you need an apology, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have snapped at you on the dock. I ruined a perfectly good day by doing so, but Maverick is more than just a job to me... that whole school is more than just a job to me. I want to make a difference in this world, Lauren... make people's lives better. As a doctor, I'm sure you can understand. I just want to protect him and I'm worried about how you leaving is going to affect him. I trust that you care about him as well and will do right by him. Again, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Bo..."

"Let's just say goodnight, okay? Its been a long day and we're both tired. I know you want to try to do something to make everything okay, but the truth is, it's not going to be... not for a long time... for me, anyway. There is nothing you can do about that. If you stay, you'll be unhappy. If you go, I'll be unhappy. Whose happiness is more important? There's no way to judge that. What I do know is that you have never known happiness, so to me, it's your turn. It's why I want you to go. So please, don't try to make this better... please... I'm begging you... I just... I need to be alone right now... I'm just... I'm struggling and I don't want Maverick or the Professor to see me like this... please go, Lauren... now."

Lauren watched as the tears building in Bo's eyes broke free and she turned away, running back towards the beach. She wanted to call out to her... she wanted to hold her and comfort her, but once again, Bo was right. Lauren was helpless to do anything to make this better. It was up to Bo to deal with what she was feeling... to deal with her loss. Wiping the tears from her face, she opened the car door. She looked up to see Bo collapse on the beach, pulling her knees to her chest. Resisting the urge to run to her, she got in the car and went back to the hotel.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The bar was crowded despite the late hour. It always was the days after a surfing competition. Bo tried to slide up to the bar unnoticed, but when you're on a winning streak it was a hard thing to do. There were fans and competitors alike mingling throughout the establishment, so it took only a few moments for Bo's late night need for a drink to become what she had dreaded.

"BO DENNIS! CHAMPION OF THE FIJI PRO!"

The brunette cringed, as she raised a finger to the bartender, "Beer, please."

"Well, well, well... you look tastier than ever Bo Dennis. What do you say you and me go compete in a little mattress surfing since you kicked my ass in the water today."

Bo knew the voice immediately and could only be grateful that the crass and usually very forward woman wasn't around while she was spending time with Lauren. Things were tense enough as it was.

She followed the fingertips that were now dancing on her forearm, gazing at the long toned arms, ripped from paddling into the surf until her eyes fell on the bare shoulders that led to a slender neck, shrouded in sun-bleached hair and a pair of deep blue eyes that were smiling her way. It would be so easy to do the wrong thing... to take all of the hurt out on this body that Lauren's decisions had inflicted on her heart but unfortunately, Bo wasn't that kind of person... she used to be... but Lauren had changed her... life... had changed her.

"Well, well... if it isn't Sonjay LaPorte... what's the matter, there aren't enough gorgeous women around that you have to come back to me for seconds? Aren't you the woman who prides yourself on no repeat visits?"

"Ow. When you say it like that you make me sound like I'm... loose." She whispered the last part in Bo's ear, her lips gripping the lobe and giving it a tug.

Bo rubbed her shoulder against her ear, "You are loose, Sonjay. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with several beers before I head back to my room for some serious sleep."

"What happened to you, Bo? You fall in love or something?"

Bo laughed, "Oh it's something alright."

Sonjay wrapped her arms around Bo's waist from behind, leaning in and kissing the brunette's neck, "You know I won't give up easily, Bo."

Bo nodded, "Oh, I know Sonjay... I'd expect nothing less from you, but you should know that I'm really... really... not interested."

The blonde dropped a hand from Bo's waist down between her legs, applying just enough pressure to make the brunette grip her wrist,

"Sonjay, I said no."

"Fine, but just remember to..." She whispered in her ear, "...scream my name..." leaning on the bar top so she could look at Bo she finished, "... if you need me."

She winked at Bo before licking her lips and pulling away. Bo closed her eyes, willing away her body's response to the sexy blonde as memories of their one night stand pressed hard into her mind. Opening her eyes, she sighed and downed the remainder of her beer all in one go before she waved down the bartender for a second. It was going to take a lot of alcohol to move past this night.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. She rolled over and opened her eyes. She sat up bolt straight, trying to figure out where she was when it hit her... Fiji... Bo...

Shaking off the sadness, she reached for her phone only to sigh when she saw Kenzi's name,

"Hello?"

"Hi Doc. Look, I'm sorry to bother you since I know that you are sort of bowing out of the whole life that is Bo, but... well... have you seen her? I had Dyson leave a note on her car before he left, but she never called. At first I was thinking maybe her cell phone battery died, but... well... it's four-thirty in the morning your time and she still hasn't called. It's pretty important so... well... do you know where she is?"

"No, Kenzi. I-I haven't seen her since around eleven last night. We... well..."

"I know, Doc... I know all about your day together."

"I thought you said she hadn't called you to..."

"She didn't. I helped her with the itinerary for the day. Surfer sisters, remember? I know everyone and every country that Bo knows from being dragged to her competitions all of my life before I started surfing in my own and our schedules started to conflict. She gave me the list of things she wanted to do and I made the calls. When I didn't hear from her after your parasailing fun, I figured something went wrong so I called Sup around ten and he... well... said that..."

"Bo was upset... she's been up and down since I got here."

"No, Lauren. She's been up and down since you dropped a bomb on her that you were suddenly leaving the state for good."

Lauren was silent, having heard this before.

"Yea... and you've got nothing to say. Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'm sure she's fine. Having a great time with the woman you love... the only woman you've ever truly loved knowing that she's leaving is an easy thing to handle... piece of cake. I'm sure she's absolutely fine... missing... but fine."

"Kenzi, I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know what any of you want me to say."

"We all want you to say that things got a little tough and you lost your mind, but you've got it back and you're staying where you belong with the people who love you, Lauren. If you can't say that, you can at least say at some point... in a month or so... you'll rethink the idea of coming home, but when you say you're leaving, you only talk like you are all in for life in Colorado."

"I don't know that, Kenzi... I don't know anything right now."

"Then say that, Lauren!"

"I don't want to get her hopes up, Kenzi."

"Oh, so you just want to take any hope that could possibly help her get through this at all? Do you remember what happened to you when you lost all hope, Lauren? Can you remember the exact moment when Nadia sucked the life out of you, turning you into the hard-ass bitch you've become in the months that you've come back home? I warned you... I warned you that Bo was falling in love with you and that you'd better be all in or walk away, but you didn't. You waited and now you're dragging my sister back down into the shitter after we worked for months to pull her out after you destroyed her heart in Rio. You didn't see her without you, but I did. I know exactly what we're going to be dealing with when she gets home next week."

"Kenzi, I'm sorry..."

"The least you could have done was stick around until she finished going for her dream, Lauren. She was there for you in Rio, but you didn't even mention her competition today... but I bet she didn't mention that, did she? She doesn't mention it because she knows you don't approve of her dream... you're afraid it will get her killed and you'll lose her. Connect the dots, Lauren... it doesn't matter if she lives anymore or not. You've sent a very clear message that you don't care if you lose her or not anymore, so I have to make sure she knows that the rest of her family cares about losing her so she doesn't turn into reckless nut on a surfboard again."

"Oh Gods... I didn't..."

"You know what, Lauren... my sister is missing after an argument with you. I'm sure I've already said some things I'll regret five minutes from now, but I can't worry about your feelings right now! Maybe that's a good thing because everyone is always worried about poor Lauren's feelings. Well, guess what, Lauren? We're all adults here and your shit becoming Bo's shit is turning her into even more of a hot mess than you. That said, I have to find her even if it means flying to Fiji to do it, so I really don't have time to do this with you right now. Enjoy your life, Lauren."

The phone went dead, leaving Lauren sitting in bed staring at her screen.

"Well, done Lewis. You've made enemies out of the only people who have ever loved you. Sure. Move to Colorado... there are always more friends and acquaintances to make. It's a big world, right? Screw them! I can hop the next flight out of here and be on my way... leave all their ungrateful asses behind!"

Lauren stood and began pacing back and forth at the foot of the hotel bed, reviewing what she had just said,

"What the hell is wrong with me? If anyone is being ungrateful, it's me. They've done nothing but support every choice that I've made. Sure Bo has been up and down, but I've put her on a roller coaster of emotions she never asked for because I lied to her... I lied to her from the very beginning. I was never free to love her – it was selfish of me to drag her into my mess of a life and she has had to pay for it..."

She sat down on the bed and placed her head in her hands, "... I just don't understand how she can still love me."

She stood again and moved to the window. Pulling open the blinds, she looked out across the dark parking lot below except for the dim lighting of the streetlamps that lined the road beyond. Looking up, she saw the whitewater of the coastline where she had left Bo a little over five hours earlier.

"Where are you, Bo?"

Sure, the situation between them was clouded, but so much had happened today that all Lauren had learned was that the brunette was a good woman with a loving and caring soul. Bo had never lied to her, cheated on her, hit her, manipulated her or broken her heart, but Lauren had now realized that while she had never physically hurt her or cheated on her, she had done all of those to Bo at some point during the past year... and she felt horrible about it.

She stood and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt, her socks and running shoes. This was as good a time as any to go look for the brunette disguised as an athlete going for a run. If Bo didn't want to be found by her and she just happened to be on the route of her run, she wouldn't think anything of it. At least she could then call Kenzi and let her know she was okay... she was okay... she had to be.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren had been running for an hour when she came upon a bar by the beach. She'd heard a lot of the surfers talking about meeting there when she was working in the medical tent yesterday. While she assumed the bar was closed, she figured she would circle the parking lot and just make sure that Bo's car was gone. She was just about all the way around when she saw the car parked in the back of the lot, isolated from the main parking spaces.

"Guess the bar was crowded when you got here." She said to Bo, even though the brunette was clearly not within earshot.

She approached the car, looking inside and around it, but there was sign of Bo.

"Maybe you went down to the beach... not a very good idea if you were drunk, though."

Lauren's pulse hastened as she began to worry about the brunette having stumbled into the water in a drunken state.

"I've never seen you drunk... you barely drink at all while you're training. Please tell me you aren't going to turn into an alcoholic over this, Bo."

She accelerated her pace as she ran towards the water, stopping when she saw her jacket in the dunes,

"Shit, Bo. Where are you?"

She looked around the dune, finding her car keys, phone, wallet and flip-flops. Gathering all of the items, she opened her phone to call Kenzi, only to find she had no signal. She quickly headed towards the parking lot knowing that if she took Bo's car, she could cover a lot more ground than she could on foot.

She turned the corner to come around the foliage and stopped. Her heart moved up into her throat as she saw Bo laughing with a tall, sexy blonde who couldn't seem to keep her hands off of the brunette.

"Sonjay, stop it! I have to find my keys so I can get back to my room and get a few more hours of sleep. I have to meet Val at nine for a press conference!"

"Well, I don't see your keys. Where did you leave them?"

Lauren took that as an invitation to walk up and explain just where the keys were.

"Uh... I think they're here."

"Lauren?" Bo asked standing next to the blonde.

"Kenzi called. She was worried that she hadn't heard from you and threatened to fly to Fiji to find you."

Lauren spoke as she moved towards the brunette, her eyes glancing occasionally at the blonde whose arms were now crossed defensively over her chest.

"When I saw your car here... at a bar of all places... I... well, I got worried so went to the beach. All of this was there."

She handed Bo her jacket, flip-flops, keys and wallet before handing her the phone, "You should probably call Kenzi and let her know you're okay. She was calling about the note she'd left you earlier."

"Shit. I forgot..." Bo said, lowering her eyes to her phone to see twenty-seven missed calls and fourteen missed texts from her sister in addition to ten missed calls from Tamsin and four from Sup, "Thanks... for coming out here... for finding this stuff."

"It's okay, I'm sure you and your... companion... would have found them eventually."

Lauren quickly put some distance between them, turning to walk back out towards the street to head back to the hotel. She felt like an idiot. Of course, Bo hooked up last night. She'd hurt her and told her she was leaving... why not? She didn't owe Lauren anything and if the truth was to be told, Lauren just might have done the same thing if she had been in Bo's shoes.

Lauren spun quickly, prepared to throw a right hook when she felt someone grab her wrist,

"Whoa! Lauren! It's just me!"

"Shit! Bo, you know better than to sneak up on me!"

Bo put up both hands, "I come in peace! Honest!"

"What is it, Bo? I want to go back to sleep."

"But... I thought you were out for a run?"

"I was sound asleep in my bed when Kenzi called. It took me a good fifteen minutes to decide to come looking for you since I didn't know if you would want me to be the one to find you."

Lauren nodded in the direction of the blonde back at the parking lot, laying on the roof of Bo's car as if she were a Sports Illustrated swim suit model,

"Apparently, the one you wanted to find you, did."

"Lauren..."

"You don't owe me any explanation, Bo. You were upset... by me... you had to blow off some steam. I have no right to judge who you're with and I did say we were going to see other people, so really... it's okay."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Wow. You really don't know me at all, do you?"

"Well, I thought I did, but clearly, I don't. I thought you went for a more... pedestrian type, not the swim suit model type."

"Lauren, I'm a surfer. All of the women are swim suit models." Bo laughed.

"I'm going, Bo." Lauren turned to walk away, but Bo stopped her.

"No, Lauren. You're not going until the day after tomorrow, so I get to say my piece since you said yours."

The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and extended one leg slightly to the side as she sighed, "Fine. Say what you have to say."

"I'm not sure that I have anything to say, but I do have some questions for you to consider."

"Whatever, Bo... just say it. I really want to get out of here."

"Why? She's making you uncomfortable? What do you think you saw when you walked up to us in the parking lot, Lauren? What do you think the two of us in the parking lot at four o'clock in the morning means?"

"Four o'clock has long come and gone, Bo. It's almost sunrise."

Bo looked out towards the beach, "So it is... and a beautiful sunrise it will be." Bo smiled before turning back to Lauren,

"Who do you think I am, Lauren? Do you really think I'm the woman who tells you that she's in love with you and doesn't want you to leave, then goes and jumps into bed with the first woman who hits on her in a bar? Is that who you think you've been sharing your life with this year? Is that really what you think of me?"

"Well, I just found your car at a bar and... well... geez, Bo... look at her! She looks like she's auditioning for a photo shoot to cover Sexy Hood Ornament Car Magazine."

Bo laughed, "I don't think that's a real magazine, Lauren and yes, she is a bit much, but no... I did not sleep with her."

"But you went home with her?"

"To sleep, Lauren... I had a few too many and she took care of me. Apparently I almost got into a fight with another surfer and... well... she basically just saved my season. If I'd gotten into the fight, both me and the other surfer could have been suspended. I haven't earned enough points yet to win the championship and even if I had, with a suspension in the season, they may have chosen to disqualify me."

"Oh."

"Yea, oh. She was a good... no, a great friend to me last night, Lauren. She was there for me when I was alone, drunk and had no one else looking out for me. I'm grateful to her but I don't sleep with women when I'm in love with someone else."

Lauren nodded, feeling quite embarrassed for having made the assumptions she had made about the brunette,

"I'm sorry I assumed the worst, Bo. It's just... well, it's just one more reason that I need some time on my own. You're absolutely right about every question. I don't trust you... and you shouldn't take that personally... I don't trust anyone... I am conditioned not to trust, tell the truth if it will expose anything I perceive as a weakness and to run when I'm the least bit uncomfortable with putting myself in a position I perceive as vulnerable."

Bo was surprised at Lauren's admissions, "Wow... that's... those are a lot of... I don't even know how to finish what I wanted to say... it's just... a lot."

"I had several epiphanies yesterday... thanks to your itinerary, I was put in situations that forced me to see things about myself, about you and... well, about us."

"Will you share?"

Lauren shook her head, "I... I don't know, Bo. I think that... well... something that Kenzi said has made me rethink things and... well..."

"BO! BO! Are you gonna say goodbye or what?"

Bo groaned, "Will you wait for me? Let me just..." Bo threw her thumb over her shoulder towards the other blonde causing Lauren to nod,

"Yea, go."

Bo turned and ran back to Sonjay, giving her a hug, dodging a kiss and opening her car door for her. The blonde turned and whispered something to Bo before getting into the driver's seat. Bo closed the door and stood back while the car pulled away. She watched as Sonjay stopped and leaned out the window towards Lauren, saying something she couldn't hear. Her ex nodded as the car pulled away, her eyes remaining on the ground in front of her. Bo walked quickly to the blonde, worried about what Sonjay would have said,

"Lauren? What did she say? She can be a total ass sometimes."

The doctor looked up at the surfer, "She told me I was crazy for leaving you behind and that if I did, I should know that she has been waiting for years for a chance with Bo and she was going to take it."

Bo sighed, moving towards Lauren, "Sweetie, I have no interest in Sonjay. She's been hitting on me for years, so if I wanted to be with her, I would have done so by now."

"So you've never been with her?"

"I had a one-night stand with her a little over two years ago. Yes, she wanted me to sleep with her last night, but as I said, I'm in love with someone else. She's not my type, Lauren. Do you really think she would ever put time into the kids back at the school? Into Maverick? Hell, she hates working with the rookies on the pro circuit, I can't imagine her teaching young kids from scratch."

Lauren only nodded, admittedly unnerved by the interaction with the sexy blonde, "I guess the truth is, until yesterday, I'd never thought about you in your sport... how you're surrounded by gorgeous women in bikinis all day long. You share something with them that I will never truly understand. I guess... I can just understand why you might prefer one of them over me."

Bo frowned, "Don't do that. Don't try to make your decision the right one for me. Don't try to make excuses about why I'm better off with out you. Don't insult me by telling me I don't know my own heart. You don't get to do that, Lauren."

The pair were silent for a moment before Bo spoke,

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I just... this is so hard. I just feel like you didn't even give us a chance before you made the decision to go off to Colorado. You didn't even talk it over with me... you just made the decision. I thought we were going to work our way back towards each other... I know I wasn't always the most positive voice in the room, but I thought you knew that I wanted you healthy AND I wanted us."

Lauren nodded, "I did hear that, Bo. But I just think the only way for me to get healthy is for me to be away from all of my support. I can't grow up and be an adult if I'm constantly leaning on everyone else for support."

The two stood there in silence again, before it was Lauren who spoke this time, "Bo, will you take a walk with me?"

The brunette hesitated for a moment before she nodded.

"Will you hold my hand?" Lauren asked.

Bo paused, staring at the offered hand, "Why do you want to hold my hand?"

"It's okay if you don't, but I think that holding hands grounds us when we talk."

Bo nodded and accepted the gesture, "Grounded it is."

Lauren smiled as the two headed for the beach, stopping at Bo's car to deposit her belongings and the blonde's shoes and socks.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The pair walked for quite some time before Lauren asked if they could stop, explaining that she had run for over an hour without stretching before they walked for another thirty minutes. She had lost a good amount of conditioning since the Olympics, so stretching had become a necessity before and after running.

The blonde noticed a large shell at the water's edge up ahead, "Look... let's sit there so we can find some shells for Mavericks' collection."

Bo agreed, following Lauren to the treasure trove of gifts from the sea, "Oh. My. Gosh! I wish he were here, Bo! I wish he had been the one to find these! Look! A huge Conch shell!"

"Wow, he's going to love that." Bo said, accepting the shell from Lauren, "It's amazing that I've been here all week and have never seen this many shells in one place."

"Were you up at sunrise every day?"

"Oh hell no." Bo laughed, "I slept in as much as possible. As much as I love watching sunrises, when you have to do it for a living at the school, it's not so bad to miss a few while you're away."

"Look, Bo! This is a Triton Shell! I've never seen one in person before!" Lauren picked up the shell, examining every detail, "Well, hello you."

Bo watched with a big smile on her face as the blonde fell into her element. It had always been amazing to her that this woman could be dealing with a very emotional and intense issue, but throw something scientific at her and her mood would change immediately. As she kept her eyes on the blonde beauty now, she realized this child-like enthusiasm was one of the things that had drawn her to the blonde to begin with.

Lauren looked up to see Bo watching her, "What?"

Bo smiled and moved towards her, "We were just talking about all of the drama in our life, but show you a simple seashell and you're smiling like you've just won the lottery."

Lauren frowned, "I'm sorry, Bo... I guess I just got caught up. I didn't mean to discount the importance of your feelings about everything that's..."

Bo nodded, "No, Lauren... I didn't mean... I was just pointing out that... well... this version of you... giddy about science, so enthusiastic about finding something rare and beautiful... it's one of the many things that led to me falling in love with you. I would love to see you like this more often."

The blonde handed the shell to Bo before hooking her arm into the brunette's elbow and pulling her down to sit with her. Lauren looked out to sea,

"This 'version' of me, as you call it, is who I believe I would have become all the time if my step father hadn't happened... if the bullies hadn't happened... if Nadia and then Evony hadn't happened."

"I'm sorry those people entered your life, Lauren and I hope that you are able to find the pure you... the one you were always meant to be wherever life takes you."

Lauren looked down at the shells between her legs, her eyes roaming over them, hoping to spot another great find for Maverick while she spoke,

"You know, Kenzi said something to me later and... well... while I was running and looking for you, it made me realize... well... that she was right."

"Well, since I wasn't a part of that conversation, you're going to have to help me out with what she was right about."

The blonde smiled, "She said a lot of things... she was pretty upset that you were missing."

"I'm sure she didn't mean things she may have said out of fear for my safety."

"Oh, I think she meant what she said but maybe will regret the tone of voice she used. Either way, I get it... I get why all of you are upset with me."

Lauren turned to face Bo, taking both of her hands in her own. She looked up at the brunette and spoke with as much honesty as she could muster,

"I came out of inpatient care and made a commitment to trying to find my way back to you, Bo. Things got rough when new issues arose with regards to my situation with Nadia and I made a choice without even discussing it with you first. That was wrong of me."

"Lauren, we both agreed that we weren't back together, so..."

"That may have been the case, but we had made a promise to try to get there, so at the very least, I should have told you I was considering the move rather than just drop the bomb on you. I owed you that much. It was disrespectful and hurtful to do otherwise."

"Well... thank you for that, I guess?"

"Yea, I realize that me saying that doesn't change the fact that I've already done it, but I wanted you to know that I now know that I was wrong in the way I handled it."

"Would a conversation have changed your mind?"

"Honestly, I don't know and it's too late to go back and undo it now. I took an opportunity from you and it was wrong."

Bo nodded, staring down at their joined hands intent on watching how Lauren's thumbs moved gently back and forth over her fingers.

"I told you I was going away and did not mention my intentions for the future. The way Kenzi said it was something like... 'I gave you hope for a future when we met and then all of a sudden took that hope away by making a choice that you had no say in.'... she was right. That's exactly what I did and I have done nothing or said nothing to make you believe that you have a reason to have any hope about our future."

Lauren closed her eyes, hoping that she would say this in the way that she intended so she wouldn't set Bo off. Taking a deep breath, she went for it,

"I don't like to give people false hope. When I have a patient who is going in for a surgery that they may not survive, I don't tell the family that they'll be alright. The truth is, I don't know what will happen. There are many variables in performing surgeries, especially if the patient has certain wounds or conditions."

Lauren took a breath, "I think I've learned that relationships... ours included... are multi-faceted just like surgeries. There are things that are known and there are things that are unknown."

Lauren looked up, meeting Bo's eyes, "I can honestly tell you that I have never in my life met a more dedicated, caring, compassionate, loving, hard-working, enthusiastic, brave, intelligent, multi-talented, curious, woman in my life. You have showed me nothing but love and endless devotion, often putting your own needs second to my own. I could not have asked for a better partner to spend this past year of my life with, given all that was happening for and to me."

The blonde swallowed hard, not wanting to cry as she spoke,

"How could I not fall in love with such a beautiful, beautiful soul as you, Ysabeau Dennis? Of course I love you... and leaving you... well, it's very, very hard."

Lauren released Bo's hand for a moment to wipe her eye, and then gripped it again, "But... I'm not happy, Bo. I'm not myself. I keep hurting you. I keep hurting myself and... well... that's not good for you, me or those who love us... and that is why I have to do this."

This time, it was Bo who released Lauren's hand to wipe her tears before gripping the blonde's hand again as she continued,

"I wish I could stay and just continue with the way things have been, but it's not working, Bo. The night that you took off and I broke down, Tamsin and Kenzi did exactly what I thought I needed, but you told them it was the wrong thing. I can't live with people who are constantly going to be my caretakers. What good will I ever be to you if I can't take care of myself?"

She looked upwind, allowing the breeze to carry the hair from her face, taking a moment to look at the sun that was just beginning to breech the horizon.

"I don't want this to be the last sunrise I ever have with you, Bo." She turned to look at the brown orbs, watery and sad, staring back at her, "I want to have many more sunrises with you, but for now, it is just a dream."

Looking down at their joined hands she spoke, "You and I... we've made a life of fulfilling our dreams. While I cannot promise to fulfill this dream or even that it's a dream that won't fade into the background, I do have hope that this isn't the end for us. I can't imagine there are many women in this world who can hold a candle to you, Bo Dennis. If I find one, I would be lucky if she showed an interest in me, but I will always compare her to the original... because you are not someone I will ever forget."

Bo's tears fell harder at Lauren's words. The thought of her with anyone else made her heart feel a heaviness that took her breath away.

"As I sit here with you right now, I can tell you that when my plane lands in Colorado on Sunday, that I want to call you and tell you all about my new residence. I want to talk to you about your day and the school and Maverick while I unpack. When I finish my first day at work, you are the one I want to call first to tell you all about the facility and what I did on my first day. When I find out that I they have hired Peaches as my office secretary, you will be the one that I want to complain to."

The pair shared a laugh over the idea,

"I certainly hope they don't hire her. I'd hate for you to end up in jail your first week for punching her out." Bo remarked as Lauren nodded with a smile.

"Bo, I... there are so many things I want to say to you, but... I'm so inexperienced with relationships and the truth is, I don't know what's okay for me to say or not to say. I don't want to do anymore damage to us... to you... to your heart. What I mean is... is it wrong for me to give you hope when I'm such a mess? I'm so certain of my love for you, but I'm so uncertain about who I am, what I like, what I want to be... who I want to be. What if the answer to those uncertainties doesn't allow me to love you at some point? What if I give you hope and then take it away again?"

The brunette gave Lauren a tight smile and a nod, "I see. Well... I can understand why that may be a concern for you."

"You can?"

Bo nodded, "Yup. Because there is something you haven't learned yet that I learned at a very young age."

The blonde asked, "What is that?"

"Well, I had a Mom who told me every single day that there is always hope... that there is hope in all things... that if we lose hope, we lose our will to go on and without a will to go on, we die."

Lauren nodded, "She told you that after your Dad died?"

Bo smiled, squeezing Lauren's hands, "I had about two weeks where I wouldn't go to school, I wouldn't surf, I was mean to Kenzi and I wouldn't talk to any of my friends when they called. The first three days, I wouldn't even get out of bed. I missed him so much... I was lost without him."

"I can understand that... I remember feeling the same way when my Mother died, but my Aunt literally pulled me out of bed by the sheets, pulled me in the shower and turned it on."

"Wow... my Mom took... well... a different approach. I had to be up, showered and ready to eat breakfast with her every morning before she left for work. At breakfast, we would talk about my Dad and before she got up to leave for work, she would have me ask her one question."

"What did you ask her?"

"I'm not sure. It was something different every day, but the one day I remember clearly, I asked her how she did it... when she asked what, I asked her how she was getting out of bed every day since I knew she missed Daddy as much as I did."

Lauren watched Bo take several deep breaths. She knew this was emotional for the brunette, so waited patiently for her to continue,

"She said because his hope was in me and my little sister. We were his hope... his legacy. We were the ones that would change the world as he had taught us. He did everything he could to teach us what was important and what our purpose was on this earth... he told her that when he was gone, they would be his hope for the future of the world."

Bo's eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Lauren, "So, you see... I've lived my life on hope. I have hope for every one of those kids at our school because I know that we're giving them a chance to be people that they wouldn't have been without us. I have hope for the future of surfing because we're building a state of the art training facility that will grow surfers raised in some of the best surf breaks in the world. I have hope for my home state because I'm working to make sure that if our volcanoes become active, they won't kill off our wildlife, vegetation and people. I have hope for my little sister because she's found her place in our business to build her confidence, independence and sense of self as a business woman."

She looked up at Lauren, "You know, I didn't thank you for your vote of confidence that night at your house when you had her handle the sensitive hack and subsequent download of the footage that ultimately freed you from Nadia... and possibly freed her from herself."

"I trust her."

Bo nodded, "I know and you have no idea how much that vote of trust and confidence helped her to be a stronger woman."

The brunette wiped her cheeks before she finished, "I have hope for Maverick because he has opened himself up to the possibility of adopting a new kind of family and is getting help and support for the traumatic events that occurred in his past. I have hope for each and every one of our employees because they are part of something that is bigger than themselves. I have hope for you, because you finally have a clear path to become the best version of yourself... a version that I hope will have the opportunity to finally see that you have the opportunity to live the best version of your life."

"And what about you? Do you have any hope for yourself?"

Bo smiled, "I have hope that if I do the right thing... no matter how it affects me... and that right thing comes from a place of love, that life will repay me tenfold by doing right by me and giving me the love I need and deserve. My Mom always said that love is the most powerful force on earth... I have to have the hope of my father and the trust in love of my mother... it's all I know to do. From there, I just have to take each day one day at a time. So do I have hope that you and I will be together some day? Of course I do. Because right here, right now in this beautiful place surrounded by the amazing rainbow of colors in this sky, I look at you and my heart is full of love... a love I can't imagine ever losing."

"But Bo..."

"No, Lauren... you can't fear hope... please don't ask me not to hope... it's all I have left of you once you go. My heart is full of love for you... if you take that love away, my heart will be empty... and if my heart is empty, I will lose hope and those kids, Maverick, Kenzi, my employees... they will lose me and my love... where will they be then? Some people have religion, I have hope and love... it is the source of my faith in humanity. It is the source of my faith that you and I will some day find each other again. Can you honestly look at me right now and tell me you and I are over?"

Lauren looked at Bo for a long while before tears filled her eyes, "I'm afraid."

Bo nodded, "I know you are... but what are you afraid of?"

"What if I can't love you enough? What if I don't come back? What if I hurt you again?"

"What if none of that happens? What if we can just take one day at a time, talk to each other and love each other just as we are in that moment? What if we just kept doing that day after day? What if one day you asked me to fly out to visit and I said yes? What if one day you hopped a flight to Hawaii for a visit and we sat on a beach at sunrise looking for seashells and just talked like we are now and loved each other?"

Lauren looked at the painted sky that surrounded them before looking at Bo, "I think those would be really nice days."

Bo smiled, "I'll do whatever you need, Lauren... as long as we keep talking like this."

"So, I guess we need some rules."

"Rules?"

Lauren nodded, "Conversation and visitation rules."

"Okay. You first."

The blonde considered her concerns and began with the biggest one, "We don't talk about any dates unless we've seen the same person three times with the intention of continuing to see them."

Bo nodded, "Agreed, although I'm a big fan of the ignorance is bliss train of thought."

"Do you really not want to know if I may be falling for someone else?"

"Actually, I just really don't want it to happen."

"Well, I can tell you that I hope it doesn't happen on your end either, but I'm not going to allow myself to believe it couldn't."

"Time will tell."

Lauren nodded, "Okay, your turn."

"We talk to each other... at least once a week. I don't want any long periods of time without talking. It just makes it awkward and leaves a lot of questions when we finally do talk."

"Agreed. If you don't call for more than a week, I'll start thinking you found someone else or you're mad at me or I'm nothing more than an afterthought anymore."

"Right." Bo replied, "Your turn."

"No visits until Thanksgiving at the earliest." Lauren replied.

Bo nodded, "Just so you know, the Maui Women's Pro overlaps Thanksgiving, so I'll be traveling to Honolulu for that... I'm not sure if I actually have to be there on the holiday or not, but... I'm just saying."

"Well, remind me if I'm being a selfish horse's ass and not supporting your career for the holiday."

The brunette laughed, "Duly noted... of course, it's the last event of the year and will either be my crowning achievement or my greatest failure."

"I'm sure it will be the former, Bo. I plan to come with champagne to celebrate."

"Oh, please... let's not mention champagne... like ever... ever again."

Lauren shook her head, "Sorry... I forgot..."

"Champagne is one of those key words that still brings back some unwanted memories."

"Any other rules you want to throw down?" Lauren asked.

"You call Maverick... more frequently than you call me and you invite him to come snowboarding once Ciara thinks he can handle going again."

"I will absolutely do both. I love that little boy, Bo and I was serious about... forget it."

"Serious about what?" Bo asked.

"That if we were together, I'd want us to adopt him." Lauren said quietly.

"Well, with the timelines we're on, we may end up adopting him when he's eighteen." Bo laughed.

"Better late than never, right?"

Bo nodded, "Anything else?"

"No unannounced visits. I just... seeing you with that woman today... I can't imagine walking in on anything more than what I saw."

"Say no more. I've already expressed my regrets over seeing things I can't unsee."

Lauren nodded, "I should have had him stay in the room or have Ciara in there with you so you wouldn't..."

"It's not your fault... I did it to myself. It's hard to have that stuff in my head, but I'm trying to not visualize it anymore. I have to admit that when you told me you were leaving, the footage played more and more vividly in my head each night."

"Bo, I just want you to know that right now, I can't imagine sleeping with or dating anyone else. I'm still in love with you and... truthfully, I hope that as I change, that's the one thing that never changes."

"Me too." The brunette replied.

"Look!" Lauren pointed towards the water at a shell that had just washed up onto the beach.

"What is it?" Bo asked as the pair stood and walked to the water.

"It's a living sand dollar! I've only seen these dried in a store." Lauren gently picked up the sand dollar, cupping her hand, careful to keep some water in her palm.

"What's this one?" Bo asked, picking up another shell, "It's cool."

"Ooh, that's a good one. It's a King's Crown in laymen's terms." Lauren looked up at Bo, "You don't really want to know the scientific name of all of these, do you?"

"Not at all... no offense."

"No offense taken. I know my science isn't for everyone."

"Oh, I love your science... as long as you keep it basic for the beginners in the class. You can talk genus and species with Mav."

Lauren smiled, "Should we go take our treasure to him and have some breakfast?"

"Sure, but... first... I just want to be clear... are we going to try to keep this idea of us finding our way back to each other... I mean... as a couple?"

"If I dare to have the hope that you have, yes... it is my dream, Bo. I am just unwilling to state that as a promise to you for fear of hurting you more."

Bo nodded, "Hope and a dream is all I'm looking for, Lauren. It's better than the absolute over that I thought you were saying this was."

Lauren nodded, "I'm sorry that I didn't realize that is how you were taking it sooner. I was so worried about letting you down yet again that I was worried about offering you any further explanation than what my plan was for myself."

"Well, what do you say we go wake the Professor and his protégé so we can unveil the treasure trove and get some breakfast?"

"Sounds perfect... of course... it is still a bit early. Maybe a nap is in order first? I told Maverick I would let him sleep 'until forever'... his words, not mine."

Bo laughed, "Well, when you consider he was awake for what must feel like a day and a half, I'd treat is like a no-chore Saturday."

"A no-chore Saturday?"

"Well, as you know the kids have rotating chores on Saturday... what you may not know is that every two months, you rotate off the chore schedule..."

"Thereby having a no-chore Saturday?"

Bo nodded, "Right. So, on those days, the kids are permitted to stay up until midnight and sleep until ten in the morning at the latest."

"So we could nap until ten?" Lauren asked.

"Mmm." Bo replied as they arrived at her car, "Want a ride back to the hotel or were you planning on finishing your run?"

"Truthfully, there was no run planned for today until you went missing."

"SHIT! Kenzi!" Bo pulled out her phone and sent a quick text off, promising she was alive, well and found by Lauren an hour ago... that they'd talked, she was better and she agreed with her decision from the note. She then opened her car door and got into the car.

"That's it? You're not going to call her?"

Bo shook her head, "Nope. I'll end up talking to her through my nap and trust me, I could definitely use one."

Lauren nodded, growing quiet for a long moment before she asked, "Bo, you know you could tell me if you slept with her... I really would understand."

"Didn't we just make that rule?" Bo asked.

"I haven't left yet so the rules don't apply." Lauren replied with a smirk.

"Lauren, I honestly did not sleep with her... I mean... her hotel room is one king sized bed, so I did sleep in her very large bed, but there was nothing but sleeping going on... oh, and maybe some drunken venting which would explain her comment to you."

The blonde nodded, "She is very beautiful."

Bo pulled the car to a stop.

"Bo? You've just stopped the car in the middle of the road. What are you doing?"

The brunette sat, staring at Lauren.

"Bo! There's no traffic light or stop sign here! We're going to hold up traffic."

"What traffic?"

Lauren looked around and laughed, "True, but... well..."

"Relax, Lauren... I know you live life following the rules, but sometimes, you have to get creative. I needed to look at you."

"Why?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure to be honest and to do that, I had to take a moment to compare and evaluate."

"Compare and evaluate what?"

"Your beauty compared to Sonjay's."

"Oh... well... I... uh... so... what is your conclusion?"

Bo smiled, "Sonjay truly is a physical beauty, but she has the emotional depth of a kiddie pool, the social class of a drunk – which she often is, and the mentality of a reality show drama queen."

"Oh, well... that sounds... interesting."

"No, interesting would be the mystery behind you when we first met... how was it that I couldn't get what was supposed to be a one-night-stand girl out of my head? No, you, Doctor Lauren Lewis... you are physically stunning, mentally astounding, socially adorably awkward and always in control... except with the likes of Peaches... and emotionally damaged because you care so much."

Lauren shook her head, "I don't know that I've showed you that I care so much... I've been incredibly selfish in so many ways, Bo. I can't believe you've been able to love me despite that fact. I didn't even both to ask you or comment on your win yesterday."

Bo nodded, "Yea, that did sting a bit, but I know that you're still trying to figure out how to love me despite my love of something that you think is completely idiotic to do."

"Not idiotic... just risky."

"Life is a risk, Lauren."

"I guess you're right."

"See, I'm a good influence on you. A month ago, you would have disagreed with me, saying something like 'life is only a risk if you do things on the top ten list of dangerous things from the insurance institute of America or something like that."

Lauren laughed, "Is there such an organization?"

"I have no idea, but it sounded good. I think I'm delirious. I really need to sleep."

"Well, let's get you to bed then."

Bo pressed the accelerator and headed down the road, turning right to go the last half block to their hotel. Pulling into the lot, she grabbed her belongings as Lauren did the same, closed the doors and locked the vehicle. Lauren reached for her hand, which Bo smiled and took, walking into the hotel together.

At the elevator, Lauren hit seven for her floor and as Bo went to hit five, Lauren gripped her wrist,

"Would you mind... I mean... would you sleep with me?"

Bo nodded nervously, "Sure... uh... yes."

"Just sleep, Bo... I just want to lose this connection again."

Bo nodded, wrapping an arm over Laurens' shoulder. The brunette knew that when Lauren left, the loss of this connection was inevitable, but for now, she needed it as much as Lauren did.

After a short walk down the hallway, Lauren slid the room key into the slot and opened the door. She wasted no time kicking off her shoes, pulling off her socks and stripping out of her sweats. She slid into the bathroom while Bo stripped off her jacket before she called into Lauren,

"Do you have anything I can borrow? My clothes still smell like beer and bar smoke."

Lauren replied, "Top drawer... take what you want. I over packed, of course."

Bo smiled thinking about how 'Lauren' it was that she had brought extra clothing. She pulled out what she knew to be the blonde's favorite Yale tank top and shorts, stripping out of her clothing and underwear before pulling them on.

As Lauren left the bathroom, Bo went in asking, "Can I borrow your toothbrush?"

The blonde laughed, "It's not like we haven't shared spit a thousand times before, right?"

Bo nodded, "I'll take that as a yes."

Lauren slipped out of her underwear and into a fresh pair of shorts and a new T-shirt, her others wet and sandy from sitting on the beach. She crawled into bed, making sure to set her phone alarm for three hours from now. Bo came into the room and crawled into bed next to Lauren, both women lying on their backs.

"I feel like a teenager on a first date." Bo said to the ceiling.

Lauren laughed, rolling over to lie beside the brunette. Bo took a breath as she felt the blonde's fingers slide down her neck to her chest, running along the low cut neck of the top before grazing over her right breast, her thumb glancing over her hardened nipple until her hand was cupping the heavy mound of flesh,

"Is this okay?" Lauren asked.

Bo's response caught in her throat, so she leaned in and kissed Lauren instead of trying to speak, hoping she understood that she didn't want her to pull her hand away. The blonde's lips parted, hoping Bo would deepen the kiss and the brunette did not disappoint, her tongue entering the blonde's mouth, seeking anything that would allow her to make the moment more intimate.

The brunette's hands roamed, slipping inside the waistband of Lauren's shorts and gripping her firm buttocks, pulling Lauren on top of her until their bodies were flush against one another. Bo slipped her other hand into Lauren's shorts, gripping the other rounded cheek. She pulled the blonde's hips towards her own, allowing her to grind into her a bit as they deepened their kiss and moved together.

As the need began to build, so did the urge to take things further. Bo broke the kiss, pulling her hands up to rub Lauren's back,

"Wow. That was... some kiss."

"Fully clothed kissing, this is new for us." Lauren replied, her hands sliding to the sides of Bo's breasts.

Bo gently covered Lauren's hands, enjoying feeling Lauren's fingers move over her body of her own choosing.

"You still like my breasts?" The brunette asked.

Lauren smiled, "Is it that obvious? I mean... we're doing horny teenager, so I think I'm supposed to feel your boobs, right? Isn't that part of first base?"

Bo smiled, looking down at the blonde's hands which were now cupping both of her breasts, her thumbs moving back and forth over the hardened nubs protruding through the thin material of the borrowed tan top, "I think it's absolutely a prerequisite to adult activities, but I think you're rounding second, sweetie."

"I'm an advanced horny teenager." Lauren laughed.

"Do you think it's a good idea to take this... too far?" Bo asked.

"Probably not. I guess I'd better stop. I'm sorry. This is probably torture for you."

Bo smiled, "It's always nice to feel wanted by you. I'm okay, I'm just not sure that I can handle the goodbye that would come after making love with you."

Lauren nodded as Bo asked, "Can I be the big spoon now?"

Lauren smiled, "Sure."

After positioning themselves, Bo smiled, "Goodnight, Lauren."

"Goodnight, Bo."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The alarm sounded causing both women to groan, "It's time to take a shower."

Bo mumbled, "I only need ten minutes... five even... I'll pull my hair up wet."

Lauren laughed as she pulled back, lifting her arm from beneath Bo's pillow to prop her head up. She looked down to see Bo lying beside her, both hands above her head, one breast hanging out of the side of the loose-fitting tank top while the peak of the other strained through the material.

"It looks like they want to say hello to me. Do you mind?" Lauren asked as she watched her own hand trace the dark color of the brunette's exposed breast before thumbing the nipple until it was sufficiently hard. She then slipped her hand beneath the material to give attention to the other. She cupped the heavy flesh of the ample breast and teased the nipple with her fingertips.

Bo couldn't help but press her chest into Lauren's hand, "God that feels so good."

Lauren smiled, her fingers continuing to travel over Bo's chest, "I really am like a horny teenage boy... I love your breasts. I would love to take pictures of you topless and hang them all over my new house... and maybe have one in the glove compartment of my car."

"Your glove box, huh?" Bo laughed, "Is there something you want to tell me about the Doctor Lewis commute that I didn't know about?"

Lauren tried to keep a straight face as she spoke, "I was sure I told you about my rush hour fantasies."

"Ummm... nope! I'm sure I would have remembered that." Bo laughed.

"Okay, well if I'm ever stuck in traffic, I have something to look at besides someone's bumper if I have my secret love box."

"Love box, huh?"

Lauren giggled as Bo pulled the blonde on top of her, claiming her lips as her own before pulling back to lift the blonde's top over her head.

"You are incredibly beautiful morning." Bo said before the blonde leaned down and kissed the brunette, her hands now wandering at will under and over the brunette's tank top while Bo responded in kind.

Their legs entwined, Lauren's bare thigh coming to rest against Bo's wet core, "I can feel how wet you are. Do you want some... relief? I mean... are you sure about this... I mean... I don't want you to have any regrets with us."

"Forget what I said... it's going to hurt when you leave whether we do this or not. I'm choosing this, Lauren." She pulled back and looked in Lauren's eyes, "Just promise me this isn't some experiment... promise me that right now, here... in this moment... that you want to make love with the Bo you fell in love with."

"But that Bo no longer exists... this Bo means so much more to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I fell in love with you quite quickly, if you recall and since then, I've brought so much... unrest... to our relationship but you've been here for me despite that and I love you even more for it."

"I did have my moments, Lauren."

"And so did I, Bo but here we are... still loving each other."

"Well, right now, I just want you to know how much I love you and will miss you." Lauren pulled Bo into a tight hug. Bo took the opportunity to whisper in her ear, "Gods I'm going to miss you so damn much, Lauren."

The blonde pulled back, looking into Bo's eyes, "I'm going to miss you too, Bo. You have no idea how many times I've wanted to change my mind and stay... to stay for you... to be with you... but I can't, Bo... I can't do that to you... I can't be a woman who is incomplete... I need to be more for you and I need you to let me try to become that... to have hope that I can become that and still come back to you... I need you to give me that hope."

"Time will tell if we'll get our happily ever after, sweetie. For now, what do you say we just love each other here and now?"

Lauren smiled, "That sounds absolutely perfect."

The blonde rolled off of the brunette, pulling Bo on top of her. Sitting up, the surfer pulled her top off, allowing the blonde full view of her upper body,

"Is this what you want, Lauren? Am I what you want?"

"I want to want you forever, Bo... please help me to keep loving you... I really don't want to lose you... I really don't want to lose us." Lauren reached up to pull Bo to her as more tears broke free.

Bo pulled back, her hands moving to the sides of the blonde's neck, her thumbs trailing along her jaw,

"Don't cry, sweetie... please don't cry... just love me and let me love you."

A small hiccup broke from the blonde's throat as Bo wiped her tears, "I'm so sorry for doing this to us, Bo... I want nothing more than to change my mind right now, stay right here and never leave."

"I want the same thing, Lauren but I need you to do this now... you need to do this... for six months, a year or longer. I've suddenly realized that if you're going to love me... if you're going to be with me... I need it to be for good... I want a lifetime commitment from you, Lauren, so you need to go and decide if I am the one you can't live without... whatever that takes."

Lauren sat staring at the brunette for a long moment, "Bo, are you... I mean... that's... are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Before we went to Rio, I told Kenzi that I thought you were the one. A lot has happened since then, but despite it all, my love for you has never wavered. Sure I've been mad, sad, happy, disappointed, hurt and afraid, but in the end... I can't imagine living my life without you."

Lauren laid her head on Bo's shoulder, "I've had this dream... we're living on a houseboat on the far side of the Back Bay far away from anyone else. We start our day kayaking over to the school, waking up Maverick first with hugs and kisses before teaching our first classes... yours on the beginner surfing beach and mine at the emergency training facility. We have lunch with the kids in their dining hall and dinner with Kenzi and Tamsin most nights. On occasion, we have dinner with the Professor at the campground."

Bo lifted Lauren's chin to meet her own, "You actually have that dream?"

Lauren nodded, "And a few others... I just... lately... I was afraid you wouldn't want me... wouldn't want us."

"Because of how I acted towards you after I viewed the footage." Bo stated, rather than asked. She knew she had retreated into herself after that.

"You were so mad... I'd never seen you that mad." Lauren closed her eyes for a moment, "It scared me... not that I thought you would hurt me, but... well... I thought we were over... that you would never be able to forgive me or look at me again."

"I was an idiot and I'm sorry I reacted that way. Is that why you took the job?"

Lauren nodded, "It was a rash decision. I should have talked to you first... given you a chance to process what you had seen as Kenzi suggested. I just... Gods, Bo what have I done?"

Bo cupped Lauren's face, "What you had to do, Lauren. The space will make us stronger and if it doesn't, we don't deserve to be happy together. Now... make love to me?"

Lauren smiled, her lips moving slowly to claim Bo's. The feel of her lips gliding up and down over the soft flesh of the brunette's was a sensation she wanted to take with her to Colorado.

"I want to memorize every inch of your body, Bo... memorize every sound you make, the way you move with me and the way you sound when you come for me."

Lauren claimed one of Bo's nipples in her mouth as Bo began to ride her thigh, her core slick from the blonde's words and earlier touches.

"Lauren..." Bo looked down to watch the blonde's mouth, moving back and forth between her hard, wet nipples, "Your mouth is amazing."

The blonde's hands moved down to grip the brunette's ass, as the sounds of Bo's wet core sliding against the flesh of her thigh filled the room. Bo pushed the blonde down onto the bed, pressing her thigh between the blonde's legs before moving her arms to support her weight on either side of Lauren's body,

"Is this okay?" Bo asked.

Lauren allowed her legs to fall apart, pulling her shorts to the side so she could feel Bo's skin against her core, but then stopped suddenly, slipping her hips back away from Bo's before she spoke,

"I'm sorry, Bo... I don't think I want to do horny teenagers... I want to be a woman... a strong woman who can love you the way you deserve to be loved... I want to touch you... I want to see you... feel you... all of you. I don't want this rushed, horny thing to be our first and last time together after being apart physically for these last five months."

"Are you sure you want to do fully naked, Lauren?"

"I feel like this is what we need, Bo... we've bared everything else to each other... this is the only thing we haven't reopened."

Bo nodded as Lauren slid her fingers into the waistband of her shorts and worked them down her legs until she could push them off with her feet. Bo then worked Lauren's off before lying down on top of her. The brunette reached for the covers, but the blonde stopped her,

"Tell me if you get cold, but right now, I have no intention of hiding you beneath the covers... or beneath clothing. We have nothing to hide, Bo."

Lifting Bo's arms over her head to the metal bars above her she whispered,

"Hold on, baby." Lauren kissed her lips softly... thoroughly... releasing them only to kiss down her neck, along her collarbone and down her chest until her lips took her nipple into her mouth.

She lifted Bo's leg and wrapped it around her hip, her free hand moving between her legs and sliding through her very wet core.

"Mmmm... I love the feel of you, Bo." Lauren said, her eyes meeting Bo's as she slipped two fingers inside the brunette. Bo's mouth dropped open, her hands gripping the bedframe tightly in front of her.

"My beautiful, beautiful, Bo... you've been so patient, so caring, so kind and so understanding. It's time for me to do for you. I want you to feel me deep inside you, Bo... I want to fill you and know that you feel nothing but pleasure when you look at me. I don't want to be the source of pain for you... no more pain, Bo. I want you to feel loved, wanted, supported and trusted. I want you to know that when I get on that plane, I'll be thinking of you... I'll be hoping for you... for us. I don't want this to be the end... I hope with all my heart it's not the end."

Bo's eyes filled with tears, and Lauren kissed them away, "Don't cry, baby... I'm here now... stay with me... don't think about tomorrow... just be with me now."

She smiled up at the brunette who nodded and smiled back before she spoke, "I would have waited for us to be intimate, Lauren... I would've waited as long as you needed me to as long as I knew that I would get to feel your hands on me again. You're the only one who touches me this way. You're the only one I want to touch me."

Lauren added a finger, pumping in and out of Bo at an excruciatingly slow pace as she spoke,

"This is how you've touched me, Bo. You've treated me with love and respect. You've touched my body as if it was a treasure to be cherished. I want you to know what that feels like, Bo. I want you to know how I feel when I'm with you like this... how no one else ever made me feel... respected and loved."

Lauren quickened her pace, using her thumb on Bo's clit to give her all the pleasure she could. She leaned in, catching her lips in a sweet kiss as Bo moaned into her mouth, tongues dancing to fuel the connection between the two women.

Releasing her mouth, Lauren pulled back her eyes connecting with Bo's as her climax hit. Tears formed in both women's eyes as the pleasure rushed through the brunette's body until she collapsed onto Lauren's shoulder,

"I love you."

"I love you, Bo."

Bo rolled off of Lauren, her body barely on the bed and the blonde noticed immediately, "Shift closer, baby. I don't want you falling off the bed and hurting yourself. There will be no injuries this close to a competition."

Bo smirked, "You're just afraid of having to see Nick when I tell him I hurt my back having sex with my girlfriend... I mean..."

"Girlfriend, Bo. I'm not going to make love with you tonight and use any other label for our relationship. Earlier, you told me I need to be stronger for us... well... you're right. If we put our lives on hold, Nadia wins. I'm not going to let her have my life anymore."

Bo smiled, "That's my girl."

"Yes I am."

Lauren smiled, her hands roaming over Bo's chest, while her lips trailed closely behind. She slowly traveled down the brunette's body, her eyes never leaving the deep chocolate orbs that watched her every move.

Bo's fingers moved to Lauren's cheek as the blonde dipped between her legs, her mouth doing things that made the brunette's hips rise up off the bed as if they had a mind of their own. Lauren's tongue dipped and swirled, her eyes concentrating on the pleasure she gave to her lover, waiting to enter her until she arched into her climax and pressed her core towards Lauren to draw her in as deeply as she could.

As she caught her breath, the blonde kissed her way back up her body and settled into the crook of her neck, kissing along her jawline until Bo lowered her mouth to kiss her softly. When Lauren pulled away, she saw the tears in the brunette's eyes,

"Hey... are you okay?"

Bo nodded, "I think I'm just relieved... I've been so worried that we would never be here again and... well... here we are... I was so scared for you that night in Rio, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "I was scared for me too. I'm not foolish enough to think that all of my fears and my quirks are going to go away just because we made love, but I feel empowered by the things I've figured out on my own in the past twenty four hours or so. If I cave in, Nadia wins and that is not acceptable... if I run without at least trying to keep some kind of hope for us, I give up something that has been the best experience of my life."

Bo reached up and grabbed the gold pendant hanging from Lauren's neck, "She's in prison, Lauren. She's never coming out. Next week Evony and Kristy will be on trial and they'll be in prison as well... I'm not sure how that's all going to pan out, but they've already been tried in Brazil... did Hale tell you about that?"

Lauren nodded, "Tried and convicted. All we're doing here is adding time on to their sentence. Brazil is insisting they serve their time in their prison for what happened in their country."

"Well, I have a problem right now." Bo said, her face serious.

"What's wrong?" Lauren asked.

"There's a beautiful blonde whose needs have not been tended to by her girlfriend because they are talking about three women who don't deserve our time."

Lauren laughed, "That is a problem."

Bo rolled Lauren over onto her back and came to lie next to her, leaning on her elbow. Her eyes roamed over her naked form,

"Lauren? Will you be okay if I touch you?"

The blonde nodded, "I know that I want you to, Bo. I really do. Just... please keep your eyes on mine? Don't let my mind stray from us..."

Bo leaned in and kissed the blonde, "I'm here, baby. It's just you and me. This is about us... together... moving forward even though we'll be apart. You're going to get stronger every day and so am I. This is not going to beat us."

She kissed her again, pouring all of the love and strength she had to give so she could somehow strengthen the bond that had been broken by the events that began and continued with Lauren's last night in Rio.

Bo broke the kiss and brought her hand up to support her head, her elbow settling in just above Lauren's shoulder.

"Watch my hand, Lauren... keep reminding yourself that this is Bo's hand... your lover's hand... the woman who respects, reveres, desires and loves your body, your heart, the very soul of who you are."

She kissed the blonde's lips once more, then allowed her fingertips to travel down over her shoulder, tracing her collarbone until it dipped into the center of her chest. She traced down between the strong muscles of her upper chest and smiled,

"You know, I have a picture from the games. Manny took it from the opposite end of the court with his ridiculously nice camera. It's of you putting a smash down the sideline in the finals. This muscle right here..." Bo kissed Lauren's upper chest muscle,

"Pectoralis Major." Lauren corrected with a smile.

"Well, you my dear friend Pectoralis Major..." Bo said, talking to muscle, "...Sure do know how to get your sexy on when you flex."

Lauren laughed as Bo's lips traveled down lower, kissing around the dark flesh of her breast,

"And you, my perky breasty friend..." Bo smiled at Lauren, before taking the nipple in her mouth and sucking gently, then lavishing it with her tongue, "... were sorely missed."

Lauren laughed again, "You missed the scrawny boobs?"

Bo smiled, "You have heard that size doesn't matter, right? More than a mouthful is a waste."

Lauren slipped her hand around Bo's to cup her breast, "Oh, I don't know about that... I like breasts that spill out of my hands."

"Mmmm... well... I just like your hands." Bo said as Lauren tipped her head to take the brunette's breast in her mouth.

Not to be outdone, Bo took Lauren's breast in her mouth, the two of them savoring the flesh of the other until Bo slid down Lauren's body, her eyes looking mischievous as she watched the blonde pout at the loss of her favorite toy,

"I've been robbed."

Bo smirked, "I'll make it up to you."

She moved lower, her face now serious as she traced the muscled lines of her lover's abdomen before her fingers moved to trace her hipbone. She watched as Lauren twisted under her touch,

"You haven't forgotten where my tickle spots are." The blonde giggled.

Bo smiled, "Of course not." She kissed the spot, swirling her tongue over the area while she gazed into her lover's big brown eyes. Moving up to lay beside her, she propped herself up on her elbow and pulled Lauren's leg up over her hip. She traced down the inside of her thigh until her hand found her center,

"Mmmm... you're so wet, Lauren."

The blonde closed her eyes, her hips rising up into Bo's touch.

"Lauren, eyes on me, baby. Stay with me. I want you to watch me touch you... I want you to know that every second of pleasure you feel, it's me touching you... caring for you... loving you."

"Bo..."

The brunette touched, stroked and cared for the blonde, her lips hovering just about hers, eyes locked as her arousal grew. She waited until Lauren asked her to enter her, making sure that everything was as she needed it. She was careful, gentle and tender every second that she touched her until the blonde's climax hit and she fell over the edge, never moving her eyes from Bo's.

Lauren's eyes immediately filled with tears. Wasting no time, Bo pulled her into a tender embrace, allowing her to release all of the emotions their separation and the multiple ordeals she'd endured had wrought.

"I'm right here, Lauren. I'm right here."

"Just hold me, Bo. Please hold me until I have to get on that damn plane."

"I'm never letting go, baby... even though there will be distance between us, I'll hold your heart and you will hold mine."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren rolled over, amazed that Bo wasn't wrapped around her. Opening her eyes, she reached for the brunette, but found nothing but a sheet. Sitting up, her eyes teared up when she saw she was alone in the room.

Her mind went into panic mode, thinking that Bo regretted what they'd done... that they'd moved too fast too soon. She sat up, hugging the sheet to her naked body, feeling betrayal and heartbreak. Had Bo lied to her? Had it all been lie? A payback for her leaving? Lauren heard the hotel room door open and looked up to see Bo coming into the room.

"Hello, lady lover." Bo smiled, pushing the pencil behind her ear, "I..."

Lauren dropped her head as tears streamed down her face. Bo stood shocked for a moment before she ran to her girlfriend,

"Lauren! What's wrong?" She wrapped her arms around the shivering woman and held her as she tried to explain.

"I... I thought... I was alone and... I thought... I thought you left..."

"Are we having a little crisis of faith here? A little trust struggle?" Bo said, pulling back and brushing the hair from her face. She thumbed away her tears, "I was awake and you were still sound asleep. I didn't want to wake you since we exhausted each other instead of taking a nap."

"Did you see Maverick and the Professor?"

"Oh, right... here." Bo produced a box from behind her back and offered it to Lauren, "We went to breakfast together and Maverick wanted me to give you this so you didn't have to get out of bed. He said you were sad and tired, so I should give you breakfast in bed... that way, you would like me again."

Lauren laughed, "Oh how I love that little boy."

"I know, right."

Lauren opened the box, "Wow, a whole plate. What is this?"

"Uncover it and you'll see. He knows you like to eat healthy, so I think he did pretty well."

"Eggs, bacon and... pancakes?"

"The pancakes are whole wheat and the cup has fruit in it. Like I said, he did okay."

Lauren smiled and nodded, "He did and I'm starving."

"Well, you eat, I'm going to shower."

"Nope... you sit with me while I eat and then we can shower together. I'm not spending a minute without you if I don't have to. What's the plan for the day?"

"Well, the boys just left to go to the pier to fish. When they get back, Maverick would like to go to the science museum and then surf."

"Sounds like a great way to spend our last day in Fiji." Lauren said taking another bite of her food, but her mood suddenly changed when she realized, "We're not flying back together, are we?"

Bo sat down in front of Lauren on the bed, "Well, about that... if you want to spend every minute we can together until you leave, I'm willing as long as you didn't change your mind about us somewhere between your mind-blowing orgasm and the end of your nap."

"You did give me an epic orgasm and no, I did not change my mind. So... you'll fly us all back together?"

Bo nodded, "Yes, Lauren. We will all fly back tomorrow morning with you. I just wish we had more time."

Lauren lowered her eyes, "I know, Bo but I'm scheduled to meet with the entire medical staff of our country's Olympic Training Center on Wednesday at three in the afternoon. I need move in time and orientation time before that happens."

Bo nodded, "I understand, Lauren? Listen, about what we said earlier. I don't think we should try to classify us... you know... put a label on us. I don't want to hold you back when we're apart. I do have hope for us and I hope you do as well, but I don't want you feeling like you can't do what you feel like..."

"Sweetie, please... I understand and I'd rather you didn't say anymore. Right now, I can't imagine going on a date with someone else let alone sleep with them. I just want us to do as we promised... one day at a time, be honest and open but stick to the rules."

Bo nodded, "Right... the rules. I really don't want to know if you go on a date with someone else and I especially don't want to know if you sleep with someone else."

"Well, I would have to be the most emotionally unstable woman on the planet to do either considering all we've said, felt and done with each other in these past few hours."

Bo nodded, "Well, just know that I don't want you to do whatever you need to do. I just... I don't want these last hours to confuse things... I mean... you made the choice to go... to make this move... I just... if you decide in the end that it's me you want, I really don't want you to be ten years into a relationship with me and decide that you need to go find yourself again. I don't think I could handle it again... not that this is going to be something that's easy for me right now."

"Bo, what's wrong?"

"The unknown... knowing what you feel right now while you're hear with me is the known... but what Colorado is going to add to your life that you absolutely love is the unknown." Bo paused for a moment and, realizing that the mood was becoming heavy, added, "I mean... what does a relationship between a surfer who needs to live on a beach and a snowboarder who needs to live on a snowcapped mountain look like, anyway?"

Lauren chuckled, "Sounds like two people who spend a lot of time sitting in mud while pouting over boards they can't ride."

"Well, I guess I'll have to spend some of my alone time figuring out a new sport called mudboard surfing."

Lauren smiled, "Or we could just call it BoBoarding."

"You should be working in my marketing department." Bo laughed, "I've seen those stick figures you can draw. They're killer."

Lauren laughed, "Yea, I'm sure the customers will come running over my stick figures riding boards through mud."

The pair were quiet again as Lauren resumed eating her breakfast. As she ate, she studied the look on the brunette's face as she gazed out the window of the hotel. She knew there was still something else troubling the brunette. She supposed the obvious was about their coming separation, but she wasn't sure and it bothered her.

"Bo? Is there something else on your mind? You still look... unsettled."

"I was just thinking about how long we might be apart. I mean, I'm assuming that your position is for the next four years and... well, a lot can happen in four years apart."

Lauren stood up, pulling the sheet from the bed to wrap around her. She leaned against Bo, laying her chin on her shoulder,

"Having a crisis of hope already?"

"Maybe just a bit of a reality check?"

"Why does our reality have to include our demise? I thought you were going to be our champion for hope." Lauren said, gripping both of Bo's shoulders and giving her a playful shake.

"Well, hope alone isn't going to do it. We have to be willing to keep working at us and with out schedules, the distance, the proximity of many hot, gay women to you at the training center... I guess I'm having more of a crisis of confidence. I mean, what do I have to offer that some other woman wouldn't? You'll have a lot in common with women striving to achieve their Olympic goals and you have to admit, you will be the object of their affection... gold medalist, technically single, the woman in charge – I mean, everyone likes a woman in charge and... well, you're a freaking doctor, Lauren... you're every mother's dream for her daughter."

"Oh, so you only love me for my medical degree? I mean, you told me about your Mom's demands about Kenzi and college, but I had no idea she'd wanted you to find a nice doctor to settle down with." Lauren laughed.

"Family of engineers, remember? They wanted me to settle down with a nice man with a nice set of calipers. When I hit my teens and finally admitted I was into girls, my Dad started pointing out all of the hot surfer girls on the beach. Talk about awkward."

"I'll bet." Lauren smiled, suddenly realizing Bo was going to be surrounded by hot surfer girls while she was in Colorado, "Speaking of who will be around me... what about those hot surfer girls?"

Bo made a gagging noise, "Oh gawd... it takes a lot more than a hot body to get this surfer girl."

Bo turned and pulled Lauren into her arms, "Well, we're wasting our day and I think I'm going to need more memories to last me four years."

Lauren nodded, "Bo, I won't make you wait four years."

"You don't know that, Lauren."

"I do, Bo... because I can't wait four years... and it wouldn't be fair to keep you waiting... not that I expect you to... but I think we either need to do this or move on with our lives. I think a little space and time will help us know which one it is for sure."

"I guess that makes sense." Bo caved. She was just too emotionally drained by the ache in her chest to talk about it anymore, "I guess what will be will be and time will tell... right now, what's supposed to be won't be if we don't get ourselves together and get out of this room."

"Very true. I need twenty minutes to shower and dress. Can you call Kenzi about moving the flights so you and Maverick are with us?"

Bo nodded as Lauren kissed her cheek and ran off to the bathroom, and then pulled out her cell phone to call her little sister.

"Hey Kenz."

" _Hey yourself. What the hell happened last night?"_

"Your sister reacted, went to a bar, met up with Sonjay and no, I did not sleep with her, Lauren found us... jumped to conclusions about where I'd been... I fixed that, we did a walk and talk on the beach... a real good talk... stayed together last night... I had breakfast with Mav and the Professor. Lauren's getting ready now and then we're going to meet up with them again."

" _Uh... go back to the part where you stayed together last night?"_

"I don't want to talk about it Kenzi."

" _Bo, what are you doing?"_

"Kenzi, I'm doing what my heart tells me I have to do in order to survive this, okay?"

" _I want to smash her face in."_

"Kenzi, it's okay... really. She loves me, I love her... we love each other but she's not in a healthy place right now, Kenz. I have to let her do this or I'll always be wondering if she settled for a life with me out of fear. I want to be her choice, not some sort of savior from the wreckage that is her life. I need her to heal and she clearly can't do that with me. I love Hale and Ciara, but they haven't been able to turn her around either."

" _Okay, then. So your plan is to suffer for the next what... month... two... three?"_

"Kenzi, I don't see her leaving the Olympic Training Center until the next Olympics, do you?"

" _Wait... you're planning to wait for Lauren for four years?"_

"Today, I can't imagine not doing that. Ask me again in a year. Now, what about our little incident with the storm?"

" _The insurance covered everything, thank Poseidon."_

"Good, good. I guess the better plan was a good investment then after all, eh?"

" _Fine, fine... you were right."_

Bo laughed, "I always am, little sis."

" _Oh no you're not. Remember that time..."_

"Okay, okay... I don't need the highlight reel of all of my life failures right now. So I'm wondering if you can do me a favor with the second return flights?"

" _Bo, you can't keep Maverick out of school any longer. The other kids probably already think you're playing favorites and..."_

"No, Kenz... we want to come back tomorrow with Lauren and the Professor."

" _I thought you didn't want to be here for the big farewell." Kenzi asked._

"I changed my mind. There are clocks everywhere, so no matter when she leaves, I'm going to know she's on that plane. The bottom line is, it's going to hurt... no matter where I am, Kenz. I might as well be there... will you be home?"

" _Of course... and Tamsin too... you'll have four shoulders to cry on."_

"And have Hale on deck for Maverick. I think this is going to be hard on him."

" _What makes you say that?"_

"We talked this morning. He asked me if Lauren took the job. I told him he'd have to ask her what he was going to do, but he didn't buy it. He had already decided for himself that we were fighting because she was leaving."

" _So what did you say?"_

"I told him the truth, he cried, we talked, he cried some more. He's feeling like everyone he ever cares about leaves him. I reminded him that he still has me and the Professor."

" _And me... don't forget me!" Kenzi yelled._

"About that... you know how Fiji still has newpaper boxes on the streets?"

" _Shit." Was Kenzi's reply._

"Yea, the WSL announcement was on the front page. Surfing is big news here when the league is in town... congratulations, by the way."

" _I'm not on the Olympic Team yet, BoBo. I'm just selected to be part of the training facility test group."_

"All Maverick knows is that you're going to Colorado with Lauren."

" _I'm not going anywhere with Lauren and I will be commuting. I have a job and the WSL has already told us they expect us to fulfill our contracts with our sponsors as well as compete in any and all competitions we are registered to attend."_

"That's a lot of flights." Bo replied.

" _Yea and they're paying for all of them, so I'll do what I have to do. Maverick's surfing is my top priority when I'm home, Bo. I'm going to be there to help him learn... Dennis style."_

"I'm on board with that."

" _I knew you would be."_

"Okay, so you got those flights?"

" _Two more seats on tomorrow's big silver bird, coming right up."_

"You're the best, Kenzi."

" _I know, BoBo. I know."_

Bo laughed, hanging up the phone until she heard a voice behind her,

"You told Maverick?"

Bo turned around to see Lauren standing there, clearly upset by the news.

"He asked, I tried to dodge the question, he asked again and I told him. I won't lie to him, Lauren. Besides, I told you that you needed to have that conversation sooner rather than later. I'd have thought you would have told him on the plane ride here."

Lauren frowned, "I didn't want to upset him."

"Anyone he gets close to who leaves is going to upset him right now, Lauren. You know that, so how could you expect me to lie to him? Why would you keep it from him?"

Lauren nodded, "I understand. I'll talk to him today."

"No, not unless he brings it up, please. I want him to have a good day with you. Tomorrow, you can talk on the flight home and if you could let him know that you intend to have him visit to snowboard, that would be great... it will give him something to look forward to... as long as you promise to follow through on that."

"I promise, Bo... really."

"Okay, so... let's get going then?"

Lauren nodded, "I'll be dressed in a few minutes. My hair can air dry."

Bo nodded, "I'm going to go pull the car around. Meet me downstairs?"

"You aren't going to... sorry... go on then... I'll meet you there."

Lauren turned and walked back into the bathroom. Bo sighed and sat on the bed deciding to wait for the blonde. She was going for the car because she was upset about how the blonde had handled the Maverick situation. She needed to stop running every time she didn't like the way Lauren handled things. Not everything needed to be Bo's way. Five minutes later, Lauren came out in her underwear. Bo remained quiet, her eyes moving down when she realized she was gawking at the blonde's body.

"Thanks for waiting."

"Yea, well I decided that I needed to start doing that more often when I didn't agree with something you did. It's immature and controlling."

Lauren didn't reply, but instead slipped her feet into her flip-flops, "Okay. All set."

Bo smiled, "You look great. Let's go make some more memories."

Lauren smiled, "That sounds great."


	12. Chapter 12: Tough Goodbyes, Fresh Starts

_**A/N:**_ _To clarify... I've always felt that in canon, Bo's impulsive nature was often the result – but not the sole source or blame – for Lauren's pain within their relationship. Bo was also quick to defend/protect those she loved, while also being quick to become angry with them. She had difficulty letting go of the past and often allowed past events to dictate how she handled present circumstance. Maybe much of that was because of the restless Succubus she was forced to hold captive within her for fear of what it may do should she release it from its cage, but my take was that she didn't trust easily, but always seemed to find her way to what was the 'right' thing to do by others while often treating Lauren as an after thought... in short, I don't think Bo ever truly showed her devotion to her human lover outwardly like she did Kenzi. Seemed a little bro's before ho's and... well... I hate that phrase! I hated the way Bo treated Lauren and never truly thought she 'earned' Lauren's love._

 _Lauren, on the other hand, drove me out of my mind. She was kind, dedicated, sweet, and the perfect victim... victim of her past and victim of the Fae/Ash. It bugged the hell out of me that she never seemed able to stand up for herself or communicate how she felt, in her relationship with Bo, thereby allowing things to fester to the point where she felt she couldn't be with Bo because she wasn't a priority or not enough because she was human. I wanted more Lauren moments like the one where she stood up to Lachlan and ripped off the necklace as well as the one where she stood up to Bo in her bedroom when she was with Rainer... the "... everything I do is for you..."_

 _Anyway, my take was that Lauren's character was flawed because of many internal conflicts... first, she was likely an awkward teenager which is in keeping with how she is portrayed in most fanfics as a child. Second, she was clearly harboring a great deal of guilt from killing 11 people in the bombing incident. Third, she was wanted by Interpol, so probably used to keeping a certain degree of secrecy and mistrust around others. Fourth, she probably saw some serious shit in Afghanistan, as she was reluctant to discuss it with Kenzi at all. Fifth, she was a slave to the Fae and was probably taught early on to hold her tongue._

 _In short... I was shocked by the Doccubus ending because none of their issues ever seemed to be resolved... while I was always pulling for them, it seemed the relationship would forever be doomed because they were never on the same page._

 _So, going forward in this story which is outside of canon, but in keeping with my take on how truly flawed they are in canon, I want to make them deal with their own shit and become healthier individuals. I hope that you'll realize that I, personally, am not doing anything to Lauren or Bo... they do this back and forth stuff to each other. Sure... I'm the puppet here, but I'm trying to stay true to their respective natures. Bo lashes out and Lauren runs... we've seen it over and over in canon... and in this story._

 _All of that said, let's see how thing progress..._

 _Cuddles_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHAPTER 12: TOUGH GOODBYES, FRESH STARTS**_

The flight back to the States had been smooth going until now. Lauren sat with Maverick on a bench well away from the luggage carousel having a conversation while Bo paced back and forth, her eyes glancing occasionally to the conveyer that brought the luggage down. The Professor stood still with his arms crossed, watching items go round and round, hoping that the precious cargo would soon appear and his protégé would have reason to calm down. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the belt shut down and he knew his wish hopes had been dashed.

"Maybe you should go see the luggage captain, Bo."

"Ya think?" She asked, aggravated. Looking at the Professor's expression, she heaved a sigh, "I'm sorry. You've been nothing but supportive and patient and I shouldn't take this out on you. The airline, however, is something entirely different. This is why I hate traveling without Kenzi. She has powers of persuasion that always get my luggage here safely... especially my competition boards and now..."

The Professor moved to place a gentle hand on Bo's shoulder, "We'll find them, Bo."

"I have another competition next week."

"We have the specs on our boards, Bo. We'll build new ones."

Bo sighed, "Look... I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry, but... well there was a big storm while we were away. The insurance has covered everything and they've already started repairs, but the tropical storm that was forecast before you and Lauren hit, became hurricane-force winds and... well... the workshop was a total loss."

The Professor walked Bo behind the drop chute where they were hidden from the eyes of their companions and pulled the brunette into a hug. Bo let go a sob, covering her face with her hands,

"I just can't catch a break."

"Well, let's see... are you referring to your near drowning, your evil physical therapist, your arch enemy, the psychopathic abuser of your yet-to-be-labeled relationship with a certain blonde, her sudden departure, the two broken boards prior to the Fiji Pro, the hurricane that wiped out your life-long dream in what was probably three minutes or this particular unfortunate loss in the face of an impending competition which can make or break your standing in the championship?"

"Well, when you put it that way, my life is pretty damn good."

The Professor laughed, "I'm sorry to make a joke out of your misfortune, Miss Dennis, but I find that when life throws us a string of bad luck, it's best to step away from it all, take some time on your own and reflect on your life. Clearly, life feels you owe it something and I believe you need to find out what that is."

Bo pulled back, her face creased with deep frown lines as she put her hands on her hips and spoke,

"I'm a bitch... I'm a controlling, impulsive, bitch who has been running through life angry at the world for my circumstance. I need to grow the hell up and face the fact that you get what you give in this life. I've been dishing judgment while never taking the time to look at myself and my own choices."

She looked up and pointed at the conveyer, "This is just one example. Kenzi warned me to have my boards shipped home or make a deal with a luggage agent, but I was too worried about saving money, so I put them in with the rest of the luggage. I should listen to my little sister more often. She's more of a mom than I ever was."

"Oh, I'd say that isn't quite true. That spunky little gothic-style sister of yours is smart, skilled and a savvy businesswoman. She's got a great relationship with a woman she clearly loves and takes good care of our students. She's on track for an equally great surfing career while finishing a degree she began many years ago. She didn't come by her motivation and work ethic by accident, Bo... she is the best parts of her big sister... the woman who raised her."

"Yea, well... thanks, but I think she learned more from my mistakes than my example."

"She still learned and you can still learn as well. Bo, if you learn nothing else from me, please learn this... the beauty of life is that you can choose to reinvent yourself ever single moment of every single day. Right here, right now... what you like to change? Who would you like to become?"

Bo sat down on the bench behind her and looked at the luggage carousel in front of her as it came to life once again.

"Would it to be too much to ask that my surfboards come down that chute right now or do you think that's the luggage of the next incoming flight?"

"We'll soon see. In the meanwhile, I'd like you to answer my question... you can do it now in conversation or you can write me a five-page essay tonight, due tomorrow as an assignment for our class."

"An assignment?"

"Well, seeing as we've lost our classroom..."

"You aren't serious."

"Look at my face Bo... have you ever seen me look more serious?"

He was right. Bo had never seen him look more stern and... well... professor-like since the first day she had him for class.

"Fine... well... I'd like to be more like Kenzi in my professional life. She's... well... everyone likes her and likes working for her."

"And you don't think they like working for you?"

"I think they like it okay, but we don't laugh while we work... it's all business. Kenzi's employees actually get shit done while they work. She has fun, they have fun... it's like they don't really work for a living... they just play all day at things they love to do."

"That's a helluva job if you can find it." Professor Meade smiled.

"Have you found it?"

"You mean you can't tell?"

"You look happy enough." Bo replied.

"Miss Dennis, I am very happy as an employee of Kenbo Corporation. Why do you think I'm retiring from teaching? I'm making a livable wage for playing in the woods with nature while getting to teach kids about all of the things I love."

Bo nodded, "You know, I'm ashamed to admit that in all of these weeks that you've been working with us, I never once stopped to ask you how you liked working for us. I need to be more conscious of how my employees feel... especially the ones that reside here. They need to have lives outside of the school and I'm not sure they all have a chance to have that if they're residential employees."

"Okay, so you want to be a better boss. That will be the first goal in the reinvention of Bo Dennis program."

"I'm a program?"

"A project?"

"I'm your project... that's all I am to you?" Bo said sarcastically with a laugh.

"In truth, you're becoming more and more like the daughter I never had, Miss Dennis. My wife would have loved you."

"Well, I sure could use the father-figure. I'm sorry I never got to meet your wife."

"Me too, Bo. And you should know, that you've always been a project to me... you have great promise and helping you towards achieving greatness... well... isn't that what teachers are supposed to do? You just happen to be my favorite project... you will be my greatest achievement!"

Professor Meade laughed, wrapping an arm over Bo's shoulder,

"Okay then... what else do I need to move on to greatness?"

"Ah, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. The secret of greatness must be discovered. It is not a secret to be shared by those of us who have already achieved it."

"I never knew how modest you were. It's refreshing." Bo smirked, "Okay, so I have to discover my greatness. What does that mean?"

"Greatness is not bestowed on a person because of what they accomplish. It's bestowed on a person because of who they become and how they positively impact or influence others. So... who must you be to become great?"

"Kind, understanding, hardworking, compassionate..." Bo thought for a moment. She knew many great people, but why did she consider them great? She thought of Pops,

"Well, Pops Torrent... he's great. He is an amazing engineer, so I guess that means you must possess knowledge in your area of expertise. All of his employees, including me, have a genuine respect for him... I guess because he respects us... both personally and professionally. He respects our effort, our time, our knowledge and the fact that we have things outside of work that are important to us."

"That's a good start... do you really think we can cover all of this while we're sitting here?"

Bo's shoulders sank, "You really want the essay, don't you?"

Professor Meade nodded, "I do, Miss Dennis. I think it would be good for you."

"You're probably right. Besides, I should probably go see the luggage captain and get the process of finding my boards started."

"Agreed. Besides, I think our two companions are probably wondering what we're doing over here."

"True."

The pair stood to move over to the luggage department when Bo stopped them, "Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Dennis?"

"Thank you for your patience and dedication to me and my mess of a life. I promise... I'm worth your time and energy. I want to grow and... well... I want to be a better person... for me, for my friends, my family, my students and to be a better representative of my sport."

"I hadn't heard you mention that goal before."

Bo shook her head, "Another awareness moment... I seem to be having a lot of those lately."

"It's called growing up."

"Well, it's about time I did that then." Bo sighed, "After my second wave in the competition, I was sitting on the back of the wave runner and Dyson told me to look at how huge the crowd was. We were excited that so many people had showed up to watch because we're always trying to grow our sport. Anyway, I noticed how many young kids were on the shoreline and realized that many of them were young girls. In that moment, it just got in my head that I wanted them to see more than boobs and bikinis on the beach. I wanted them to see women who were secure in their body who could kick ass on a board without fear just like them men."

"A worthy goal."

Bo nodded, "Anyway, I thought of those girls holding a surf magazine with me on the cover and thought... I'd want them to see beyond my physical appearance... I'd want them to see the traditionally man-oriented world I live in and know that they could do it too. They could build surfboards, be an engineer, rock the surf world and survive without a man taking care of them in house. I'm not saying they have to be gay, but it would be nice to know that they don't need a man who can swing a hammer. It's just as important that they man be able to open his heart."

"Amen." The Professor smiled, "Now, let's go find your boards."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Once Lauren and Maverick's bags had come down the carousel, they'd moved the luggage cart over to a bench so they could sit down. They'd had a busy day in and on the water yesterday, leaving the little boy exhausted. They had all hoped Mav would sleep on the plane, but he had begged and begged for Bo to get him a tour of the cockpit and eventually, she'd caved.

It turned out that most of the flight staff were surfing fans from Fiji and recognized Bo. From there, it had been an easy exchange of autographs and one phone call to the co-pilot's daughter to get Maverick a tour of the precious driver's seat. After two hours, he was returned to the adults and had spent the next three hours telling them all about his visit. After that, he had taken the map of the area where they were flying and traced their route, looking out of the window to try to figure out where they were. Despite Lauren explaining that they were too high up to know exactly where they were, he played a guessing game based on the Professor's knowledge of aircraft speed and distance calculations.

The boy had finally fallen asleep for the last three hours of the flight and the adults followed soon after, exhausted by their youngest companion's energy. When they departed the aircraft and headed to the baggage claim, Maverick was silent. When they'd gotten the bags and found that Bo's boards were missing, Lauren thought it best that the young boy be removed from the possible anger that would spill over should Bo's boards be missing. They had just sat down on the bench across from the conveyor when Maverick opened the conversation that Lauren had dreaded,

"The airport in Colorado is really big... sort of like this one."

He was quiet for a moment, but continued, his tiny legs rocking back and forth under the bench,

"I mean... well... there's a lot of airports but I only know four of 'em. I guess it depends on if you fly into Denver, Grand Junction, Leadville or Colorado Springs... but... well, duh... I guess you're flying into Colorado Springs."

Silence once more consumed the space between them before the question came,

"Why are you going, Lauren? You can be a doctor anywhere. If you don't like your job, you could get another one here." He asked, his big eyes staring up at Lauren, his expression one of sadness.

Lauren's eyes went wide at the question before she gave a slight smile and replied, "Well, I can't work with the entire United States Olympic Team just anywhere, Maverick. This is a chance for me to work with athletes that are going through what I went through to get my gold medal."

"But can't you just fly back and forth like Bo and Kenzi do when they have to go to do their surfing jobs?"

Lauren smiled, "Well, they don't have to do them all day every day, Mav. I would have to fly seven hours to work in the morning and seven hours home at night. That's half of the day spent in the air."

Maverick hung his head, "Can I go with you?"

The blonde's eyes went wide, "But I thought you wanted to be a surfer? And wouldn't you miss Bo and Kenzi? And what about the Professor? You two are like best friends."

"Truth?" Maverick asked, crossing his heart and extending his hand to Lauren.

"Always truth between you and me Maverick." Lauren smiled, crossing her heart and taking Maverick's hand, thumbs interlocked, then hands, then fingertips before they high fived.

"I miss living in Aspen with my family."

Lauren nodded, "I see. And have you mentioned this to Bo?"

Maverick shook his head, "No. I mean... I know the courts gave her custody of me and... well... she's a surfer and she needs a beach and... well... her home is there so I can't ask her to move just for me but... it doesn't stop me from missing my old house."

"Why don't you tell her?"

"I don't want to make her sad. She seems sad a lot lately."

Lauren sighed, "Well, she has a lot on her mind, Mav."

"I know and... well... I heard her talking on the phone to Kenzi this morning. Something bad happened back home but I don't know what it was. They were all really worried before we left. There was a big storm coming and...well... I don't know. Anyway, this is just more for her to be sad about so I don't want to make her even sadder by telling her I want to leave her... I mean... I don't wanna leave her at all. Bo is so cool and we have a ton of fun together and she teaches me a lota cool stuff and she tucks me in every night and reads me stories and... well... she's sorta like my mom but not my mom." He looked up at Lauren, "Ya know?"

Lauren smiled, running her hand through the young boy's hair, "I think so. I still think you should talk to Bo about it, Mav. She'll understand."

"So... will you stay?"

Lauren frowned, "I can't stay, Maverick. I need to go."

"But why?"

"Do you remember when you first came here and you were really sad and your head was filled with all kinds of memories and thoughts?"

"It was hard. It still is sometimes but you and Bo and the Professor and Kenzi make it better."

Lauren nodded, "Well, Bo told me that sometimes you just wanted to get away from everyone and sit by yourself. Why?"

Maverick lowered his eyes, "I just didn't want to talk about why I was at the Kenbo School and all the kids and even some of the teachers wanted to know. I didn't wanna talk about it at all."

Lauren nodded, "So what did you do when you were alone?"

"I just... I just sat to think... sometimes I would cry. I liked crying alone because I could cry as hard as I wanted to. I would talk to my parents and my sister. I would tell them I was sorry I didn't do something to save them. Bo told me there was nothing I could have done to save them. Do you think she's right?"

"I do." Lauren said with an emphatic nod of her head.

"It was quiet and the water was pretty and sometimes I would sit alone at night... until Bo would come and get me. I think she was worried."

"I know she was worried. She cares a great deal about you, Maverick. She wants you to be happy. She always wants you to remember your family, but she also wants you to go on and have a happy and successful life. She wants you to be everything your parents hoped you would be."

"She told me." Maverick nodded, "An I want to do all that too but... well... I just... I want things to stay like they are."

Lauren nodded, "I can understand that, Mav... I really can. Change can be a really scary thing sometimes and you've had a lot of change in a really short amount of time, but change can be good too. You changed sitting by yourself a lot and now that you sit with other kids, you're making some new friends."

Maverick sat, considering what Lauren said, so the blonde continued, "And just like you used to sit and think when things weren't going well for you, things haven't been going well for me and I just need some time to be on my own. I really wish I could do that here with you and Bo, but I need to go and think about some things that have happened in my life... I need to figure some things out."

"But you'll come back, right?"

Lauren shrugged, "I don't know yet, Maverick, but I can promise you that sometime soon, Bo is going to help you to come and visit me in Colorado. Would you like that?"

"Really?" Maverick's eyes went wide as he sat up straight and smiled.

Lauren laughed, "Really. We both know you miss snowboarding so once the surf season is up, Bo is going to get you out to Colorado."

"For Christmas? It's great having Christmas there!"

"Well, it's pretty great here, too." Lauren said, unsure if Bo would be willing to let him come there for Christmas. Right now, Lauren hoped that the whole gang would be together for the holidays, but she knew that Bo probably wouldn't be willing to leave the school for their first Christmas as a community.

"Christmas without snow?"

"Christmas isn't just about weather, Mav... it's about family and you have a big family here."

"I have a family?"

"Family doesn't have to be people related by blood. Family is a group of people who love and care for each other. Who support each other and their choices whether they agree with them or not."

"Is Bo your family?"

Lauren nodded, "And Kenzi, Tamsin, Pops and Moms, Ciara, Hale and Chief. They're all family to me."

Maverick looked up, "It looks like Bo's gonna be sad again. She's coming over without her surfboards."

Lauren shook her head and mumbled, "Shit."

The pair stood, greeting them, "Well, you're empty handed, so that's not good."

Bo shrugged, "It's all good. They'll find them and have them delivered before my competition in Oahu on Saturday."

"You have a competition at home?" Maverick asked, his face showing all of the excitement that came with the surprise news.

"Yup... and the whole school is coming to watch. How's that?"

"Really? Lauren, did you hear that! It's so cool! Are you gonna win again, Bo?"

Bo laughed, "I hope so, Maverick, but we've got a lot of work to do if that's going to happen on Saturday."

"You gotta get Nick with you every day and work really hard, Bo. It's our beach and nobody beats Bo on our beach!"

Maverick spun in a circle doing one of the Hawaiian native dances he'd learned from Akamai, the native history teacher. The three adults laughed at the young boy before Bo shut him down,

"Okay, okay... that's not exactly what I meant, but... well... before we leave, you and I need to talk for a minute."

Maverick's face grew worried as Bo sat on the bench and lifted him onto her lap. The Professor wrapped an arm around Lauren's shoulder and gave her upper arm a squeeze, whispering in her ear,

"You'd better listen to this as well. She should have told you, Lauren. I'm sorry... I didn't know she didn't or I would have told you myself. She didn't want you to stay because of the news."

Lauren looked at the Professor before looking back at Bo, who was smiling at Maverick

"It's okay, Mav. It's all going to be okay, but when we get back home, things are going to be different for a little while. You know that storm we were watching in school before we left?"

"The Tropical Storm Daniel?"

"Yup. That's the one... well... it turns out Daniel was a bit of a troublemaker and he turned into a hurricane... a pretty big one."

"Are my friends okay? Did anybody die?"

Maverick's face was covered in worry, tears filling his eyes, but Bo quickly interrupted,

"No. Absolutely not. No one died. Tamsin has a broken arm and Pops has a concussion. They were working and a roof caved in, but they're fine now... Dr. McCorrigan and his staff fixed them all up. The funny part is that nothing happened to the school... the boats got tossed around, but everything there is fine."

"So what's different?"

"Well, my workshop... well, in Kenzi's words... it looks like it got run over by a truck."

"Wow... it must be really flat."

Bo shook her head, "Not anymore. They already started rebuilding it."

"Your surfboards?"

Bo shrugged, "Toothpicks."

"Bummer."

"Yup." Bo replied, "I guess Poseidon didn't like the design. I guess you, me and the Professor are gonna have to build new ones."

"We can change the name... call them Boken!"

"You want my name in front of Kenzi's?"

"No... Boken... get it... like... broken but without the 'r'!"

Bo laughed, "Well, that's very clever! You've obviously been spending too much time with Kenzi."

"She said I gotta learn a good comeback for when kids tease me. She said the best defense against a bully and their mouth is a good offense."

Bo smiled, "Yup... that's Kenzi."

"So, what about everything else? The Back Bay? The place you train?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, Maverick. There's a lot of damage, so things look a lot different. We're rebuilding everything, but you and the other kids are going to have to help out."

"It's our home, so it only makes sense that we have to help put it back together."

"Thanks, Maverick. I knew I could count on you."

Maverick jumped off of Bo's lap and walked to Lauren, pulling her down to him so he could whisper in her ear,

"I'm not gonna be able to go to Colorado. Bo needs me here... the whole family needs me here. You can go if you wanna, but I gotta stay and help rebuild our home."

Lauren nodded, her eyes filling with unshed tears, "You're a good man, Maverick."

"Yup. It's the kind of man my family would want me to be."

Lauren wrapped her arms around the young boy and gave him a long hug, her eyes glancing up to find Bo's looking back at her. They smiled softly at one another before Maverick pulled out of Lauren's arms,

"What was that for?"

Lauren pecked his nose with her finger, "Just for being you, Mav."

"Can we go now, Bo? We got work to do."

Bo nodded, opening the pull bar on her luggage while the others all did the same. She grabbed her gear bag and turned to go before an older man came running towards them,

"Surf lady! Surf lady!"

Bo looked at Maverick whose face was laughing at the man, "Well, I've never been called that before."

The little boy giggled as Bo turned to the man she now recognized as the manager of the bag claim who had been too busy with other issues to talk to her earlier.

"Yes?"

"We found your surfboards. They were put on a return flight to Fiji."

"But... we were in Fiji."

"Yes. They were on a plane that was going from the States to New Zealand with a layover in Fiji. Some of those passengers deplaned in Fiji rather than continuing on. When they took the luggage off, they accidentally put your boards on that plane."

"So where are they now?"

"They're in New Zealand, but will be returning to Fiji the day after tomorrow. They're going to take them off the plane in Fiji and put them on a plane bound for Hawaii. We called your manager's number as you asked and she is arranging for them to be picked up when they arrive on Friday."

Bo nodded. That was cutting it close. If the airline failed to come through, she would have nothing to use in competition. She was going to have to build new boards for Saturday since Kenzi's... while not destroyed in the hurricane... would be in use since she was surfing in the same competition. Still, Bo thought about her conversation with Professor Meade from earlier and decided to stay positive. You get from life what you give to life... positivity would surely yield positivity, so she was going to focus on that... change number one.

"Thank you for the update. Hopefully they'll arrive on time. If not, I'll make sure I have a back up plan."

"Yes, ma'am. Hopefully they're in on time. I apologize on behalf of the airline for the inconvenience."

"Inconvenience? It's her living!" Lauren began, but Bo cut her off, shaking her head while looking down at Maverick.

Bo looked up at the man, "It's okay, really. I'll figure it out. Life always works out somehow, right?"

The man smiled, "Right."

He handed her two ticket folders, "These are two round-trip tickets for you and a companion to anywhere in the world for as long as you wish to stay. It's the least we can do for your loss."

"Wow... thanks."

"Of course. I'll let you go." The man nodded and turned to walk away.

Bo turned to Maverick and knelt down before him, "You know what these are?"

"I heard him, Bo! That's SO cool!"

"They are. Now, I don't know who will take you yet, but someone will use the other ticket and we'll get you out to Colorado to visit Lauren, okay?"

Maverick looked up at Lauren with a huge smile on his face, "Really? I can come? Can I really?"

Lauren nodded, "If your grades are good and you're keeping up with your chores, it's fine by me if it's okay with Bo. She'll pick the time and you'll have to travel with someone from the school."

"I know... the laws because I'm minor."

Bo took Maverick's face in her hands, "You, my dear boy, are major! In the eyes of the law, you are a minor child, in that you are too young to travel alone."

Maverick smiled, "Well, come on... we got work to do!"

The youngest member of their party headed for the exit, the wheels on his luggage spinning fast while the Professor followed behind him,

"Wait up, Maverick! Look for Kenzi's car!"

"Bo..." Lauren began, but the brunette shook her head,

"It's okay, Lauren. I would have told you if everything wasn't under control. The construction crews are there, insurance is covering mostly everything and no one got hurt... well... everyone is alive anyway. It's okay, so don't worry."

Bo smiled, "Come on then, Kenzi is probably pissed we made her wait for so long."

Lauren stared at Bo as the brunette walked towards the exit, her conscience feeling the weight of leaving her friends and family behind when there was so much to do. She wondered how the Chief was doing at the hospital.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Nothing could have prepared Bo for the scene that was before her when they pulled up to the campground to drop off the Professor. Exiting the car, the older man pulled his baseball cap off of his head and rubbed the back of his neck,

"Well, I guess I could pitch a tent on some of those palm tree branches."

Bo's eyes scanned the scene as Maverick ran up next to her, "Wow. It looks like a tornado went through here. I mean... I only saw 'em in movies, but yup... looks the same."

He walked over towards an overturned picnic table and picked up a branch, then dragged it over to the old campfire pit. Dropping it in place, he repeated his action while the three adults watched. Finally, he stopped and looked up,

"What you guys?"

Bo asked, "What are you doing?"

"Well, it's not gonna get cleaned up by itself. Come on, Professor. You gotta get your house done again."

Professor Meade looked at Bo and shrugged, "I guess he's right about that."

"I'll get a room set up for you at the school, Professor."

"It's okay, Bo. I'll handle this. If I can get another portable bed, that would be great. I'm just going to run down to the camping store later to get a new canopy shelter. Tomorrow, we should have this all cleared out and be ready to put up the tents again. I'll talk to Hank about delivering fifty new ones as soon as he can. I can put it on my credit card and you can pay me back whenever the insurance money comes in. Okay?"

Bo nodded, her eyes still roaming over the path of destruction the storm had laid through their property. She'd never seen storm destruction on this part of the island before.

"I'll see if there's any guys around to..."

"Already on it, BoBo. I called the school and he has ten of the juniors from the environmental club coming over to help out the Professor and Maverick."

Kenzi came out of the car, marching with her hands in the air through the debris-filled area, tripping in her high heels once or twice before she arrived by Bo's side.

"Great. Thanks, Kenzi." She looked down at her sister's feet, "Think this is the best place for heels?"

She shrugged, "I drove to the airport. A girl can't be at the airport without happy feet. Besides, this place is depressing and I needed a pick-me-up."

"That bad?"

"Nah... it's under control. Just a little... jungle chiq for now."

"Great." Bo replied.

"Well, get used to the joke because the kids are playing the soundtrack from Jungle Book to keep the younger kids from reverting to nightmares about the storm. It has definitely lightened the mood, but get ready to hear _'Trashin' the Camp'_ play over and over and over and over in your head."

Just then, a truck full of teen boys and a few girls pulled up, the music blaring. There were a few boys Mavericks' age as well who were being led in song by the older kids. They were all smiling as they pulled rakes, shovels and trash bags off the truck.

"Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap, Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap..."

The driver of the truck jogged over to Kenzi, "Where do you need us, Miss Dennis?"

"Judge, I told you do NOT call me Miss Dennis!"

The young man laughed, "I'm just messin' with ya, Kenzi. You're not stressin' are ya? We told ya. We're all alive and that's all that matters, right? No stressin'... we got ya."

His eyes traveled towards Bo, "Oh hey, Bo! We didn't know you were back! I thought you were staying in Fiji for another week."

"Well, I wanted to be here to see Lauren off."

"Oh, hey Doc. We heard you were leavin'. You'll be missed around here... sorry about your project."

Bo cringed as Lauren's face dropped, "I'm sorry?"

"Well, the Back Bay took a pretty big hit and..."

"It's okay, Judge. I'm going to take Lauren by there in a bit."

Actually, Bo had not intended to take Lauren there at all. She'd hoped to drop her off at the Torrent Estate so she could pack. Her flight was leaving in less than twenty-four hours and she knew that Lauren would want to say her goodbyes at the hospital as well.

Bo watched as Kenzi turned the group over to the Professor, allowing him to organize the group's recovery effort.

"Bo? Is it okay if I stay with the Professor and Judge?"

Judge stood behind Maverick and smiled at the brunette, "I got him, Bo. I promise I won't let him get into any trouble."

Bo smiled, "You'll listen to Judge and the Professor?"

"I promise, Bo."

"Okay." Bo looked up at Judge, "You know how to check the trees? I don't want anyone around any tree that doesn't have a strong root system."

"I know, the Mr. Bonsall gave all of the team leaders lessons in how to check for instability in the trees, plus we have Professor Meade here and he's an engineer. We're good, right Professor?"

He nodded, giving Bo a nod, "We're good, Bo. You've got other places to see."

"Okay. Thank you Professor. Stay alert, Judge."

"You got it, Bo." He waved her off before turning back to the other kids, wrapping his arm over Maverick's shoulder as he began to delegate duties.

The three women got into Kenzi's car and headed down the main road. As they traveled, Bo's mind grew wearier at the sight before her. There were roofs and siding off of various structures, trees down everywhere, debris littering seemingly every foot of beach lining the property and pieces of sails, kayaks and surfboards. Kenzi pulled up to their house,

"See? It missed." Kenzi smiled.

Bo's eyes went wide as she slipped out of the car and turned to face their home, leaning on the roof of the car,

"Shit, Kenzi. I'm so glad you weren't in there."

"Yea, our beloved shack has a palm tree on it, but our new snooty home survived, go figure."

"I guess Poseidon wants us to live the high life." Bo joked.

"Well, if this is the high life, I'd rather go back to living in a shack that withstood a hundred years of tropical storms."

Bo laughed, "I guess they don't make 'em like they used to, right?"

The pair moved to the trunk to pull out the bags, Kenzi whispering,

"You do realize that Hotpants is still sitting in the car, right?"

"Yea, I guess she's a little surprised."

"You didn't tell her?"

Bo's silence was all the answer Kenzi needed, "Bo! I told you..."

"I KNOW... Kenzi... I know. I should have told her, but things were good yesterday and... look, I'm sorry if I wanted to try to have her leave without dealing with any of this."

"Bo, no matter where she goes, she's going to deal with this... look around you!"

"Kenzi, I had no idea it was this bad. You know how much you like to exaggerate!"

"I told you I wasn't exaggerating! I told you the numbers, Bo... I told you about the battle with the State and the insurance company! Did you really think I would have called in financial support if I was exaggerating?"

"How is the Torrent Estate?"

"It's fine. The tree that hit their house just sort of grazed it. The construction crew just finished the roof yesterday and the new windows were supposed to go in today. Tamsin is supposed to be here soon. She was overseeing things at their house and then running over to the construction site at Lauren's."

Bo nodded, "Did they find Mittens yet?"

"Oh, gawd! I forgot to tell you! She was in the tree that landed on the house! I guess when Moms let her out of the bathroom after the storm, she crawled into Lauren's room and out onto the tree limb that came through her window."

Bo shuddered, "I'm so glad she wasn't in that room when the storm hit."

"I know, right?"

"The storm hit the Torrent's home?" Lauren asked, her eyes traveling between the two women.

Kenzi waved her arms, "It's A-okay, Hotpants. Everything is fixed, kitty white shoes is fine and all Torrents peeps are present and accounted for, although Tamsin is gonna be a lefty for a while."

"Sucks to be you." Bo whispered.

"Perve." Kenzi replied, smacking her sister, "Besides, I haven't noticed a difference. The girl's got skills."

"Over sharing." Bo quipped.

"Better than being overly loud." Kenzi replied, pulling the gear bag from the trunk and heading towards the house, "See you ladies inside the part of the house that has a roof."

"Bo, this is... everything is not okay and... well... what happened with the Back Bay project... and your workshop?"

"Well, we'll be starting from scratch, but between funds from the state government and the insurance, we'll be able to rebuild everything just as it was... well... with some adjustments that Pops is insisting on to help the structures hold up against hurricane force winds."

Lauren was quiet for a moment, "I should stay."

"No, Lauren. You are not staying. You have a plan and you're sticking to it. This isn't your problem. You've given us all of the tools we need to finish the emergency training site. Besides, without a building and equipment, there's nothing you can do to help us. Maybe in a month or so we'll call on your services but right now, you need to follow through with your plan."

"But Bo, I..."

"No... you're not doing this, Lauren. You've made your decision and I'm not letting you back out."

Lauren watched as Bo closed the trunk, "I don't want to go."

Bo looked up and looked at the blonde, "Right now you don't... maybe for the next day or two as well, but you'll see... you'll settle into your new environment and be fine. I'm not letting you back out of this, Lauren. As much as I'd like you to stay, what would be left for you once the clean up is done? What progress would you have made in achieving your goal of finding yourself and becoming this independent person you want to be. I want that for you as well... you know I do, Lauren... so I'm not going to let you stay... not for me and not for this place."

The brunette shook her head, "I'm putting you on that plane, Lauren. I don't care if you fly back here the next day, but you're getting on that plane just to give you seven hours to think about what you're doing and why you're doing it. You can call me anytime, you know that... just know that... well..." Bo raised her arms, looking around them, "Just know that I may be pretty busy for the next little while... and so will you."

Lauren nodded, "I suppose that's true."

Bo noticed Lauren wringing her hands and frowned, "What's bothering you? Really."

The blonde sighed, "I'm upset with you for not being honest with me. I'm feeling unsure about my decision to leave my current job. I'm feeling... I'm worried... about the learning curve in this new job. I know Indoor and Beach Volleyball... I've learned a little about surfing. I know a little about track because I ran the 110m hurdles in high school, which was eons ago. Other than that, I've been a spectator at other track and field events, soccer games and college gymnastics but... I don't know all of these summer sports and I know even less about winter sports. What am I doing, Bo?"

The brunette laughed, "You're a doctor, not a coach, Lauren. You're going to do exactly what you know best. Take care of emergencies and the physical condition of patients."

"Yea... right."

"I'm going to take my stuff inside and drop it off. Can you move your suitcase over to my car and I'll take you home?"

Lauren nodded, pulling her suitcase from Kenzi's car. Bo closed the trunk lid and headed in towards the house, "See you in a minute."

The blonde nodded and walked over to Bo's car, noticing a small scratch in the side. She leaned back against the trunk, releasing her suitcase. She looked around the grounds and shook her head. It looked like ten giants had come through the neighborhood, pulled up twenty trees, swung them around like baseball bats knocking things around, then dropped them to the ground and kept walking.

"Ready to go?" Bo asked as she jogged out of the house, "I've really got to get back here and help out. I've been gone for most of the cleanup."

"Bo, I can stay and help."

The brunette shook her head, "Kenzi said that Doc McCorrigan is expecting you at the hospital and Moms Torrent is making dinner for everyone."

"Bo..."

"You are not skipping out of her farewell dinner, Lauren so just suck it up and deal. That woman loves you like a daughter... hell, she told me she did adopt you as a daughter. You aren't seriously going to..."

"No, no... of course not. I'll be there for dinner. It's just... I don't want everyone to make a big deal out of..."

"Lauren, come on! This IS a big deal! You are leaving everyone that cares about you whether as a daughter, sister, friend, mentor... or more. They need to say goodbye and you need to let them... I mean... I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but... well... if you're trying to find yourself, I sure as hell hope your new self has some common manners when it comes to those who love you."

Lauren laughed, "Well that sort of puts it all in perspective. You're absolutely right. I'm sorry... I'll be there. I just... I'm just not used to people openly expressing their affection for me."

Bo smiled, "What, I didn't openly express my affection enough for you the past two nights?"

Lauren blushed, "You did."

The blonde was quiet for a moment, "Do you... do you have any regrets?"

Bo shook her head, "If it had just been angry sex or desperation sex then I would, but... well... it felt like love... and... goodbye."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt like last night was goodbye."

"Maybe it won't be."

"I hope not."

The two stood silently in each other's presence, neither daring to look up. Finally, Bo spoke,

"Are you ready to head home?"

"Yea."

The pair quietly turned towards the car, Bo loading Lauren's suitcase into the trunk. Getting into the vehicle, Lauren placed a gentle hand on Bo's thigh as they pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Pops Torrent cleared his throat from the head of his grand dining room table and stood.

"So, we all know why we're here this evening. One of my daughters is leaving us for a new opportunity. Why she would want to leave the company of such a handsome gentleman as myself, I can not explain but alas, she has made her choice and I must live with the pain of that rejection."

"Run, Lauren... Run." Tamsin deadpanned.

"You see, Lauren? You leave and I'm left with this ungrateful lump of a daughter instead."

Everyone laughed, including Tamsin before Pops continued.

"Lauren, you are a daughter to me and Moms, a sister to Tamsin, a dear friend to most gathered here, a dedicated and skilled physician to Chief McCorrigan is still in tears every day over the loss of his prized ER doc and... well... a mentor to many of the kids down at the school. I would say you will be missed, but that word is somehow inadequate to express the void that will be left for all of us once you are gone."

Moms leaned over and pulled Lauren into a sideways hug, planting a kiss on her temple as Tamsin smiled over at her long time partner and friend. It was in that moment that the slightly older blonde realized that Lauren really had been like a sister to her and the depth of her absence hit her all at once. Tears welled up in Tamsin's eyes as she leaned into Kenzi who gripped her hand beneath the table.

"Good Poseidon save us all from the flood happening 'round this table, Pops! Finish the toast already before the Doc has to save Bo from drowning again." Vex yelled from the other end where Lauren's eyes were drawn to a weeping Bo who was being comforted by Ciara.

The blonde's eyes were drawn back to Pops as he finished, "We wish you nothing but happiness and success in the future, Lauren... but excuse us if we just harbor a bit of hope that you will absolutely hate Colorado, fail miserably and come running back to us to find that happiness and success."

He held up his glass as everyone laughed and chimed in, "To Lauren! Cheers!"

Glasses clanged and words were exchanged between all as they downed their champagne,

"Feel free to help yourself to refills!" Pops said, topping off his own glass with the nearest bottle to him, "There's also wine and beer if you prefer." He said, pointing to the drink bar behind them.

"Okay, dig in, everyone!" Moms said, waving at the massive spread of food at the center of the table.

Bowls and dishes were passed, the food being plated and consumed over the course of the next hour where conversation flowed easily and stories of Lauren's life were recounted and retold. The blonde was made to feel embarrassed, proud, courageous and... most of all... loved. It was surreal to sit and watch all of these people... some she'd known most of her adult life and others for mere months... celebrate her accomplishments... as well as laugh at her more clumsy moments. Everyone smiled and laughed and... for the first time in her life... she felt a part of something. Truly, this was the family she'd always sought, but never realized she'd had until this very moment.

"If you'll excuse me. I need to go relieve myself." Lauren whispered to Moms who placed a hand on her cheek,

"You okay, dear?"

Lauren took her hand, "I am, Moms. Thank you for all of this... it's great, truly great. I really am so grateful."

"We all love you, Lauren."

"I know, Moms. Now... I really need to pee." She laughed, as did Moms.

Bo watched as Lauren turned down the hallway after leaving the dining room. Her gaze moved to Moms who smiled and gave her a 'thumbs up', mouthing, 'she's okay' to the brunette. Bo nodded, grateful the blonde wasn't having an emotional breakdown. She didn't think she could hold it together if she had to talk to Lauren when she was crying... truth was, as the hours ticked away, Bo was struggling to keep her own composure. The moments of sadness seemed to fall heavily in waves every hour or so. She was dreading what was coming and she knew it would come... it was inevitable.

"Bo, you alright?" Ciara asked.

Bo nodded, giving the blonde a smile, as she wondered what Lauren was up to right now. She was concerned that she was going to have to talk her into getting onto the plane tomorrow and the truth was, that right now, Bo just wasn't sure if she would have the strength to make Lauren go if she tried to stay.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren knew she should go back inside... the party was for her, but right now she just needed a little alone time. This was the last time she would see a beach in a long time. The view from her own home was great, but this view from the Torrent Estate family home, gave a view of the entire coastline. She was grateful there was a dark sky tonight. The stars were amazing, the ocean breeze was cool, but not unbearable and best of all, other than the crash of the waves on the shore, it was quiet.

She sat for a long while, her mind filled with thoughts of why she had made the choice to leave for Colorado. Sure, the job was an incredible opportunity, but in truth, it had been one incident with Bo. Instead of waiting and talking about the events of that night... instead of waiting for Bo to process her confusion and anger, she'd made a rash decision... an emotional decision... to run... to hide from the shame of the footage others had seen... footage she had actually given permission for them to see... well... not all of it, but she did insist Bo be alone in the room. She might have known it could happen... maybe deep down inside, she'd wanted it to.

She sat for a moment as the thought hit her that she may have actually intentionally sabotaged her own relationship. But why? Of course she knew why... she never truly believed that things would work out with Bo. Years and years of Nadia telling her how worthless, unattractive, unwanted, unlovable and useless she was had sunken in to her heart and mind. She realized that she had never actually believed that Bo had a reason to love her... or stay with her. She'd cut her losses and run.

"Wow... so glad I figured that one out... too late. Well done, Lewis."

She curled her arms around her knees and sat, "Well, Hawaii... this is it. Honestly, you've been good to me. I had a great training ground for my career as a physician. Doctor McCorrigan was a great mentor for me. He helped me grow and gave me confidence. I had a great training ground with a lot of great people around me. I loved my house and although I would never consider it a home because of... the circumstance surrounding it... I had a spectacular view of this beach."

She sighed, "You gave me new friends and you gave me Bo. I hope this isn't the last that I'll see of you." Lauren chuckled, "Frankly, I'm not very fond of snow and ice so I'm pretty sure I'll at least be back to visit."

Her eyes brimmed with tears, "Please take care of her... take care of her heart... cradle her in your ocean and keep her safe... keep her happy... sweet Poseidon, please let her smile every day."

She paused, "I love her... I want her happy and if that means you bring her a new love who can give her what I could not, please give her a love that will fill her heart and soul."

"I had that... but she lost her way for a while. Right now, she's taking a little trip to go get it back. I'm hoping that she won't be too disappointed if she comes back and I'm still waiting for her to fill my heart and soul again. You see, I've got this sort of empty feeling in the pit of my stomach and this ache in my heart... I don't think anyone else can take that away, so for now, I'll have to let memories and hope fill the gaps."

Lauren never turned around to look at who spoke. The voice was familiar and the words were spoken firmly and with an honest determination that she had heard many times before.

"You know, the night that I made the decision to go into the inpatient facility, I heard the same resolve in your voice. You sure do know how to convince a girl that you're okay."

Bo came to sit beside Lauren, brushing the sand from her feet. Lauren looked at her and asked,

"So are you? Okay, I mean?"

"Define okay." Bo replied.

"Yea... me too."

They sat in silence for quite a while before Bo said, "You know, everyone is wondering where the guest of honor got to. We drew straws to see who would come after you."

"You lost?" Lauren asked.

"I won." Bo smiled.

Lauren hooked her arm into Bo's elbow and leaned her head on her shoulder, "I was talking to Hawaii on your behalf."

"The whole state?"

"Yup."

Bo chuckled, "Can I ask what you requested?"

"That she take care of you, keep you safe and take care of your heart... whatever you need."

Bo nodded, "Right now, I need my school to be healed from the storm and I need the woman I love to trust that we're doing the right thing here... splitting up."

"We?"

"Yea, I've decided that since I haven't really gone all-in trying to talk you out of this, that the decision was made by both of us. I could have talked you out of it."

"You think so?"

"I can be very persuasive."

"So you think I'm a push-over, huh?"

"For me? Absolutely."

"Cocky."

"So I've been told."

"I'd like to think of it as confident."

"That sounds much too admirable for me."

"I do admire you... your strength, your determination, your courage... all of that mixed with love and compassion... you have a fierceness about you that I've never seen in a woman before... a good sort of fierce."

"Sounds like you in the ER or you on the Volleyball court."

Lauren smiled, "I wish I could have that all the time. Do you ever think I'll be able to feel... I don't know... normal... again?"

Bo kissed the top of Lauren's head, "What is normal, Lauren? Whose definition of normal are you trying to achieve, sweetie? Mine? Kenzi's? Tamsin's? Ciara or Hale's? I think that society has expectations for what normal is, but our country has spent most of its existence trying to squash normalcy to allow people to just... I don't know... be."

"Well, I guess I'll know I'm normal when I feel it."

"You are normal, Lauren."

"I'd hardly call myself normal, Bo. I am... flawed... horribly flawed."

"Tragically flawed, Lauren... just like the rest of us. I think we've both hung on to our pasts for too long. Maybe during this time apart, we'll both figure out how to put our pasts in perspective, learn to be adults and accept each other for who we are... whoever that is... if and when we find our way back to each other."

Lauren wrapped her arms around Bo, squeezing her tightly, "I don't want to lose you, Bo."

"I know, Lauren... and I don't want to lose you either. Hold on to hope, okay?"

Lauren nodded, pulling back and returning her head to Bo's shoulder, "Okay."

They sat quietly for a long while before they heard a drunken Vex's voice calling for them,

"Oi! Where's the guest of honor! Don't you two be bangin' naughty bits yet! Bo! We get Lauren for a little while longer! Give her back!"

Bo laughed, "At least there won't be a Vex in Colorado. Are you sure you don't have room for him in one of our suitcases?"

"You can send him FedEx. I'll bundle him up and send him on a dog-sledding expedition when he arrives."

The two looked at each other before they both began to laugh. Bo smiled, "Is it bad that we both actually considered that for a minute?"

"We are SO bad!"

"Come on... let's go back to the party." Bo stood, extending her hand to the blonde before walking her back to the house to join their family and friends.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The party was in full swing for the remainder of the evening with various members of the hospital and school staff showing up to send Lauren on her way. By the time the last of the guests left, Lauren was exhausted and she hadn't finished packing yet. She and Bo had made the decision not to spend the night together since Bo needed to go back to the school and tuck in the younger kids. Many of them were still having trouble sleeping. Many were also unwilling to get into their beds alone, worried that another storm would come and hurt them.

Kenzi had informed Bo that many were now afraid to get in the sailboats or enter the water after seeing how the waves had pounded the shore. They not only had the physical damage to contend with, but the mental and emotional aftermath as well. They'd requested additional social workers from the State as part of the storm relief and they were granted, but that support was trickling in as the new staff was asked to pay their own plane fair. It really didn't matter where you were in the other forty-eight states of the U.S., getting to Alaska or Hawaii was always a more expensive flight.

Now, Bo sat outside of the dorms in a single lounge chair on the dock, looking out at the sea. Her mind was going a million miles a minute about Lauren's imminent departure, but she was still acutely aware of any cries or conversation coming from the open windows of the dorm rooms behind her.

She sat in silence for quite some time, trying to reconcile the blonde's departure with her heart, before she heard quick footsteps making their way outside. She smiled, knowing it was probably Emma who she had just finished reading five stories to before tucking her in and promising her she would be right outside.

"Bo?"

The brunette smiled at the sound of the small voice, turning to see the expected guest. She had to laugh to herself. The tiny child looked like Cindy Lou Who from the TV movie she watched as a child at Christmas.

"Emma, what's the matter, sweetie?"

"I can't sleep."

"Well, I'm right here, just like I promised. I see you brought Theodore the Bear and your blanket. Do you want to sit on my lap?"

"Can I?"

"Come on, then." Bo smiled, holding her arms out to the little girl who smiled and ran straight into the brunette's arms, "I can use the company anyway."

"Are you ascared too?"

"Nope. You see, I know that storms like the ones we had here don't happen very long. You'll be older like me by the time we have another one of those."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"But how do you know? Reggie says you can't know acause your not a weatherman."

"I'm not, but I listen to the weather on TV and you should tell Reggie that people who tell us about the weather are not always men. Sometimes they're girls!"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Could I be one of those one day?"

"A weathergirl?"

"Uh-huh."

"You can be whatever you dream to be one day, Emma."

"I wanna be a rowboat Captain!"

Bo laughed, "Wow! A rowboat, huh?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Why not a bigger boat like the ones that take you out for science class?"

Emma was quiet for a moment.

"Emma? What's the matter, sweetie?"

"Well, those boats all got turned into pieces in the storm. The rowboats... they're all still good. They're better boats. I wanna be a captain of a rowboat."

"I see." Bo replied, watching as the little girl yawned, "Here, let me have your blanket."

"No!"

"Hey... I just want to cover you with it. I don't want you to get a chill out here. It's a little cold, okay?"

"Okay. You can share it."

"That is very nice of you. Thank you." Bo replied as she draped the blanket over the little girl. She watched as Emma tried to spread the edges over her shoulder and torso.

"Kiss Theodore goodnight." Emma said, her eyes growing heavy.

Bo did as she was asked, then pulled the little girl close to her chest. Stretching out her legs, she reached up over her head and pulled down the blanket that she had brought out for herself. Unfolding it with one hand and awkwardly working to spread it over her legs and then up over her body and Emma, she finally got comfortable. She lay back, allowing her body to sag into the seat cushion and closed her eyes. For now, with the mission of protecting this young child, maybe her dread of tomorrow would pass for long enough for sleep to take her.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Nick and Kenzi stood poolside, watching Bo fight the expert wave formation the pool techs were throwing at her.

"Snap, Bo! You need more snap!" Kenzi called out to her.

Bo groaned, working the unfamiliar board beneath her feet, trying to get it to feel like her other boards. She continued to work as her sister continued to coach her, trying desperately to get the older Dennis to true form. Finally, Bo sunk into the water and paddled to the side of the pool.

"Your turn, Kenz."

"My turn? You look... mushy!"

"Mushy? Is that a technical term?"

"It's a Kenzi term from the Kenzi Dennis School of Surfing. It means you're surfing like an old lady. What's wrong?"

Bo sighed, "What's not wrong, Kenz? Lauren's at the hospital, her packed bags are on her doorstep and she's leaving in eight hours. My boards are gone and this thing feels like a square piece of plywood beneath my foot. The workshop isn't in working order, so I have no tools to make new boards."

Bo shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kenz... I'm just... off my game."

Kenzi nodded, giving her sister a little space. She knew this was going to be a rough day, but at the same time, she had a competition this weekend that was crucial in the standings. She'd worked too long and too hard for this opportunity and she was not about to let it go.

"Just remember that you have had dream your entire life to get to where you are right now in surfing. This weekend is important, Bo."

"I know, Kenzi!" Bo snapped, then looked at her sister and sighed, her face showing all of the helplessness she felt in that moment, "I know."

She took a deep breath, "I'm going to go for a walk... shake this off... maybe find a better board that somehow got tossed into some tall brush by a strong wind." Bo joked, not truly expecting to find anything. She just needed some alone time to clear her head. The last thing she needed was to get hurt because she wasn't focused and concentrating.

Once she was through the exit, Kenzi picked up her cell phone, "Yea. You need to get over here now."

The room was silent, all eyes on Kenzi as she listened to the other end of the conversation, then replied,

"Because your timing sucks and we need a win this weekend."

Kenzi hung up and then looked at the tech, "Left to right wave, please."

The tech nodded as the group watched the younger Dennis sister climb into the pool and begin her workout. After about ten minutes, Bo came back into the facility and stood by watching her sister's efforts. She smiled, as Nick walked up and stood next to her, leaning on the railing.

"She's getting better every day. Kelly hung out until he had to go to Fiji. He's really helping her... really taking an interest."

"Her moves are like silk... effortless. I can see why they took her for the Olympic Training Squad. She's a great investment. Can you imagine how good she'll be in four years?"

"Well, they took what they could get."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kenzi didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They came for both of you, Bo. They want you too. She told them you were retiring, but she would do what she could."

"So that was what the whole conversation was last night at the party and this morning while we were stretching."

"Look, she probably has two or three Olympics in her career, but only one of those could possibly be with her sister. She knows that your heart isn't really in it anymore, but she would really love it if you were with her for 2020."

"Why didn't she just ask me?"

"She said she'd tried before to get you to do it, but you'd told her you had new goals and dreams."

"Yea, well that was before my girlfriend decided to move to Colorado to find herself." Bo didn't mean the words, but they'd slipped out before she said them, "I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did... at all, really. I support her decision it's just..."

"A rough day?" Nick asked.

"Yea... the roughest." Bo replied.

"So you would consider the 2020 games?"

"Only if I don't have to train at the Olympic Training Center."

"Why is that?"

"It's complicated... I just... I can't be there." She turned her attention back to Kenzi, as she felt the conflict enter her mind again. It would be nice if she could go... it would be a great opportunity for her to have one last hurrah in the surf world, be with Kenzi and... she and Lauren wouldn't have to be apart for four years. The question now is how Lauren would feel about it. For now, it was a discussion for later.

"Nick, the group that Kenzi is going in with... it's not actual training, right?"

"Nope. It's the group they're using to create the facility and the training regimen. They're basically guinea pigs for the athletic trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists, conditioning coaches, exercise physiologists, physical therapists and coaching staff.

"Wow... that's a lot of staff."

"Yea, it's a miracle you've accomplished what you have without all of those people, huh?"

"Well, in truth, as far as my training goes, drowning was a blessing in disguise. All of this happened because I was connected with the right people through rehab and surfing. I'm stronger, more agile and in a better head space than I've ever been... well... except for today... and maybe tomorrow..."

Nick nodded, "Lauren stuff."

"Yea, it's going to be an adjustment."

"Well, adjust quick because you've got to surf this weekend, Miss Dennis."

Bo nodded, "I hope my boards are found. This thing really is a piece of plywood."

"Maybe you could come and check out my neighbor's house? He builds furniture. He may not have everything you need, but he has a workshop... or... uh... a garage and a basement... well, the basement actually has a boat in it right now... actually for about six years..."

"A boat? He's building a boat? Then he would have everything I need!" Bo's eyes went wide, "Call him! Oh, please Nick! Call him! I'll autograph his whole house! I'll finish the boat with him!"

"Don't tell me that... he would definitely take you up on that offer."

"I would totally do it! I've always wanted to build a boat... I actually have drawings!"

"You do?"

"Yea... I mean... they're from when I was like twelve or something, but I have drawings of the boat I wanted to build!"

"Okay, so I'm not going to ask how Bo Dennis, future engineer went from the dream of boat building to the dream of surf board manufacturer, but... okay... I won't ask."

He pulled his phone to his ear just as Kenzi walked up to Bo, "What's up, Boobala?"

"Nick knows a guy that might have a space where I can make a few boards!"

"Great! Can you fire up a couple for me too?"

"Probably... if you can cover things here day and night... I'll need every minute between now and then to get them finished. How many boards do you need?"

"Two of mine were inside, so just one?"

"Okay. So four boards in five days... from scratch... what do you think?"

"I think you should take the Professor with you."

"Agreed."

"Uh... you have company." Kenzi said, nodding towards the door.

Bo looked over her shoulder to see Lauren standing in the entrance to the pool area, her blonde hair hanging loose over her shoulders,

"Hey."

Bo took a step towards the blonde, "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd stop by... see the pros in action one last time before all I get to see are snowboarders."

"Yea, I guess there won't be a lot of sunshine, bikinis and beaches up north."

"Nope. You'd think I would have been smart enough to go somewhere tropical." Lauren smiled.

Bo's attention was pulled to Nick, "You're up, Bo... and I got you an appointment for tonight at eight... he has to work until seven."

"That's great, Nick. Thanks. Set me up for left to right... be there in a second."

"Do you mind if I watch?" Lauren asked, curious about the appointment Bo had for tonight, but decided it was better not to ask.

"Uh... sure... I'm surfing on a piece of plywood, so it's not pretty, but a workout's a workout, right?"

"Here ya go, Bo. Kenzi picked a new board for you. She wants you to try this one." Nick said, "Oh, hey Lauren. Great party last night."

"Yea, it was quite a night."

Bo motioned over her shoulder, "I'm just gonna go..."

"Right... I'll be right... here." Lauren said, motioning to the spot where she was standing as the two awkwardly parted company.

Kenzi came to stand next to Lauren, gripping her by the elbow and pulling her away from Nick, "Girl talk." She said to the therapist who put up both hands and bowed in her direction.

Once alone, Kenzi spoke, "She sucks, Lauren. Now, she helped you get your dream... you fix this hot mess on a wood out there. She's not snapping her tricks, her focus is off and she's got the competition of her life on Saturday... minus her personalized board!"

"Kenzi, I'm not sure what you expect me to do, but..."

"I expect you to show me a little of that magic that you're going to be working on the Olympic athletes in Colorado. Consider yourself on the clock now, Head Doc in charge."

Lauren sighed, turning her attention to the pool where Bo was catching her first wave. She watched as the brunette did what Lauren thought she always did, but Kenzi quickly squelched her optimism,

"See that? She how slow her turns are?"

Lauren had no idea what Kenzi was talking about, but nodded anyway.

"There's a 180... she usually easily throws a 360."

Again, Lauren listened and watched, but had no idea what Kenzi was talking about.

"Snap, Bo! Snap!"

Lauren desperately wanted to understand what Kenzi was seeing, but she just didn't know. Kenzi elbowed her,

"See how..."

"No! No, Kenzi, I don't. I don't understand surfing and no one has every taken the time to explain it to me. All I see is a hot girl on a surfboard staying above water and wiggling around on occasion."

"W-wiggling around?"

"See? No knowledge!" Lauren replied, moving her hands all around her head.

"Wow... you really have no clue. And they hired you as the Head Doc for all of the teams in our country? Scary, Doc."

"Tell me about it... but I'm not a coach, Kenzi. I'm just putting the bodies back together. I don't need to know the sports to do that."

"Well, I guess but at least you could know some of the lingo."

"Are you going to teach me?"

"What? Like... now?"

"If you want me to help with whatever it is she has going on, then yes."

Kenzi stood for a moment before she reached over to her bag and pulled out her phone. Lauren watched as the younger sister moved her fingers swiftly over the screen until she finally said,

"Here. This is footage of Bo's training session pre-Lauren's Colorado announcement. Hold this up to the pool and compare the two surfing personalities of Bo Dennis."

Lauren did as she was asked, comparing live action Bo to video Bo. It took only about a minute or so before she began to notice the difference. Looking at the live version, she could see that the brunette was... off.

"Do you see it?"

"Yea, but... well, she was complaining about the board. Could that be it?"

"That's definitely part of it, but what if she doesn't get her boards back?"

"Why would she not get them back? The baggage manager..."

"Doesn't know for sure, Lauren... that's why they gave her the two round trip flights."

"Really?"

"We've lost equipment before. It's why I always bribe someone at the baggage check or ship our boards via FedEx. I don't take chances with standard claim anymore."

"So... what do we do?"

"You, get on a plane... me... I deal with the aftermath of your departure. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Kenzi..."

"No, it's okay. Bo told me all about your talk and how she agrees with you going, but that doesn't mean that she's not going to suffer for it... I just think it's really shitty that you made the decision to leave before she'd had a chance to achieve her goal. She stuck by you – even when you were being a cast iron bitch to her – just so she wouldn't rock the boat when you were so close to getting your gold. Hell, even Tamsin stepped back from me so you would be okay... so you wouldn't have to be around a dreaded Dennis sister."

Kenzi sighed, "You know what? You're right... it's best you go. If you stay, she'll just know that you're going to leave and won't be better anyway. If you go, she'll start getting through it."

"You know what, Kenzi? I don't deserve this... Bo's a big girl, we've talked about this and we have both made the decision to..."

"No, Lauren... you made the decision to..."

"KENZI!" Bo stood dripping wet, hands on her hips glaring at her sister as she walked towards Lauren. She took the blonde's hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Can you give us a moment? I'm finished for the day... I'll be right with you."

Kenzi stood quietly, as Lauren walked away, then she began, "Bo, you're not doing well and it's her fault!"

"Kenzi, I'm going to say this once... I am not doing well in there because the board beneath my feet feels like wood... like a chunk of wood. I can't turn or maneuver because it's stiff and I can't feel the motion beneath my feet. I have a meeting at eight with this guy that Nick knows. With any luck, I'll have a place to make boards. In the meantime, I called Val this morning and she's trying to get her hands on one of the boards I shipped to other stores in other countries."

"You're going to buy back one of your own boards?"

"Kenzi! If that's what it takes for me to be able to win this weekend, then that's what I'm going to do. You know, sometimes I think you don't want me to win or have a relationship. A little support would be great once in a while."

The dark haired younger sister stood for a moment, but Bo wasn't liking it,

"So what? Now you're going to give me the silent treatment?"

"Well, you clearly don't want to hear my opinion. You're all about defending Lauren's honor while she's clearly fucking with your head!"

"Kenzi, I told you this morning. She's made a decision that I agree with. It's what's best for both of us and like it or not, when you go to the training center, she's in charge so you better get on board with Team Lauren or you and I are going to have a problem. You have no idea what she's been through..."

"Oh, and I haven't been through the shitter in life?"

"Kenzi, don't even begin to compare what we went through with what she went through. We have never been exposed to abuse of any kind. We had a kind and loving home until we were teenagers and even after that, we still had each other. Lauren has never had that and... look... you know what? We're done here. I do not have to explain my relationship with Lauren to you or anyone else. We are doing what's best for us, no matter what the consequences. She needs this, Kenzi. And I've finally realized that I'm willing to give others... including you... all they need from me, but for some reason, I've been holding Lauren to a different standard..."

Bo took a breath, running her hands through her hair, "Well, that ends now. What she needs from me, she will get because I know that if she were mentally and emotionally capable, she would do the same for me."

"Bo..."

"No, Kenzi... back off... you're pushing too hard where Lauren is concerned. Leave it alone and if you have nothing nice to say to her, don't talk to her at all. I mean it."

Kenzi put her hands up, signaling she would do as Bo asked, "I'm going to spend the rest of the day with Lauren and then get her to the airport. After that, I have to go to this meeting that Nick set up for me. Can you handle things here or do you need me to NOT do one of those three things?"

"Fine."

"Thank you... and I'm sorry if I was harsh, but you really upset me, Kenzi. Lauren doesn't deserve to be talked to that way and I think you know it. If you do and you figure it out before she leaves, you might want to apologize."

Kenzi stood nodding as Bo grabbed her towel from the rail and gave Nick a wave, "Text me the address?"

Nick nodded in reply and pulled out his phone while Bo headed towards where Lauren was standing awkwardly by the door.

"Can you drive me by my house so I can do a quick shower and change?"

"But don't you have to..."

"I'm yours until you leave... if you want."

Lauren smiled, "I'd like that."

"Good. Let's go then."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo and Lauren had finished running the blonde's errands, some of them being stops at various locations where there were people she wanted to say her goodbye's. After they'd finished, they went for a walk on the beach and shared some light chatter. They ate in town and enjoyed the atmosphere of a restaurant where, although everyone knew them, they pretty much left them alone.

Naturally, word had traveled fast that the local doctor and Olympian who had brought such pride to the community was leaving, so there were a lot of well-wishes and goodbyes shared. They smiled through the occasional well wishes and continued on their way.

Finally, they happened upon a tattoo parlor where Bo joked about getting each other's initials tattooed on their asses so they wouldn't forget each other. They both decided it was a bad idea just in case things didn't work out. Instead, they went a few more shops down and decided to see their friend Akoni, the jeweler.

They decided that since Bo wore the Pakololio necklace her Mom had given her and Lauren wore the necklace Bo had given her that they would get bracelets for each other. They each spent a little time with Akoni and were told to come back in an hour. Smiling, the two left the store and headed to the local ice cream parlor to have a sweet treat. While there, Bo opened up about the meeting tonight to hopefully find a place to make new boards for now.

Lauren explained the altercation with Kenzi, so Bo decided she would give her what she needed to know to be able to get started with the Olympic Training Center. Knowing the modalities of movement was what she really wanted to know since having that knowledge would help her to know where the vulnerabilities for injury would be during practices and competitions.

Before they knew it, they'd lost track of time and they were late getting back to Akoni's shop. They walked in, each paying their respective bills. Bo watched as the big man engulfed Lauren in a hug, giving her a sincere goodbye and then the two left.

"I guess it's time, huh?" Bo asked, looking at the time on her cell phone.

Lauren nodded, "We have about a half hour. Can we stop by the beach over by the airport? I'd like to give this to you there rather than in an airport with thousands of camera phones around."

Bo laughed, "You're right. I didn't even think about that."

The drive to the beach was filled with loving glances, watery eyes and interlocked fingers that resulted in the occasional squeeze of the other's hand. Finally, they were at the beach. Exiting the car, the pair walked hand-in-hand to the water's edge and took a seat.

"I'm definitely going to miss the beach. It will be so strange to not be able to see it."

"Yea, but you'll have equally beautiful views... just... different."

"Cold." Lauren countered, "So... here's your bracelet. I hope you like it."

Bo took the offered square box and opened it up to find a sterling silver bracelet with a single charm on the end... a heart. Bo flipped it over and read the engraved word, 'hope' before breaking out in hysterical laughter.

Lauren frowned, "It's... funny?"

"Oh God, Lauren I'm sorry... it's just that... well... we shopped for each other separately and... just open yours... please? I'm sorry for laughing, but you'll see why in a second."

Lauren nodded before she opened her box and pulled out a sterling silver bracelet. While the style was a slightly more delicate design, it had a heart charm with the word 'hope' engraved on it.

Lauren couldn't help the laughter that escaped,

"We seriously purchased almost identical bracelets for each other?"

Bo leaned over and kissed Lauren lightly, "Well, at least we know we're on the same page going into this separation."

Lauren nodded, "Will you help me put it on?"

Bo smiled and did as asked before Lauren helped her with the twin gift. They both sat, spinning the bracelets on their wrist before looking up at each other.

"If you don't want to wear it all the time, I understand. Being a doctor and all, I know you sometimes take your jewelry off."

"On my wrist, yes but the necklace always stays on, Bo. It's my strength when you're not around or when I'm afraid."

"I really hope you can overcome your fears, Lauren... I just... I have so much hope for you. I want you to be happy and healthy. I love you... and I'll miss you... so much."

Bo pulled Lauren to her, their embrace lasting a long while as both women allowed the tears to flow. Finally, Lauren pulled back,

"I don't want to do this, Bo."

"Please, Lauren... don't do this... I don't have the strength to make you get on that plane. Please be the strong one right now... I don't think I have it in me to let you go if you don't."

Lauren nodded, "Come on."

The pair walked the distance hand in hand back to Bo's car. The ride to the airport was quiet, each holding on to the other for dear life the closer they got to the destination.

Baggage check was a breeze and before they knew it, they were in the airport at the security checkpoint ready to say their final goodbyes. Lauren pulled Bo over to a bench and sat her down,

"You take care of yourself. Don't get crazy on that damn surfboard. I need you safe and alive and in one piece, you hear me?"

Bo could only nod as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Take good care of the kids... especially Maverick. He keeps asking when he's coming to see me. I told him you would call and let me know, so figure it out and let me know. You can call me anytime, Bo. If I don't answer, I promise I'll call you back as soon as I can. Just remember that I'm going to be very busy the first week trying to figure out my head from my ass."

Bo only nodded.

"Do well this weekend. You've worked too hard for this for too long. I will not accept you using me being in Colorado as an excuse for you not winning, you hear me? You get out there and kick ass because I'll be looking for the headlines on Twitter."

Bo nodded again.

"Good luck getting the campus back together. If you have any questions about the emergency training project, have someone call. I'll do what I can from a distance."

Lauren pulled the brunette into a hug again, feeling the pain tug at her own heart. She knew exactly what Bo was feeling because she was feeling the same thing.

"You'll check on Trick for me once in a while?"

"I will." Bo replied, her voice cracking as she lowered her eyes.

"I've got to go now, Bo."

"Oh God." Bo squeaked.

"I know, baby... I know. We're going to be okay, right? I'll call you tonight, just remember that I'm four hours ahead of you, okay?"

Bo nodded, using her hand to wipe her nose and face.

"God, you're a mess, baby." Lauren frowned, "How am I supposed to leave you when you're like this."

Bo knew she had to pull it together, but she realized that being strong for Lauren all these days, she had just gone into a state of denial. Well, that little defense mechanism could no longer protect her. The time was here and Lauren was leaving... she was leaving. She took several deep breaths and pulled herself out of Lauren's embrace,

"I'm okay... I'll be okay. Call me when you land so I know you got in okay. Don't worry about the time. I'll probably be awake."

Lauren lifted Bo's chin so her eyes would meet her own. Looking into the dark chocolate orbs, she shook her head, "I'm so sorry for putting you through this, Bo. Hell, I'm sorry for putting myself through this. But know that I love you and I have hope for us... please hold on to that."

Bo nodded, "I love you, Lauren... so much... and I have hope for us too... even though right now I look like a helpless, hopeless mutt."

"Speaking of mutts... I hope that Mittens is okay."

"She'll be fine, Lauren. I saw a lady checking a big hairy cat... one of those smash-face ones. She called it Cali... maybe Mittens will make a new friend."

Lauren smiled, "Maybe."

The blonde stood, bringing Bo to her feet with her. They held each other for a long time before Lauren gripped both sides of her face and kissed Bo passionately, not stopping until the need for oxygen became so crucial that they were forced to stop.

"Goodbye, Bo."

Bo's eyes welled up again, "Bye Lauren."

Lauren turned and walked to the security check. Dropping her belongings onto the belt, she walked through, holding her arms up while the wand was run over her body. She stepped through and picked up her belongings and then looked back at Bo. She smiled and waved,

"I love you."

She called out, unashamed of who heard the words. Bo responded,

"I love you. Be happy."

"You too."

With that, Lauren turned and walked away as Bo watched her turn the corner and disappear from view. Bo collapsed onto the bench, her face in her hands as her body shook with the sobs that wracked her body. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she sighed, pulling herself together so she could read the incoming text. Looking at the screen she laughed when she saw the message from Lauren,

' _Get your shit together and go home. You've got work to do and a meeting at eight. I love you... now don't be a baby.'_

Bo laughed and replied,

' _Thanks, I needed that... have a safe flight. I love you too.'_

Bo sighed, feeling a little bit better after Lauren's text. She stood and headed out of the airport, determined to do all that she needed to do for the rest of the day... for Lauren.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Three Weeks Later...**_

The cleanup for the Kenbo Community was coming along nicely. The two sisters took the early morning to sit out on the side porch of their home to discuss what was coming next,

"Well, you can see grass and sand now, so that's certainly something." Bo smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

"All of the buildings are framed out, the electricians and the plumbers are already here, and all of the windows that needed to be replaced have been." Kenzi added, shoving a mouthful of cereal into her mouth as she spoke.

Tamsin laughed, "The Professor has completed his 'upgrades' to his campground." The blonde used air quotes to describe what was still a very minimalist approach to living.

"Well, he does have running water now, so it's a little more... civilian?" Bo suggested, though she wasn't quite sure for herself.

Kenzi shook her head, "There is no hot water so it is definitely not more 'civilian', sis."

"Well, at least there are toilets and showers."

Kenzi laughed, "Yea, showers that will make the poor little boys' junk shrivel up into nothing. Next thing you know we'll be dealing with nightmares that evil spiders are sneaking into their sleeping bags at night and stealing their pee-pees."

Tamsin and Bo just laughed, "Well, anything is better than dealing with the ongoing nightmares from the storm."

The blonde turned to Bo, "How's little Emma doing?"

"Well, I managed to get her back into her bed last night. I can't keep sleeping on that lounge chair. I could barely turn my head when I woke up this morning."

Kenzi nodded, "Yea, well T-Bear or I will take the Friday shift this week. You can't afford to screw up another competition after the last one."

"I did not screw it up," Bo defended, "I got second on a board that I'd never practiced on."

"Too bad that guys garage workshop didn't pan out."

"Yea, well at least we got a boat maker out of it."

"Yea, in exchange for you giving up your free time."

"Kenzi, he's going to pay for all of the materials to build our sailing fleet. He's a millionaire with a crapload of time..."

"...and money..." Kenzi inserted,

Bo shook her head, "Don't judge. The man lost his wife, he had no kids and he needs a project."

Kenzi shook her head, "Yea, well from the looks of his basement, he's started a lot of projects but never finished one."

"Well, we both know that now he has to finish them. Anyway, I traded him surf lessons for his contributions. I didn't say I would be the one giving them." Bo smirked.

"Oh, you little trickster!"

"Yea, I gave him to Pono. She'll whip him into shape... and hopefully bring the poor guy back to the land of the living."

Tamsin laughed, "Is that code for dust the cobwebs off his junk?"

Bo scowled, "Ew... what is all the talk about guys' junk with you two?"

Kenzi shrugged, "Just a topic of early morning conversation."

Tamsin laughed, "Right... we should talk early morning woodies!"

Bo stood, grabbing her coffee cup, "Okay... this is not my idea of a morning business meeting."

"Sit your ass down, Boobala. We'll stop. We still have to talk about the replacement tools and materials we lost."

Bo sat down reluctantly, sipping her coffee, "I gave the tool and chemical list for the workshop to Manny when he was in last week. As far as I know, he ordered everything from his supplier in California. Dr. Mansfield is handling all of the lost supplies from the emergency site."

Bo frowned as thoughts of Lauren rushed to the surface. They always did when the discussion turned towards the Back Bay.

"Have you heard from the Doc this week?"

Bo shook her head, "I got a text late Monday night. She said she's really busy and promised she would call me tonight or tomorrow night."

Kenzi was silent, looking at Tamsin who put her head down.

"What?" Bo asked.

The couple looked up and simultaneously replied, "What?"

"Okay, now that isn't suspicious at all. What do you know?"

"Us? Nothing." Kenzi replied, "Why would we know anything about Hotpants?"

"Lying." Bo said, pointing her finger between the two.

Tamsin sighed, "Fine. She called me last night. We talked for about an hour and a half."

"An hour and a half! She hasn't talked to me for that long since she left!"

"She's working through some stuff, Bo. Don't read more into it than is actually there. You guys were taking some space... she's doing what you agreed to."

"You know, the first three days, we talked or texted every single day. Then I didn't hear from her for three days. The second weeks he was gone, I talked to her three times all week and she barely responded to any texts. Now I'm getting the run around this week. What is going on? Did she change her mind? Did she meet someone? She met someone, didn't she."

"No, Bo! She is focusing on her work, getting out, learning about the winter sports that Colorado has to offer and settling into a new environment. Everything for her is new and she's excited about it... she was excited to share it with someone so we talked about it for a long time."

Bo's reply was quiet, "She could share it with me."

"Not like you can a best friend, Bo... it was girl talk."

Bo repeated to herself, 'I'm not gonna ask', I'm not gonna ask', I not gonna ask... "Did she ask about me?" Shit, I asked, Bo thought, feeling pathetic.

"Yes, Bo. Of course she asked about you. She was disappointed to hear you didn't win your last event and I was surprised you didn't talk about it."

"Why bother? She's already gotten the word from Mitch, the traitor."

Tamsin laughed, "He's not a traitor, Bo."

"He's the one who told her to take the job!" Bo argued.

"Bo, it's not like he was thinking she would take it and leave you behind. It was a career opportunity for her and he let her know about it. He just assumed that at some point, it would give you the push you needed to... Ow!"

Kenzi elbowed Tamsin, giving her a glare. The blonde cleared her throat, "Wow... look at the time. I have to get to the overlook."

"Spill, Tamsin. Mitch assumed I would what?"

Tamsin looked at Kenzi and shook her head, "Look, Shortstack. You know you are my world... my beginning, my middle and end, but I am not getting between the sisters. This is your shit show and you know it. Own it, girlfriend. I'm going to Lauren's house. The electrician is coming to fix the mess he made and I have to be there to make sure his ass doesn't create a house that's going to go up in flames the minutes someone turns on a light switch."

Bo nodded to Tamsin who picked up her bowl, gave Kenzi a kiss on the top of her head and walked into the house. Bo sat looking at her younger sibling, her fingers rapping on her mug as she waited for the goth to speak.

"Fine!" She said, her perfectly manicured fingernails, spread wide at the side of her head, "I was asked by the WSL to convince you not to retire at the end of this season. They think your popularity is just starting and they predict it will peak in time for the Olympics. They want the Dennis sisters... the full Kenbo package going into the 2020 games to help drive up the popularity of the sport so our exhibition year becomes a reality."

Bo shook her head as Kenzi continued, "Look, Bo... this will build our sport and you know it. We've all wanted surfing to become a part of the Olympics for decades. Hell, our sport is older than most of the sports in the games! We deserve a shot and every country is doing its part to pull out all of the stops to get the IOC to recognize surfing's legitimacy. Surfers who retired last year are coming back for the 2020 games just to lend famous names to billboards in their countries so people will watch!"

Bo sighed, still unconvinced. Kenzi sighed, "Look... just come out to the training center next week with me. You don't even have to stay for the three full-week testing period. Just... check out the facility and give them your input. At least let the WSL see that you're at least considering it!"

"I can show them I'm considering it in 2018 or 2019 if I make the choice to do it, but I'm not going where I'm clearly not wanted!" Bo stood, picking up her mug and Kenzi's empty bowl before heading into the house.

"Not wanted? They weren't going to take me without you! I only got in because Kelly Slater saw me working out in his wave pool here!"

Bo stopped, "What do you mean they weren't going to take you without me? You're the fucking future of surfing in this country! I'm a has-been, Kenzi... I couldn't even pull off a win last week."

"Oh no." Kenzi said, "This is worse than I thought. She really took you with her, didn't she?"

Bo turned and dropped the dishes back to the table as her tears fell. She sat down on the end of the deck and allowed her head to drop into the elbows propped up on her knees. Kenzi came and sat beside her,

"Bo?"

"My heart hurts, Kenzi. Everything here reminds me of her... everything... it shouldn't... I mean... everything is different... but it's still the same. My workshop is an outdoor lean-to, but when I'm making a board, I think of her... I run my hand along the wood of a long board and I laugh at the first time she stood up and cheered for herself. I go to the Back Bay and all I can see is her standing on the water's edge, her blonde hair flowing in the wind. I go into town and see the tattoo parlor and remember the day she left and how we..."

"Oh my gosh! You guys got matching tattoos?"

"No! I mean, we talked about it, but... no... we go these."

Bo pulled the bracelet out of her pocket and handed it to Kenzi. The younger sister examined it and smiled,

"Why didn't you show it to me before?"

"I thought you would think I was an idiot. You weren't exactly the most supportive voice in the room the day she left."

"I apologized."

"What?"

"When she talked to Tamsin the night after she left, I got on the phone with her and apologized. You were upset and she as upset so... well... I decided she didn't deserve my shit on top of all of her other shit."

"Thanks."

"So... the bracelet... it says 'hope'... like Mom and Dad used to say?"

Bo nodded, "I told her the story... how we learned it was the most important thing to hold on to when it seemed there was nothing left to hold."

"Can I ask why you're not wearing it?"

"I got it caught in the edge of the sander the day after she left... it's a little dangerous for me to wear when I'm working on boards."

Kenzi nodded, leaning down to her sister's ankle. Opening the clasp, she wrapped it around the lower limb and attached it securely, "I think you need to wear it... you have skinny ankles, so it works."

Bo sighed, looking down at her ankle, "Do you think Lauren is wearing hers?"

Kenzi opened up her phone and flipped through a few photos before spreading her fingers over one particular image,

"That's Lauren's arm in the way of a picture of her new office. See the dangling heart from her wrist?"

Bo smiled, "She's wearing it."

"And this is from Monday night. Here's another thing I think might make you feel better." Kenzi said, pulling the phone away and moving the image around, then handing the phone back to Bo.

"Hey! That's one of my surfboards in the corner." Bo smiled.

Kenzi nodded, "It's one of our autographed boards, but that's not what I want you to see... look on the bookshelf."

Bo squinted, looking at the top of the shelf for a long moment before she pulled back with a shocked look on her face, "Is that..."

"Yup... it's a picture of you and Lauren sitting on a long board together. You're looking pretty cozy there, BoBo."

Bo took in the sunset behind her and the other board leashed to her ankle that floated beside her,

"That was the night we went out together. You remember?"

Kenzi nodded, "I took the picture and sent it to Hotpants' phone. I guess she printed and framed it. I sent her a bunch of pics, but I guess this was the one she liked the best."

Bo smiled, "It was a special night."

The two sat in silence for a while as Kenzi pocketed her phone and Bo leaned on her shoulder,

"I miss her... I just feel so... empty."

"I hate to say it, Bo... but this is why you two are apart. You said you wanted Lauren to be able to be a strong, independent woman... well, what about you? You're a shell of yourself without her and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I mean, I appreciate you wanting to pine away for your lost love, but it seems sort of like you're not living up to that bracelet if that's all you do."

Bo nodded, "You're right. I've got a lot to do. I'm going to head to the workshop and get started on the board inventory. I've got thirty-seven finished. Did more orders come in?"

"Bo, more orders are always coming in. That's what you get for making a popular surfboard! I will tell you that I've got fourteen special orders from WSL members. I thought maybe we should fill those first?"

"I'll look at the promised dates for the others and do them first only if it won't make the other orders late. I'm not just catering to WSL members, Kenzi. They all have other boards to use until we get ours to them."

"Well, the longer they're using the other boards, the less advertising for us."

"What good is more advertising if I can't fulfill the orders?"

Kenzi sighed, "We really need the workshop back up and running."

"Your lips to Tamsin's ears!"

"Bo, she's working as fast as she can... the entire company is. I think Pops has put almost all of his other contracts on hold to get Kenbo Community back up and running... he even took five guys off of the job at Lauren's house."

"Well, it's not like she needs it right away." Bo pouted, then thought better of her statement, "Sorry. I'm being such a baby." She sighed, "And there it is... another reminder of Lauren... she told me not to be a baby."

"Well, she's right now get up!"

"Kenzi, about the Olympics thing... I don't want to invade Lauren's territory right now. It's too soon into our break."

"Well, why don't you let Lauren be the judge of that?"

Bo shook her head, "Okay, it's too soon for me. If I see her now, I'll just have to go through losing her all over again."

"You haven't lost her, Bo."

"Not yet." Bo replied, "But you heard Tamsin... she's out getting acquainted with her new environment. What if she's getting cozy in front of a warm fire with some hot snowboarder chick?"

"What if she's sitting at her desk staring at the picture of the two of you right now wishing she could pick up the phone but afraid you don't want to talk to her?"

"That's ridiculous! Why wouldn't I want to talk with her?" Bo asked.

"She told Tamsin that you told her that she needed to take time to herself, Bo... she's doing what you told her she needed to do and doing it quite literally!"

Bo slouched, "Great. Me and my big mouth."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Come on, Doc! Just like we showed ya!" Corey said, yelling up to Lauren from the bottom of the hill.

Lauren looked at the group of women gathered to her right, their goggles up on top of their helmets as they smiled in her direction.

A voice from over Lauren's shoulder whispered, "Remember, Doc... you are fearless."

Lauren looked over her shoulder for a moment, and then quickly looked back down the hill. She could have sworn she saw Bo's face... heard Bo's voice. When she turned back around, she saw the dark brown eyes of her new friend, Tess.

"Ready?"

Lauren nodded and Tess gave her a gentle nudge, following down behind her. The blonde could feel the speed picking up as she concentrated on balancing on the board, her eyes never leaving the crowd gathered below.

"Steer left, Doc!" She heard Tess call out.

When Lauren didn't turn, she called out again, "Engage your rail! Engage your rail!" The blonde wobbled and Tess called out again, "Swing your back foot! Your back foot!"

What felt like an eternity ended in less than three minutes and Lauren was at the bottom of the hill with a cheering group of snowboarders!

"You did it, Doc!" Congratulated Cody.

"You had us nervous for a minute there, Doc. Who would put you back together if you broke something!"

Lauren smiled as Tess skidded to a stop in front of her. She pushed her goggles up on her helmet and gave Lauren a brilliant smile and a wink,

"See that, Doc? We'll have you off the bunny slopes in no time!" Tess beamed at Lauren, giving her a hug, "Ready to go again?"

The blonde nodded with a smile, "I think it's going to take a few more tries to get me swinging my back foot to turn instead of my front. My instinct was..."

"Yea, yea... I saw you wobbling. It's okay, Doc... your gal Tess is here to help you get it right."

"Surfing really is different than snowboarding." Lauren smiled at the other blonde.

"Yea, well we'll have you forgetting all about surfing in a few hours. Those surfer girls in Hawaii got nothing on Tess. Come on."

Tess bent down and unclasped Lauren's bindings, allowing the blonde to step off the board. As they made their way up the hill, Lauren took in the surroundings. The air was thin, but clean here. The sky was a deep blue and the mountains were covered in snow other than the deep green pine trees that surrounded them. The smell of the outdoors was fresh and crisp. Lauren felt... new... and it was a great feeling.

The group did several more runs down the hill, all of them encouraging Lauren who got better and better with each run. As she was able to move away from worrying about staying alive, she was better able to concentrate on what muscles were being used so she could better serve the athletes at the facility.

Finally, they wanted to go to their usual spot and get in some extreme runs. Lauren was quite surprised when four of the snowboarders jumped into a helicopter and headed up to the top of one of the highest mountains within view. It was quite some distance from Colorado Springs, but Cody and Tess assured her she was quite safe and she would be able to watch them from where the helo parked.

Once the four were ready to go, they wiggled their thumb and pinky finger at the pilot, signaling they were ready to bale. He set down at the top of the hill and waited while they all hopped out.

Tess spoke loudly to Lauren, a huge smile across her face, "You're gonna love this, Doc! Don't worry... our packs have emergency gear in them! Just stay with Jack... he'll take good care of you. You'll want to jump up there in the passenger seat so you have the best view."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lauren asked, looking at the steep descent they were about to do."

"This is the world's greatest playground, Lauren. Going down this mountain like a bat outta hell makes me feel more alive than most anything I have ever done! It's almost as great as sex!"

Lauren blushed as the woman leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her lips, before pulling back and giving her a wink. The doctor's fingers went to her lips as she watched the woman jump out of the helo and onto the mountaintop. Shaking out her thoughts, she moved to the passenger seat and looked out the window, watching the four plummet down the hill, white powder kicking up behind them.

She gripped the 'oh shit' handle on the door frame with all her might as the pilot lifted off and headed out in front of the group, giving Lauren a perfect view of the crew cutting left and right down the steep mountain pass. They seemed to spend most of it airborne,

"It's like they're flying more than they're snowboarding!" Lauren said into the microphone headset to the pilot.

"Adrenaline junkies. It's sort of their thing."

Lauren looked at Jack, "I take it you don't approve?"

"Hey, I get paid no matter what happens to them. I'm just one of those people who would rather have two skis firmly planted in some tightly packed snow with little or no chance of an avalanche burying me alive. My pace is more the ski resort pace."

"Yea... me too." Lauren replied.

"So why are you out here then?"

"I'm the new Head Doctor at the Olympic Training Center. I'm trying to get a taste of all of the sports and... well... Tess is rather... convincing."

"Yea, that Tess is a wild one."

Lauren simply nodded, her fingers moving to her lips again. The excitement she felt to be around Tess was, in a way, intoxicating but was this really her? She supposed she would have to finish out the weekend with this group to find out. After all, she was here to experience all that life had to offer.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The group had gone from the slopes to the packed snow of the training center's pipeline where Lauren watched what she compared to skateboarding... albeit with a bigger skateboard with no wheels... on snow. The massive ramp reminded her of the smaller ramps that the kids in her neighborhood used to ride in the park not far from her house. Lauren had skateboarded as a kid, but only as a mode of transportation. She never learned how to do the rails and ramps that some of the kids had the courage to attempt.

She watched as they did various tricks, flying high above the ramp each time they lifted into the air. Tess sat next to her, giving her the play-by-play.

"You know, some day when you retire, you should do sports commentary. If you can make me understand this, you can make the entire world understand it." Lauren smiled.

Tess slid closer to Lauren, pointing to Corey as he did a backside 360. Rather than put her arm back down, she propped it up on Lauren's knee, eventually ending up with that forearm wrapped around the inside of the doctor's thigh. With her hand rubbing up and down the inside of Lauren's leg, the blonde became acutely aware of the surge to her core from the contact. At the same time, she felt unsure if the touch was wanted or not. It was confusing... the entire day was confusing.

"Okay, that's it. You ready to go get some dinner back at the lodge?" Tess said, looking down at Lauren and offering her a hand up.

Lauren smiled and took the offered hand. When she went to pull it away, Tess gripped it tighter,

"I think I'll hold on to this for a while."

"Tess... I..."

"Relax, Lauren. You can have it back soon. I just want to make sure you get off the top of this slippery slope okay. Packed snow is like ice. Stand on the front of my board."

Lauren turned her back to Tess who wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and leaned forward,

"Here we go!"

Lauren let out a scream as they went down the lip, picking up speed before they went down the center of the pipe and coasted to a stop. Tess held onto Lauren's hand until she dismounted the board,

"That'll give you a tiny taste of the amount of speed we gather from the top to the bottom. If there's a crash, chances are something might be broken, but most of the time it's just bruising since we're all trained how to fall to avoid breaks. Sometimes you just can't help it... especially if you're upside down. That can get gnarly."

Lauren nodded as she trudged along in the snow. Soon, they were joined by the group and all loaded into the two black 4x4's to head down to the lodge. The group was actively chattering about the various tricks they'd tried or wanted to try.

When they arrived at the lodge, the mood was light and energetic. A lot of people from the clinic were there as well as many of the athletes, trainers, coaches and a few administrators.

Lauren sat with Cody, soon joined by Corey, Tess and Pippa.

"So, Doc... what was the month of October like for you? Enough snow?" Pippa asked.

"A lot of snow... definitely more snow than I've ever seen in my life."

"Wait... you've never seen snow?" Corey asked.

"Oh, I've seen it... in Northern California and Canada... I think I might have been in Montana as a child as well. New York and Boston during med school... but remember, I'm a beach volleyball player, so eight to ten months of the year, beach was the required surface."

Tess shook her head, "Wow. You did Lake Tahoe?"

"I didn't ski it, but I saw it."

"Oh... well, we travel all over the world to have snow twelve months a year, but we mostly stay here in the states to do Tahoe and Breckinridge, and usually go visit our neighbors in Whistler in British Columbia. Then we go to Wanaka in New Zealand in the U.S. summer and always find time to go to Hokkaido in Japan."

Lauren shook her head, "I don't think I could ever do that... search out snow year round. I'd miss the beach too much."

Tess laughed, "Well then why did you take on a job in Colorado for the 2018 Winter Olympics? You do know that snow and ice are requirements for winter sports, right?"

The group laughed, as did Lauren, "Yes, I'm well aware. I just... I needed a change of scenery and... well, this is definitely a change of scenery."

"Yea, that's the beauty of our country. Every state gives you something different... different people, different climate, different customs and sometimes a whole new version of the English Language! Right, Cody?"

"Hey!" Cody protested, "I can't help it if you guys can't speak Boston!"

"Yea... hey you guys... where'd you pawk the caw?" Corey imitated his friend.

The entire group broke out laughing, "Yea, well we'll see how all of you look when we head to Boston for Christmas with my family. I love when they all rag on you because of the way you talk."

Tess looked at Lauren, "Got Christmas plans, Doc? It's a great time in Boston."

Lauren smiled, thinking of home, "Uh... I'm not sure yet."

The rest of the group talked while Tess slid a little closer to the blonde, her arm draped over the back of her chair as she leaned in to talk to her privately,

"It's a good time... Christmas in Boston, the city is all lit up with lights... snow-lined streets with the big tree downtown. Cody's family makes a great spread and we all sing Christmas carols. You should think about it... it would be fun."

Tess ran her fingers back and forth over Lauren's shoulder.

"Right. I'll think about it. I may be going home for Christmas. All of my friends and family are there."

Tess looked confused, "I thought you didn't have any family."

Lauren smiled thinking of Bo's words, "Family doesn't have to mean a blood relation. Sometimes it's just people who look out for you... and you look out for them."

"So you left this... family... of yours... just like that?"

Lauren shook her head, "It was the hardest decision I've ever made, but this... well, this is a great career opportunity."

"Career move... I see. Running away, huh?"

"What? No!" Lauren defended.

"Lauren, you're a beach lover... a lifetime beach lover. You come seven hours from your home and leave behind everyone you care about not to mention a great job to live in snow and ice. So... I'm guessing it was a she since you didn't slap my face when I kissed you on the Helo... who was she?"

Lauren pushed her broccoli around on her plate... her first thought was to say Bo, but she now realized that she hadn't run from Bo at all. She'd run from Nadia... from the footage... from the media surrounding the courthouse frenzy that had occurred weeks ago... she'd run from her own life... from her past, leaving her family and friends to deal with it all. Now that she realized it, the weight of her guilt was heavy.

 _ **FLASHBACK – FEDERAL COURT, HONOLULU, HAWAII**_

The large screen television was rolled into the courtroom and the device was turned on. Bo's pulse quickened when she saw Lauren's face for the first time in a week. She looked nervous and the brunette wished that she could somehow get the blonde's attention to let her know she could relax... just tell the truth and everything would be okay. She watched the screen, hoping that Lauren would see her seated next to their attorney at the Prosecution's table.

"If it pleases the court, we will have the doctor identify herself first." The prosecution stated.

"Your Honor, we are well aware of who has been called to testify and that the court has granted special consideration for the oh-so-special Doctor Lewis to testify from a remote location today."

The judge frowned at the Defense Attorney's comment as he replied, "I'm glad you are aware, Mr. Reinhart, but for the purpose of this court, we will maintain protocol and have the doctor identify herself for the jury." He turned to the Prosecution, "Mr. Umberti, please proceed."

Mr. Umberti turned to the screen and spoke to Lauren, "Please identify yourself for the court?"

"Doctor Lauren Lewis, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine."

"Yes, Doctor Lewis and we understand you are testifying from a remote location today. Can you explain the reason for this unusual form of testimony?"

"My court appearance was rescheduled at the request of the defense and the new date was after I was required to appear for my new job as the Head Physician for the United States Olympic Team. This was the agreed upon solution to the conflict."

"Your Honor, let the record state that Doctor Lewis was forced to testify in this manner because the defense team requested a three week delay in court testimony. They had previously requested that the doctor be required to fly back to testify in person, but the court agreed that because the defense had changed the date, the doctor was not at fault and should not be withheld from starting her new job."

"So stated, please continue."

"Dr. Lewis, your former boss, Chief Fitzpatrick McCorrigan has previously testified that Dr. Evony Fleurette Marquis was unnecessarily hard on you during your term as her subordinate."

"Objection! Vague!"

"Sustained."

"Dr. Lewis, did you feel you were treated fairly by Dr. Marquis?"

Lauren's eyes moved to Evony who was glaring at the blonde. Bo knew exactly what was happening in this moment. Evony was using intimidation to influence Lauren's testimony. She cleared her throat and coughed, drawing Lauren's eyes to her own. She nodded at her and tightened her fist near her cheek, encouraging the blonde to be strong and tell the truth.

The blonde's eyes moved back to her attorney's, "Dr. Lewis?"

"Yes. I was never given a consistent schedule, my shifts constantly changing making it impossible for me to achieve any regular sleep schedule. In addition, I was given the most difficult cases..."

"Objection! The doctor cannot possibly know that she had all of the most difficult cases."

"Dr. Lewis, can you explain?"

"Only a doctor could determine the most difficult and as far as I know, your Honor, Dr. Marquis lawyer is not a doctor. I was given cases where surgically, there was little hope of survival. Evony wanted me to fail... she needed me to fail and told me so repeatedly."

"Overruled. The jury will consider the doctor's testimony."

"Yours was a complicated relationship. I believe your Olympic Beach Volleyball coach was Dr. Marquis' ex-husband?"

"They were in the process of a divorce when he first began as my coach, but yes, Lachlan was Evony's ex-husband eventually. In order to keep the peace with her, he explained that he had to keep our practice schedule in line with the schedule she wished to give me at work."

"And when you say 'our' you're referring to whom?"

"Tamsin Torrent, my partner on Team USA."

"Congratulations on your gold medal, by the way. It was quite a performance."

"Objection! Her gold medal has nothing to do with my clients guilt, your honor!"

Mr. Umberti smiled and replied, "On the contrary, your honor. The fact that Team USA won the gold medal goes to the extent to which Dr. Marquis had gone in order to create both a work and practice atmosphere that would likely hinder her performance in the Olympics which in turn, goes to the state of mind of the defendant with regards to the night of the attempted murder."

"Alleged attempt." The defense attorney spat.

The Prosecuting attorney grinned, knowing he was getting to the defense attorney.

"I'll allow it." The judge replied, "Please continue, but know you have a small amount of latitude here, Mr. Umberti."

"Noted, your Honor. So, Lauren you were having irregular practices and irregular work hours. How was it that you found time to train and eat?"

"It was all I did... train, fuel, practice and work were all I had in my life. There was no time for anything else."

"Now, I'll bring this up because I'm sure the Prosecution will if I don't... you say there was no time for anything else and yet you had time for a relationship with another victim. Let the record introduce Miss Ysabeau Dennis, present in the court today."

"So noted." The judge replied as the court reporter nodded and continued taking notes.

"So, Dr. Lewis, how did you have time for a relationship?"

"I met her on the beach in the middle of one of my training runs. She is a professional surfer for the WSL and had been training out on the water. There was an incident, which I was not witness to, but she washed up near me... unconscious and not breathing. Her sister was there and screaming as I ran into the water and pulled her out."

Lauren's brows knitted together, "It's okay, Dr. Lewis. I'm sure the memory of that day is difficult at best."

"I performed CPR for a little over five minutes, sending her sister for the AED that was near my practice court. When I was finally able to shock her into a rhythm, she resumed breathing and we loaded her into the mobile shock-trauma bus. I rode to the hospital with her and treated her from then until she was handed off to the Neurology department."

"And then?"

"She was discharged from my care, but I continued to track her progress as I do all of my patients until their discharge. We grew... close and she asked to see me." Lauren smiled at Bo who chuckled in return, "I was not willing at first... the professional in me wouldn't allow it and I knew I had very little time... I wasn't prepared for a relationship but... well, Bo Dennis is persistent and she wasn't taking no for an answer. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we were dating."

"So, you saw each other regularly then?"

"Actually, quite the contrary. We saw each other quite irregularly, stealing time between her physical therapy, my work and training schedules and both our needs for food and sleep. Evony had a woman on the inside who further tried to disrupt my life by having her control Bo's therapy schedules to overlap my free time. In addition, the therapist was asked to attempt to come between us so that she could break me mentally."

"Objection! Speculation!"

"Your Honor, the prosecution requests that you submit into evidence the testimony of one Kristy Vale. Her testimony verifies that she was complicit, present and actively involved with Dr. Marquis in her plan to kill Dr. Lauren Lewis, her partner, Miss Tamsin Torrent, Miss Ysabeau Dennis and her sister Miss Kenzi Dennis."

The judge pulled on his glasses and allowed his eyes to roam over the highlights of the testimony before agreeing to admit it into evidence. Mr. Umberti abruptly dropped a copy of the testimony onto the desk of the defense attorney before moving back towards Bo. He again turned to face Lauren,

"So, Dr. Lewis, what was your relationship to Miss Kristy Vale?"

"I did not know Kristy well. I knew that she was a former player on the beach Volleyball circuit who blew out her knee while playing. I knew that she tried to pick up Bo in a restaurant, but was rejected. I later learned from the therapist who worked with Bo in Rio and was provided her therapy records, that Kristy had been intentionally sabotaging Bo's recovery... specifically, making sure that she would remain dependent on a wheelchair, walker, cane and subject to constant risk of seizures by failing to follow correct rehabilitation protocol for dry drowning victims... in short, we later learned that her intention was to assure that Bo would never surf again."

"Objection! The witness cannot know the intent of someone she had never met."

"Actually, your honor, Dr. Lewis was aware of the content of the testimony of Miss Vale which included that information."

The Judge asked, "Why was she given access to testimony?"

"Because she had to agree to the plea deal we offered Miss Vale after her testimony. It was Miss Vale who made the attempt on Dr. Lewis' life which is why the Brazilian officials are requesting extradition of Miss Vale for appearance in their court."

The judge nodded, "I am aware of the Brazilian authorities request for extradition of both Miss Vale, Dr. Marquis and one Miss Nadia Katsaros."

"Can you describe the events of the evening of August 16th for us?"

Lauren took her time, recounting the events as she'd recalled them for the Brazilian authorities, for Tamsin, for Bo, for Hale, Ciara and her attorney several times. Bo noted that Lauren looked like she was on auto-pilot as she recounted the events of the night on her side of town while Bo and Kenzi had been held at gunpoint by Evony. The only part of this that really mattered was the fact that Lauren had been told by Kristy that Evony had sent her and that she had witnessed the aftermath of the scene in the hotel room of the Dennis sisters as well as the hospital visit after that.

Bo cringed when the lawyer brought up the fact that Lauren had entered an inpatient facility for counseling after the incidents in Rio. It was something she had known Lauren wanted to keep private. He asked about the break up of their relationship, Bo assumed to be sure the jury knew how much Lauren had lost due to the actions of one Evony Fleurette Marquis. Knowing where he went with Lauren meant he would likely do the same with her when she took the stand. She didn't care... as long as Lauren was safe, she would tell them the most embarrassing moments of her life.

In that moment, watching the strength that Lauren possessed as she sat there and bared her soul to a room full of strangers, she knew that this woman had the strength of ten thousand women. How did Bo ever see her as weak? With all she had been through in her almost thirty years of life, Lauren Lewis had survived it all. She may not know who she was, what she liked or what she wanted out of life, but the woman was strong and had become a survivor of the circumstance of her life.

 _ **PRESENT DAY, COLORADO**_

"Lauren?"

The blonde felt the hand on her shoulder and turned to see Tess staring at her with a smile on her face,

"Where'd you go, sunshine?"

"My distant past and my not-so-past past." Lauren smiled.

"So are you going to tell me who you ran from?"

Lauren lowered her head, "I ran from my abusive ex... I came here to get healthy... to find myself... to be healthy for the woman I love."

"So you ran from an abusive ex and the woman you love?"

Lauren shook her head, "Look, Tess... you don't want to get involved with me. I have a lot of baggage and I'm very confused about life right now. I just want to experience... well... everything I can and allow myself some time away from everyone who cares about me so that I can learn to stand on my own two feet. They all mean well, but I need to be able to take care of myself without having anyone take care of me."

"I get it, Doc. Look... I'm not relationship material. I'm just looking to have some fun. I don't tend to stay in any one place for very long... I go where the snow is, ya know? I mean... I made a commitment to being an Olympian, so I'm here doing my thing hoping to be selected. In a few weeks, we'll be outta here, heading out to Vermont then flying all over the world to board with the greats from other countries. The world is our party and we go where the fun is... you do know fun, right?"

Lauren laughed, her eyes lowering as she considered her answer, "I actually never really did until I met... well... a certain surfer who taught me how to come out of my shell and try new things."

"Sounds like my kind of girl."

"She hates snow."

"Okay, so not my kind of girl." Tess laughed, "Look, Lauren... I like you and... well... we can have some fun while I'm here. No strings, no expectations and definitely no falling in love... that's something I'll reserve for my forties."

Lauren laughed, "Yea and I thought it was something I'd reserve for my fifties, but life has a way of taking some decisions out of your control."

"That's a funny statement coming from someone who always seems to need to be in control."

"I do not!" Lauren defended.

"Come on, Doc. You had to make sure you looked up the certification level on the helmet we gave you to use today so you could protect that big brain of yours. Then you needed us all to have our seatbelts on in the 4x4, and in the training center..."

"Okay, okay... I get it... I'm a bit OCD, but I come by it honestly. I'm a doctor who saves lives and that includes preventative medicine."

"Well, I'll give you that, but sometimes I think you just have to leave the doctor in the clinic, ya know? Live a little?"

"Are you saying I don't live because I'm a doctor?"

"No, I'm saying you don't live because you worry too much about the what if's. There is such a thing as an educated risk. Do you consider sky diving too high risk to do?"

"Absolutely and so do all of the insurance companies." Lauren argued.

"But if the chute is checked and double checked, the chute is packed and checked by an expert who knows how it should work, the pilot agrees that the conditions are safe for jumping and the person has been thoroughly trained in how to fly, wouldn't you consider it just as safe to jump as if you were getting in a car and driving through rush hour traffic in a car with hundreds of unpredictable assholes who aren't paying attention on the road?"

Lauren shrugged, "Well, when you put it that way... I suppose you may be right."

"Live, Doc... let go of the maybe's and live in the moment."

Lauren laughed, thinking of how many times Bo had told her that very same thing. Looking up at the clock, she wondered what the brunette was doing right now.

"Come on, Doc. Let's shoot some pool with the guys... you do think pool is safe enough, right?"

Lauren smiled, "Safe for me? Yes. Safe for the person playing me? Not so much."

"Whoa! Them's fightin' words!"

The doctor smirked, "I got mad pool skills."

Lauren didn't add the fact that when she was young and her stepfather was responsible for watching her, he would take her to the bar to drink. She would sit there and do her homework, after which, she would watch the men play. Eventually, she started going to her own table, trying to make shots she'd seen the men miss. She wasn't sure how she did it... it was like she could see lines on the table that allowed her to actually follow the path of the ball. Depending on where her cue struck the cue ball, she knew exactly how it would spin and what it would cause other balls to do when it hit.

Tess announced the match, "Okay ya'll! Doc and I are going to take on Corey and Cody! Place your bets."

Everyone laughed, assuming Lauren didn't know sports beyond Beach Volleyball and Tess knew it. She whispered to Lauren,

"So, just how good are you?"

Lauren laughed, "Good enough to clear the table on my first turn after they break."

Tess's eyes went wide, "Shit, really? You could pay my lift pass for our Christmas trip to Vermont at Okemo Mountain! If we go on a run here, you may even pay my airfare to New Zealand!"

"Don't get carried away there, Tess. The minute that they see us win, they'll stop placing bets."

Tess whispered, "Then don't run the table... let them think they have a chance."

"I'm not cheating my athlete's Tess. I will teach them a lesson not to judge the competition by its cover once, though. It's good for them to remember when they go into competition."

"Fine. One lesson then. This is gonna rock!"

The men insisted on letting the women break, so Lauren pretended to be horribly offended by their assumption that men were somehow superior players to women. Regardless, the women took the break after discussing how they would play it. Tess whispered to Lauren,

"Can you pocket the 8-ball on the break for the win?"

"If I hit the balls just right. I haven't played in quite some time, Tess. I can give it my best shot."

"Okay, well... if it works, play dumb... like you don't know what you did."

"Okay."

Tess turned to the boys, putting a finger in their faces, "No laughing. She hasn't played pool since she was young."

Cody crossed his heart, "Scouts honor."

Tess laughed, "You are clearly no Boy Scout."

They all turned to watch Lauren, her tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she closed one eye and moved the pool cue awkwardly between various fingers.

"Time out!" Tess called and went over to Lauren. Leaning in behind her, she whispered in her ear, "If you wanted me to do the sexy pool teacher stance, why didn't you just ask."

She pressed her pelvis into Lauren's ass, while she wrapped her fingers around Lauren's hand, adjusting the pool cue so it sat correctly in her hand,

"There... better?"

Lauren swallowed hard, nodding as her heart raced. The arousal she felt was familiar to her... it wasn't like it was with Bo... it was... she didn't know. She took a deep breath and focused on the cue ball, spotting the eight ball and angling her shot, she broke. Everyone watched as the eight ball rolled slowly towards the corner pocket, teetering on the edge until it finally dropped.

Lauren stood up and looked at Tess who was celebrating wildly. She looked at Tess, "Was that good?"

"Oh, that was excellent, Doc! That's one win for us!"

"Uh... okay... why? Only one ball went in."

Cody looked at the doctor, "You sank the eight ball on the break, Doc."

"Oh... I guess I was just lucky, huh?"

"Yea, sure." Cody replied, looking at Tess, "Double or nothing?"

"Nah, let's just call for bets again."

Cody nodded and called for bets, the crowd all in this time as more people gathered hearing that the Doc had sunk the shot. With all of the money on the table, Cody's friend Pia picked up the money as a neutral party.

Tess shrugged, "Your break, boys."

Corey nodded to Cody to break. The blonde stepped up and took the cue ball in hand. Carefully laying it down on the table, he took his shot, sinking a striped ball.

"Nice break, Cody." Tess smiled.

The women watched as Cody missed his next shot, then Tess looked at Lauren, "Okay, Doc. We have solids."

Lauren smirked, "Okay, so does that mean I'm supposed to hit the little balls in the pockets if they don't have a stripe on it?"

The guys laughed as Tess rolled her eyes, keeping up the act, "Yes, Lauren. Just remember that you can't put the white ball in a pocket and the solid black ball with the number eight on it has to go in last. You also have to call which pocket you're going to put that one in, okay? Oh, and make sure you always have one foot on the floor when you shoot."

"Okay. I'll just ask you before every shot, okay?" the doctor asked.

"I'll help you out, Lauren. Now, which ball are you going to go for first?"

"Well, green is my favorite color, so I think I'll hit that one in first."

Tess shook her head, "Well, you see, the green ball so make sure the white ball – the cue ball – hits the green ball and only the green ball goes in, okay?"

"Okay."

Tess chuckled as she watched Lauren awkwardly line up the shot... the entire place seemed to hold their breath until the crack of the balls and the clunk of the six ball landing in the obvious pocket landed.

"Great job, Lauren! Now, pick another ball!"

Lauren smiled, "Well, lucky number seven makes sense, right?"

Tess nodded, winking at her partner.

The older blonde continued sinking ball after ball until the last shot. There were two striped balls blocking the hole for the four ball. Lauren needed to sink the four before she could go for the eight ball and the win. Tess walked up to her,

"Now what? Just put the cue on a rail?"

"Nah. I'll just jump their ten and eleven balls."

"You can do that?" Tess asked, shocked.

"Well, I could when I was nine... hopefully it's all coming back to me. It would be nice to practice the shot first."

"Time out! Time out!" Corey called.

Tess turned with a scowl, "What? You can't call time out!"

"Well, I'm up next when she misses whatever shot she thinks she might have on the four ball and I have to pee. So unless you want me to pee in your beer, I need a quick break."

"Fine." Tess replied, "Pia, watch the table for us while we go get refills?"

"Sure thing, Tess."

The shorter brunette leaned on the edge of the table while the two women walked away to the bar. Tess called out to a man behind the bar,

"Hey John, can we slip in back real quick?"

"Sure thing, Tess."

"Come on." Tess said, pulling Lauren by the hand to a room in the back.

Lauren coughed when they entered the smoke-filled room, "Geez, Tess. We're gonna get lung cancer in here."

"This is the smoking room... smoking and pool playing room. You wanted a practice shot... here it is."

Lauren smiled and headed over to the empty table. Grabbing the cue ball, she aimed at the base of the ball and jumped it a few times, frowning when she didn't get the right hop or direction on the first few. Finally, she seemed satisfied and set up the shot she'd have to make. Tess watched in amazement as Lauren sunk the shot not once, not twice but three times.

Lauren casually racked the cue and headed towards the door.

"Hey!" Tess called out, "You sure?"

"That's better than I hit it as a kid." Lauren shrugged.

The pair arrived back out at the table with fresh beers in hand just as the guys arrived at the table. Pia stepped aside and allowed Lauren to take the stick again.

"Just make sure you don't put the cue ball somewhere I can make a good shot, Doc." He turned to Cody, "Damn, luckiest beginner I've ever seen."

Lauren looked up at him, "Oh, don't worry, I won't." With a wink and a smile, she laughed before taking the jump shot, knocking the four ball into the corner pocket.

"NO WAY!" Cody yelled.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Corey added.

Lauren, for her part, simply moved to the corner pocket, lined up the cue ball with the eight ball and said,

"Eight ball, corner for the win." And sunk the shot.

The entire bar went crazy as the two men stood still, their mouths hanging open. Pia handed Tessa the fistful of cash,

"Everyone bet against you guys... they thought it was a sure thing."

Lauren shook her head, "See what I mean?"

"Okay, Doc... tell the truth... you've played before." Corey said.

Lauren moved to the table and began setting up the balls to try her favorite trick shot from when she was a kid. She wasn't sure if she'd make it, but if she did, it would put an exclamation point on her lesson to the athletes present.

"Yup. I've played, Corey. Now, the question is... what made you think I didn't? Is it because you stereotyped a Beach Volleyball player as someone who wouldn't hang around a pool hall? Or was it the physician's license that made you think I would never have entered such an establishment in my life. Maybe it was because I'm not a radical snowboarder like you and your friends or maybe it's because I'm not a big risk taker when it comes to taking chances with life and limb."

The room went quiet as she eyed her shot. With a quick snap, she sent the cue ball jumping over the eight ball into the four which careened off the side rail, into the six which hit the ten, eleven, twelve before coming back to the eight and putting it into the side pocket.

The crowd went wild as Lauren walked towards the two men, Tess right behind her left shoulder,

"Consider this the first lesson from the new Head Physician of the Unite States Olympic Training Center... NEVER... and I do mean never... underestimate ANY opponent... especially not based on appearance. Doing that could cost you the podium or mean the difference between gold, silver or bronze."

The coaching staff moved to surround Lauren at the table, all of the applauding and nodding before congratulating them on a lesson well taught. After a short time in the uncomfortable spotlight, she excused herself to the fireplace, plopping down on the sofa to enjoy some quiet far away from the crowd in the large room... or maybe not as she heard the voice from behind her.

"You really rocked that, Doc."

Lauren smiled, "Thanks, Tess. It was fun."

"It was... and no one got hurt." Tess came and plopped down right next to Lauren despite the fact that there was plenty of room on the couch.

She handed Lauren a fistful of cash, "Your half... although I should probably give you it all."

Lauren shook her head, "You keep it... go speed down those mountains and live life on the edge... just please don't break your neck."

Tess laughed, "Are you sure?"

"Yea. I can't take that money... I'd feel bad." Lauren replied, taking a sip of her beer and leaning away from Tess to lean on the arm of the sofa.

"Well, will you take me?" Tess asked, her fingers traveling along Lauren's arm.

There it was again... that sensation... arousal, yet not. Tess leaned around in front of the blonde,

"No response, is that a good sign?"

She leaned in and captured Lauren's lips in a kiss. Lauren's mind moved to an apartment... a kiss... her body responded, but her mind protested... her eyes opened... Nadia... the pressure... always pressure to do things she didn't want to do but somehow her body always seemed to respond... the physiological processes intact though the mind and heart felt nothing. Coming into the present, she pulled back, pushing Tess away,

"No! Stop!" Lauren shook her head and moved quickly towards the fireplace, "Tess, I told you... I..."

"You left the abusive ex and the woman you love behind. This doesn't have to mean anything, Lauren."

She ran her fingers along Lauren's shoulder, but the doctor shrugged her off, "Yes, Tess... it does. In order for me to share my body with anyone, it definitely has to mean something. I've had enough mindless sex where I had to shut down to stand it to last me a lifetime. You just need to... back off, Tess. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but... I was in an abusive relationship... I don't do unwanted advances well."

Tess finally got it, "Geez, Lauren... I'm so sorry. I thought you meant you were hit or something... but it was more than that."

"More and for a very, very long time. I'm trying to recover from it so that I can be with the woman I want to love... but all of the shit from my past keeps getting in the way of us."

Lauren shook her head, "I just... look... I don't even know why I'm talking to you about this. I just... forget it, okay? And please don't tell anyone about it."

"Patient-client privilege, Lauren. I would never share something so personal."

"Ha. Ha. Using the doctoring against the doctor?"

Tess laughed, "Actually, I'm using that lesson you just taught the boys out there... the old don't judge a book by its cover lesson. I'm a licensed therapist, Lauren... and I'm here if you need me... well... until December, anyway."

"Uh... that's... wow... that's... something." Lauren smiled, knowing she had just had her own words shoved in her face, "I'm sorry for assuming..."

"It's okay, Lauren. I'm not exactly in uniform. I put my practice on hold to go for gold. My parents aren't happy and its expensive to live as a full time athlete in my sport. I have enough in savings to handle most of my expenses for two years. If I have to pick up private clients, I will but for now, I just want to live with my old friends here and go for the gold, you know?"

"I do, actually. I just couldn't afford to do it without working and... well... frankly, I wasn't willing to give up my job... I loved working in emergency medicine."

Tess nodded, "Are we okay?"

"We are." Lauren smiled.

"I mean it you know... about talking if you ever want to."

Lauren nodded, "I just may take you up on that... something is happening... I mean... when you kissed me just now... I had this flashback to my ex forcing me... well... you get it. My mind would go somewhere else while my body would respond somehow."

"Come on... sit with me." Tess pulled Lauren over to the couch, this time sitting a bit farther away, "I don't know if you've heard of any of the rape cases where a man was raped by a woman and he got an erection despite the fact that he did not want to have sex with the woman?"

"I think I remember seeing a movie about that with Michael Douglass and Demi Moore."

"Yea. That movie was actually based on a case just like that. The physiological responses of the body to sexual contact can be replicated by any intense emotion... anger and fear are just two of them."

"So you're saying my body would response because of my emotional state? I don't recall feeling any emotion."

"Well, over time, victims of abuse shut down their emotions... like a switch... they just turn off, their mind essentially leaves their body and the act happens without them having an sense of feeling. It's a survival mechanism. We see it with veterans of war, witnesses of horrific acts, even survivors of chronic disease. The mind really is an amazing organ... it will protect itself even when the body is being assaulted."

Lauren took in all that Tess was saying. It made sense... how she would shut down during certain events, go into decision making mode without being truly conscious of a decision, run away when she was unaware she was confronting something she couldn't handle.

"Lauren?"

"I'm okay... I was just... putting pieces of my puzzle together, I guess."

Tess nodded, "Anything else?"

Lauren looked up at her, "Thanks."

"Well, I'd like to think that after three weeks together, we're becoming friends."

Lauren smiled, "Friends... I'd like that."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **NOVEMBER – WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING**_

Bo pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Lauren, then went back to work. She wasn't expecting an immediate response... she'd learned that daily contact... sometimes even weekly contact... was no longer in the cards. If they spoke, their conversations were fairly superficial and relatively short.

So far, Bo knew that Lauren had been snowboarding, seen a mountain from a helicopter, won a big pool game, gone sledding, tried cross-country skiing which she now did almost daily, tried speed skating and been in the Team USA Bobsled. It sounded like she was having a blast and in truth, now that the workshop was rebuilt, the new facilities were up and running and the WSL surfers were beginning to train at their wave pool, so was Bo.

She had decided to pack up the romantic part of her heart and put it on a shelf for safe-keeping. She only needed love for dealing with the kids. Kenzi had told her she was becoming a bit reckless again, but Bo ignored her. If she was only a little reckless, maybe that was just the edge she needed to win the WSL championship next month.

Tamsin walked into the dining room where Bo was heating up some soup for dinner, "Hey Bo. Did Kenzi tell you that Tish from the WSL called you again?"

"Yup."

"And?"

"And I ignored the message like I always do."

Tamsin sat down at the bar counter, "Okay, look... you're going to need to make a decision about this sooner or later."

Bo stirred the soup before ladling it into her bowl, "Want some?"

"Sure, thanks."

Bo pulled another bowl from the cabinet and filled it before handing the bowl and a piece of bread to Tamsin. She put the rest of the loaf in a basket on the counter and came around to sit next to Tamsin.

"So... sooner or later?" Tamsin asked.

"Later."

"Bo, this is a great opportunity."

"For who? I'm retiring, Tamsin. End of story."

"Your decision should not be about Lauren. She knows they're building the wave pool facility and the training center for surfing... she's the head cheese of all things medical!"

"I know and we're supposed to be apart so she has time to be on her own. My presence in Colorado would surely cramp her I'm-fine-on-my-own style."

"Bo, just what do you think Lauren's doing there?"

"Well, she's certainly not returning my calls or texts!"

"I told you, Bo... she's just busy."

"Yea, I know... with Tess. I swear if I hear that woman's name one more time I'm gonna throw up."

"They're friends!"

"Yea, so were we before we slept together."

Tamsin shook her head, "Look, I'm not going to betray Lauren's confidence and tell you anything about her relationship with Tess, but I promise you they really are just friends. She has been getting Lauren out of her shell and helping her process all of her life shit."

"Well, I'm glad Tess can help her with that and honestly... a lot jealous that I couldn't!

"Bo, one person cannot be all that someone else needs... not even when you love each other like you and Lauren do."

"Well, I wouldn't know she loves me because she doesn't bother to return my calls or texts. By the way... text Kenzi and tell her we need resin."

Tamsin picked up the phone and sent the text. Putting her phone down, she took a bite of bread and a return text came through,

"She's on it."

"You see? How long did that take? One bit of bread? A swallow of soup and a bite of bread? She can't take ten seconds to respond when I text her a question?"

"Fine! What did you text her?"

"I want to know if she is still willing to have Maverick come out in November. It's almost Thanksgiving and she hasn't had him out there yet. I'm not letting him go for Christmas. I want him here for that because he's never had one in warm-weather and decided he wanted to try it this year."

"Isn't he going to be here for the Thanksgiving Dinner?"

"I don't know. That's up to him and Lauren but I can't get her to nail down a date or any plans. He's starting to think she forgot about him."

"Bo, you know that's not true, she's just really..."

"BUSY! I know, I know!"

Tamsin shook her head and turned on her stool to face Bo, "Okay... bottom line this for me. What's really bugging you about Lauren?"

"Hope."

"Hope?"

Bo nodded, "I'm losing hope."

Bo pulled up the sleeve on her jacket and showed Tamsin the bracelet, but Tamsin nodded,

"The bracelet... Kenzi told me and she told me the story behind hope for you guys. Your parents were pretty cool, Bo... I wish I could have known them."

"Yea, they were pretty special people." Bo nodded.

"So, why are you losing hope?"

"Because I don't know if she still loves me, Tamsin. The last two times I've said it, she didn't say it back. I know she's spending all of this time with Tess and... well... I'm just worried that..."

"It's not like that, Bo. She's just a good friend. You know, Lauren has never had a friend that she didn't make through work. She met this woman through a bunch of other snowboarders at their lodge."

"Lodge?"

"Yea... a place in snowy mountains where people hang out after a day on the slopes?"

Bo nodded, "I know what a lodge is, Tamsin. I have been snowboarding at Lake Tahoe just like you when you were a kid. She just hasn't mentioned hanging out at a lodge."

"Bo, they're buried in snow up there. If she's not at the training center, she's at home. If she's not at home, she's doing something... well... snowy. If she's not active, then she's probably at the lodge shooting pool or hanging out with the gang."

"She's got a gang?"

Tamsin sighed, "She has friends, Bo... just like our gang here. As far as I know, she is not romantically involved with anyone."

"I'm terrified, Tamsin."

"Of what, Bo?"

"That I'm not enough."

"You're enough, Bo... just be patient." Tamsin held the small heart charm in her hand, "And hold onto hope... trust her, Bo... she's getting better... I can hear it in her voice. She sounds happy."

Bo nodded as she whispered, "What if she's happier without me?"

"Then you'll be happy that she's finally happy." Tamsin said.

Bo thought about it for a moment and then realized that the blonde was right, "Yea, I guess I will... she deserves to be happy."

Just then, Bo's phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw the text from Lauren,

 _Lauren: 'Hey! I'd love to have Maverick next week. Will you be coming with him?'_

"Shit!"

Tamsin dropped her spoon, "What?"

"She wants me to come next week with Maverick!"

"So go!"

"Tamsin, I have a competition!"

The blonde frowned, "I don't suppose you could miss one for the woman of your dreams, could you?"

Bo sat quietly for a moment, "This is the last event, Tamsin. It's the last part of the Honolulu Bay event that was rescheduled because of the storm. If I miss it, there's not way I can win."

Tamsin nodded as Bo pulled out her phone and texted Lauren back,

 _Bo: 'I'll figure it out and let you know. Maverick will be so excited.'_

 _Lauren: 'Does that mean you won't be coming with?'_

 _Bo: 'Some scheduling issues... I promise I'll figure it out. Do you care what day?'_

 _Lauren: 'Nope, but sooner would be better.'_

 _Bo: 'I know, he's excited to see you too. I'll be in touch as soon as I have our travel plans.'_

 _Lauren: 'Great... I'll be waiting. Gotta run.'_

 _Bo: 'Bye.'_

The brunette sat and stared at the screen for a moment, hoping to get a response... maybe an 'I love you', but nothing else came. Tamsin had been looking over her shoulder,

"Kenzi is going to flip if you sacrifice your championship for her."

"I'll figure it out. It's my life, Tamsin." Bo stood and put her bowl in the sink, "Speaking of my life, I've got a training session in fifteen minutes. I'm going to go see just how long it takes to vomit vegetable soup in the wave pool."

Bo ran back to her bedroom. Tamsin pulled out her phone and sent off a text message to her partner... Lauren needed to know what was going on in Hawaii... she'd waited long enough and if Bo wasn't going to enlighten her friend, Tamsin would.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Maverick and Bo got off the plane and immediately felt the difference in temperature from Hawaii. It wasn't that it was ridiculously cold, but they weren't exactly dressed for winter temperatures.

"This is nothing, Bo! Wait until we get to Aspen!"

Maverick had been a little chatterbox the entire way to Colorado. She knew that he loved snowboarding and when she'd texted Lauren the flight information, she'd let Bo that she already had her friends set him up with gear. As they moved through the airport, Bo kept the young boy close by her side, but he suddenly broke free from her, taking off running. When she looked up, she saw Lauren, squatting down, arms open a broad smile covering her face. Bo's eyes teared up as she watched the young boy dive into Lauren's arms.

She slowly walked up to the pair and watched the reunion. Looking up, she met the eyes of a beautiful blonde woman with dark brown eyes. The woman nodded in her direction, which Bo did as well. Her heart was in her throat as she stood there, trying to keep her eyes on the two familiar faces, but her mind just kept wondering if this was the infamous Tess.

"Are you excited?" Lauren asked.

"I've been waiting forever! What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry, Mav. I've been busy getting things set up here and learning my way around. You're here now. That's all that matters, right?"

"Right! So... we're going to Aspen, right?"

"Tomorrow. Right now, we have to get back to the training center because I'm supposed to be at work!"

"Bo says playing hooky is bad."

Lauren looked up at Bo with a big smile, "Well, Bo is right, as always."

"I don't know that I'm always right."

"I do." Lauren smiled, "You were right about me coming here." The blonde said before moving to hug Bo, "I'm happy, Bo... for the first time in my life, I feel happy without having it to be attached to anyone else. I can't wait to show you my world."

She pulled back, her eyes holding a happiness that Bo had never seen before. She was happy for her friend... friend. It looked like she was going to have to get used to that word.

"Come on, let's go... I took off Wednesday through the weekend, so after today, we can play the rest of the week in the snow."

"Awesome!" Maverick replied.

The two turned to walk away, leaving Bo standing there awkwardly standing with the other blonde who offered her hand,

"Uh... I'm Tess."

"Hi Tess... I'm Bo."

"It's nice to meet you, Bo. I've heard a lot about you."

"Really? Because Lauren has told me absolutely nothing about you."

"Yea, that doesn't surprise me."

The two walked in silence towards the baggage claim, but Bo stopped them, "Lauren, we only brought the two carry-ons. You said you had gear for him?"

Lauren nodded, "I do but..." Lauren pulled Bo aside, "Excuse us a second, Mav. This is Tess... stick with her for a minute, okay?"

Maverick nodded as Lauren turned to Bo,

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't introduce you... that's Tess."

"We met." Bo said, unsure of what else to say. Right now she felt like a fifth wheel and was wondering why Lauren had invited her.

"Where are your boards, Bo?"

"My what?"

Lauren frowned, "Look... don't be mad at her, but Tamsin told me you have a competition in Hawaii this weekend... your last competition... the one you need to compete in to achieve your goal... your dream of being a champion."

Bo frowned, "Some things are more important, Lauren."

"No, Bo... they're not. I am not going to allow you to throw away your dream for me or for Maverick. Does he know what's on the line?"

"No... and don't you dare tell him, Lauren. He has missed you so much, I was not about to say no to this week when you were finally willing to have him come."

"Finally?"

"You told him you would have him out in October, Lauren. He thinks you forgot about him."

"I know, Bo. I'm sorry, I've just been..."

"Busy... yea, I know." She said, looking past Lauren to where Maverick was checking out all of the patches on Tess' jacket. _'Great,'_ Bo thought, _'... she loves snow.'_

"You are not missing that competition, Bo so you're going to work out in the wave pool all week."

"Fine. I'll work out in the wave pool while you, Maverick and Tess go off on your winter adventure. Come on, Maverick's waiting."

Lauren frowned wondering what was wrong with the brunette. She would find out later when they had some time to talk. Right now, she had to get back to work and Bo was definitely getting in that wave pool.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Bo! Hey woman! How are you?"

"I'm good Mitch, how are you?"

"Great, great... although I'm hoping you've come to work out here and help me get these wave settings right."

"I thought Kelly came out?"

"Not yet... dude is busy as hell."

"Yea, I know what you mean."

"Hey, I heard about the storm... Damn Daniel!"

"Like I haven't heard that one a million times... It's just funny that the storm happened to be named Daniel, huh? Anyway, everything is rebuilt and we're finally back to manufacturing boards. Did you get the ones Kenzi sent?"

"Yup and I have the perfect one for your little guy there."

Bo ruffled the hair on Maverick's head, "Mav, do you remember Mitch?"

Maverick frowned, "He's the one that stole Lauren from me."

Bo tried hard to hold back her laugh as she looked up at Lauren who was trying equally hard not to laugh. Obviously, the joke was lost on Tess who just stood there looking at Lauren who told her she'd explain later.

Bo brushed aside the emotions at seeing the interaction between the two. She was determined after their ride from the airport in the backseat with Maverick to make this trip about him. She'd never seen him look so alive as they'd traveled through the town with the snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. She felt as if his very soul was calling out... to what, she wasn't sure but she was pretty sure he was probably thinking about his family when he laid his head down on her lap.

Lauren had looked back in that moment and seen the look on his face. She looked up at Bo, a pained expression on her face seeing the young boy clearly torn about something.

"Can I get in now, Bo?" Maverick asked.

"Not until I'm dressed, Mav... you haven't been in a wave pool yet, so we're going to work on some things together first."

Bo looked up at Mitch who tossed her a gear bag, "Already got it all together. Doc knows your sizes and brands like the back of her hand."

Lauren blushed, "We got the Kenbo boards in, but none of the gear except the leashes. I remembered what brands you wore before you went to your own brand and dropped the sponsors."

"Well, that's very observant of you, Doctor." Bo smiled before moving towards the locker room signs. She turned back for a moment, "Maverick? The boards are over there. Mitch, polystyrene core, polyethylene slick bottom, three-laminated wood stringers... it's the Kenbo-Lo."

"He's not on styro?"

"Nope! He's an upgrade... moved to the twelve-year-old class thanks to Kenzi's lessons."

"I can't wait to see the little guy go."

"Just keep the waves to a three, okay?"

"You're going to have to go first and make sure the 'three' is really what a 'three' should be."

"I'll check everything out before I let him ride." She turned to Lauren, "Promise."

Lauren smiled, "Oh, I trust you completely."

Bo smiled and gave her a slow nod, "Well... that's... new... and good."

"It's part of the new me."

"It looks good on you." Bo smiled, heading back to the locker room.

"Lauren? Can you help me... it's... heavy..." Tess caught the board right as it was about to go backwards over Maverick's head,

"Easy there, little guy."

Maverick looked up at Tess, "I'm not little. I'm a intermediate!"

Tess laughed, "Well, my mistake... good for you then!"

She helped him balance the board on his head so that he could walk over to the entrance to the tank where Mitch was waiting. He took the board and lifted him up onto the large stool at the control panel,

"You can sit here and work the panel for Bo, okay?"

"Wow... it looks confusing!"

"Well, you're some kind of engineering genius, right? So let me give you a lesson and then you can unleash Poseidon on your friend Bo."

"I don't wanna hurt her."

"Have you ever seen a wave that Bo couldn't handle?"

Maverick put his finger on the corner of his mouth as he looked up at the ceiling for a long moment. He then smiled and turned to Mitch, "Nope."

"Okay then. This wave pool can't do worse than the ocean, so there's pretty much nothing you can do that would hurt her."

Lauren leaned against the rail, and whispered to Mitch, "You're sure? She's got THE competition this weekend."

"I know and you don't have to whisper around anyone but Bo... and maybe your friend there."

Maverick looked up at Bo, "I'm in on the secret! Shhhh! We're not supposed to tell her until we're on the plane!"

Lauren laughed and whispered to Maverick, "I know! So let me ask you... would you mind if my friend Tess came with us?"

Maverick frowned, "I don't think Bo likes your new girlfriend, Lauren."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yea. I heard her talking to Kenzi and she said you have a new girlfriend. I don't think she thought you would bring her to the airport though... you guys have rules, ya know."

Lauren's brow knit together as she tried to piece together what Maverick was saying, then she remembered Bo's reaction at the airport. Shit.

"Mav..."

"Okay, Mav!" Bo entered the wave pool, her hair pulled up in pony tale. She reached over her back to pull up the zipper, but Lauren placed a firm hand on her shoulder and tugged it up for her, taking a moment to make eye contact with the brunette.

The glance lasted for a long moment, but Bo abruptly broke the gaze, her eyes traveling to Tess as she turned and got into the pool. Shit.

"Bo, I was just telling Mav that you have to test everything before he can get in, so he's gonna work the controls."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Oh yea? Are we sure that..."

"Don't worry, Bo. I never seen you ride a wave you couldn't handle and Mitch said this thing can't hurt you so I'm just gonna work you out hard like Nick does."

Bo leaned over towards Maverick, "Well, I'll tell you a secret... Mitch always worked me out harder than Nick does."

"Mitch saved you from drowning!"

Bo laughed, "Actually, it was Lauren who saved me from drowning. Mitch is the one who got me back on my feet."

"You did that?"

"Well, I think Bo did it, but yea, I sort of led the way and fixed the mess the first therapist created."

"That was Kristy."

Bo and Lauren frowned, but Bo was the first to ask, "How do you know that name?"

"Duh, you guys! I got two ears!" Maverick pulled both of his ears out, stretching them so wide, the adults all had to laugh, "Okay, Bo... it's time to get in the tank! If it's too much, just give me a thumbs down."

Bo laughed, "I'm glad you've been paying attention to the signals."

"There's a surprise for you over on the rack."

Bo walked past the other two women and around to the rack. Browsing through the boards, she found her board,

"It's one of mine! How did you get this?"

"The Professor sent it up as soon as he found out you were coming. He figured Lauren would make you work out and since you're so picky about what you ride..."

"Way to go Professor." Bo smiled, kissing the side of the board as she lifted it over her head and carried it to the pool. She slipped into the water carefully, "It's definitely colder here!"

Everyone laughed before Maverick said, "Don't be a baby, Bo!" Then they all laughed harder, including Bo.

When she was in position behind the wave wall, she called out to the young boy, "Fire it up, Mav!"

Lauren leaned over towards Tess, "You'll want to move around to the side unless you want to get wet."

"Lauren, you didn't tell me your Bo was THE Bo... that's fucking Bo Dennis! She's a fucking legend!"

"Mouth, Doctor! There is a child present."

"Sorry, but damn... she's a hottie and she rocks her board like no other."

"I thought you didn't surf?" Lauren asked.

"I never said I didn't... I said I seek out snow... I just don't like surfing... it's all wet. It's awesome to watch, just not to do. Plus, I don't like the whole drowning thing. I'd much rather get run over by an avalanche or fall to my death."

Lauren shook her head, "How comforting."

Tess looked up, watching the Pro Surfer work the wave, "She's amazing. I've never seen a surfer up close... you were right... the footwork is different."

Tess watched as Bo's feet moved forward, back and center on the board, adjusting to the wave type and height that Maverick gave her. Finally, she gave the sign to cut the wave completely. She sank down into the water and then turned to look at Mitch,

"Something doesn't sound right... something mechanical. Do you have a tech here?"

"Yea, he's over at the build site for the third pool. I can have him here in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll work in the still water with Maverick until he gets here. I think the hinge needs to be tightened. There's a vibration that shouldn't be there. What was the highest wave setting he used?"

"Six."

"Okay, rock me up once the tech is done. We've gotta see what this baby can do. The Pros are coming right after Thanksgiving, right?"

"I think so, you'd know better than I would."

Bo shook her head, "I'm not coming."

Lauren stepped up, "You're not coming where?"

Bo looked at Mitch, then back to Lauren, "The WSL Pros that are coming after Thanksgiving to help the trainers and coaches right the program are all people who want to go to the Olympics."

"So who is coming?" Lauren asked.

"Well, you'll be very happy to know that Sonjay is coming."

"Oh great." Lauren said, "I'm SO happy about that."

"You see that? I knew you'd be overjoyed." Bo smiled, "Kenzi's coming."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

"Yup."

Lauren turned to Tess, "I've mentioned Kenzi to you, she's Bo's little sister... sort of my adopted little sister. She's an incredible surfer too and I'm really hoping she'll make the Olympic cut."

"I was told they were sending three men and three women, so who is the third woman?" Mitch asked.

"Bo." Maverick said, playing with the knobs on the panel. Mitch stilled his hand as he watched Lauren's eyes move to Bo's.

"You?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled a tight smile, "Like I said, I'm not coming."

"Why not?" Lauren demanded.

"Look... The WSL wanted me and Kenzi as a package deal... something about PR and growing the sport... our popularity... well, my popularity specifically... and they wanted us to try to help assure that the sport goes from exhibition status to full Olympic sport status... but... I'm retiring and well..."

She leaned in and whispered to Lauren, "I'm giving you your space. It wouldn't be good for me to be here."

Lauren folded her arms over her chest, "I hardly think it's your choice to decide what would or wouldn't be good for me."

"Oh, don't even go there, Lauren. You made this choice... the choice to leave and be here to have your space to find yourself... so don't tell me I can't make the choice to stay away."

"We are not doing this with other ears around, but we are NOT done discussing this, Bo Dennis." She turned to walk away, but turned back to Bo, "And for your information, Tess is my therapist... NOT my girlfriend! It's funny... I thought my girlfriend was YOU!"

The two stood staring at each other for a long moment before Bo leaned in and whispered in Lauren's ear, "Bossy you is really hot."

Lauren pulled back and looked at Bo. She wanted to be mad, but she just had to laugh. Their usual lack of communication had created yet another misunderstanding between them. This really had to stop, but for now, she just wanted to watch Bo and Maverick playing in the water and laugh at how ridiculous they were sometimes.

"Go on... teach Mav about the wave pool." Lauren said.

"Yes, ma'am." Bo saluted, "Mav! Hop in, surfer dude! Let's go over some basics until I'm up again."

"Geez, Lauren... I'm completely star struck here." Tess said, "And she's yummy... are you sure you wont' share?"

"Tess, you are the biggest perv."

Bo shook her head, "And I can hear you two until he turns on the waves."

Tess blushed, "Oh god."

"No, I'm Bo... remember?" She smirked, winking at Lauren.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It had taken the techs about thirty minutes to fix the wave pool and that was all the time it took for Tess to send one text to one friend about who was in the wave pool. Before Lauren knew it, there were about thirty snowboarders gathered in the bleachers at the wave pool while the one and only Bo Dennis put on a show.

Tess stood at the side of the tank while Maverick kept Bo's wave on three,

"What is she doing?"

"Well, apparently this is a helluva core workout. She has to try to stay in one place on the wave. You can't see it, but right now, Maverick is nudging the wave height and speed from a one to a three continuously... at least, that's what the little guy is supposed to be doing. This is how we got her back on her feet after her drowning."

"So... I have to ask... were you the doctor?"

Lauren nodded, "It was the worst day of my life and the best day of my life."

"How's that?"

"Worst day because she almost died. Best day because I met the love of my life."

"I get it." Tess replied, "So... how do you feel... I mean... having her here?"

"Not seeing her for three months has been... horrible. Forcing myself not to talk to her or text her more than three times a week has been torture."

"Worth it?"

"I feel new, Tess... and, aside from the pouty jealousy I saw when she thought you were my girlfriend, she seems... I don't know... different. Resigned to accept what life gives her, maybe? I mean... I hope she hasn't lost all of her fight, but she seems more accepting."

"And is that a good thing?"

"I don't know. I won't know until we spend some time together."

"So, snowboarding tomorrow?"

"I don't know about letting her go, Tess. She doesn't know we intend to take her to the competition and if she breaks her leg, that's it."

"Are you going to tell her?"

Lauren shook her head, "Not until we're on the plane. She has seven hours to get her mind ready for it. Any more than that and I really think she'll be nervous with the crowd of spectators we're bringing."

Tess looked over her shoulder, "I have a feeling you'll have even more now that they're all going to meet her."

Lauren laughed, "The family just doubled in size."

"Well, you always said she was fearless, so I can't imagine she's going to bow out of snowboarding... especially with Maverick. They're great together."

"Yea... two peas in a pod they are." Lauren smiled.

"Looks like three peas in a pod to me." Tess winked.

They returned their focus to where Maverick was calling out to Bo, "Okay, go big or go home, Bo!"

She moved to the back corner of the pool, hovering over the back side of the wave before a wall of water arose from the pool, a tube of water forming with the same force Lauren had seen at the Pipeline, just not quiet as high.

"Oh shit... these are the ones I hate."

"Lauren... trust her. She's a pro. If she falls, she knows how to fall. Don't go backwards on me."

Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she heard Tess's voice,

"Holy shit that's cool!"

Lauren looked up at the stands to see the crowd cheering as Bo cut out and up over the top, throwing a 360 atop the wave, then dropping back down into the large pipe that Maverick had created.

"Woohooo! That is SO DOPE!"

Tess and Lauren heard Corey from the crowd and smiled, Lauren saying, "I think they like it."

Lauren watched as Tess again moved her eyes to Bo's feet. She watched as the snowboarder waved Cody down from the stands.

"She's goofy foot... I'm just wondering... do you think she could do a half-cab flip like we do on skateboards?"

"I dunno. I mean, surfers turn the board with the front foot because there's fins on the back... if she caught the water with the fin, it's all over."

"Yea, but here in a controlled environment, she could try it... watch her feet."

Lauren watched as the two analyzed Bo's stance for a long while until Cody said, "Maybe a double kick flip... that way she couldn't have to worry about where the fin ends up."

"Yea, but she could end up surfing on the bottom of the board."

They watched a little while longer, "Kick-flip sex change... that would be awesome. She'd come out of the wave backwards... Lauren, do you know if she can surf with the other foot forward?"

"She used to surf the other way all the time. After her accident, this happened... it was a neurological message thing. She hasn't bothered to try to switch it since she's been surfing fine this way."

Tessa nodded, "Hey, Maverick! Can you cut it? We wanna talk to Bo."

Maverick nodded and lowered the wave, causing Bo to turn and look at him, "Hey Mav! What's up?"

"I dunno, Bo! They wanna talk to you!" He pointed to the snowboarders over by the rail.

Bo swam over to the group and stopped in front of them, leaning on her board, "You rang?"

"Hi Bo, I'm Cody." The man extended his hand to Bo who took it and shook it, "So... we're not sure if you're up for it, but we're just curious if you can do some stuff that we do on skateboards on your surfboard."

"Well, you guys know we steer with our front foot, not our back, right?"

"Yea, we were watching that and when I took Lauren snowboarding for the first time, she kept pressing with her front foot to turn." Tessa explained.

Lauren laughed, "It took me a while to get your surfing lessons out of my head."

Bo smiled, "I'm so proud. So, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know if you know any skateboarding terms." Cody said.

"I used to skateboard as a kid, but my Dad put a stop to it when I started to surf so I wouldn't have the footwork problem as a pro. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, for starters... maybe a double kick flip?"

Bo's eyes went wide, "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, the board flips over vertically side over side and since you surf goofy foot, we thought it might be something you can do when you're riding the crest like that."

"You do know that a surfboard is about four times the width of a skateboard, right?"

Cody nodded, "Yea, but I'm thinking if you start the trick on top of the wave and land it in on the wall..."

"It wouldn't matter how long the board took to rotate over... especially if it's the last trick I do on a wave."

Tess added, "You have to remember your fins. If they catch the wall, it's all over."

Bo nodded, "Right." She paddled back over to the back side of the wave, "Mav, give me a three?"

They all watched as Bo rose up onto a small wave and rocked her feet back and forth, trying to decide if this was something she could do. Finally, she turned to Maverick,

"Okay, Mav... give me a right to left!"

A giant wall of water arose from the pool with a flat face. Bo entered the wave from the back and moved to the top of the crest. Hanging there for a moment, she walked her way up and down the board before moving the board sideways beneath her feet, trying to get the balance and footing figured out. Finally, she went for it. She lifted up off the whitewater crest, her knees tucked up to her chest as the board rotated, airborne beneath her feet. She easily cruised down the face of the wave and hovered looking up with a bright smile on her face as the group cheered.

She gave a thumbs down to Maverick and sunk down into the water, "That was SO cool!"

Cody's face was lit up with excitement, "You did a freakin' double kick flip on a surf board, girl! That was amazing!"

Bo nodded, "Now, if I can do a combination 360 into the double kick and land it, that would push my point total big time." Bo looked at Lauren, "I could win."

The brunette frowned, remembering that she had made the decision to come here to be with Lauren and Maverick. She smiled at the blonde, "Some things are more important than winning, right?"

Tess looked at Lauren who looked at Maverick, "Hey Mav... come here."

Maverick hopped down from the stool and ran to Lauren. The blonde looked down at him, "Did you see that?"

He nodded, "I can't even do that on my skateboard!"

"If she can do that trick, she could win the whole championship. What do you think... should we spill the secret?"

"She has to practice, Lauren. I think we have to tell her."

Bo asked, "Tell me what?"

Maverick smiled proudly, "We're all going to Hawaii on Friday!"

"What?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "We're all going to watch you win a championship, Bo."

"But... how? I mean..."

"Maverick and Kenzi made the flight arrangements. All of your gear will be in Honolulu when we land. Your new technical advisors will be there as well." Lauren smiled nodding to Cody and Tessa.

Bo smiled, "Thank you... thank you all, so much. Cody... Tess... I may not use it depending on how my scores are, but it's nice to know that I have something I can pull out if I really need it."

"You bet, Bo." Tess replied as Cody nodded.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	13. Chapter 13: Live to Learn

_**A/N: Sorry, work has been crazy! I'll up date as soon as possible, but I'm a little short on time right now. Happy Labor Day to those celebrating... if not, I wish for you a labor-less day on Monday! Your continued support and reviews of this story are greatly appreciated! It keeps me motivated to write! Things will take a turn in this chapter... followed by another turn... after turning, there will be light at the end of the tunnel! Apologies for errors... I did not proofread this puppy at all... wanted to get it posted before the holiday. I increased the font size of the document, but the site seems to have it's own ideas about that, so sorry for those who wanted me to increase font size. I'd suggest using the tabs on the site to adjust the size. I have vision issues, so I know that's how I'm able to read the stories on the site. Only a few chapters remain. Here we go!**_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHAPTER 13: Live to Learn**_

After leaving the wave pool and surfing facility, Lauren gave Bo a tour of the rest of the Olympic Training Center, starting with the medical buildings and then moving on to the sport facilities. Bo still had a bit of a bad vibe from Tess, but she reluctantly agreed to allow Maverick to go out for a review of the basic skills of snowboarding on the bunny slopes with Lauren's friends. The blonde had appeared insulted that the brunette didn't like her knew friend, so what else could she do?

She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just something about Tess that she didn't trust... or like. Sure, maybe it was the green monster named jealousy, but Bo just didn't think that was the only thing. Still, she felt like she could trust Corey and Cody. They had willingly offered a lot more information about themselves, their previous Olympic experience and the lives they'd led since childhood. Sure, they were a little goofy and ever the comedians, but Maverick had taken a liking to them and they seemed to encourage him when he was in the wave pool... most importantly, she had never seen Mav laugh as much as he did when he was with the two young guys.

After laying down some rules about jumps and ramps, they were on their way. Bo made a 'note to self' to probe more deeply into Mav's file later on. She knew that the case manager had said that Maverick was a very talented snowboarder, but being a stranger to the world, Bo had no idea what that meant... only that Mav was upset that he could only do the bunny slope today. While she had read the file many times, her focus had been on the things directly related to his family, education and health.

Bo and Lauren visited the weight training facilities, the wrestling building, the pool, diving well, paddle sports facility and so forth. It was on their way to the Olympic Hall of Fame, that Lauren showed Bo a view of Pike's Peak from between two buildings, explaining that she and Tess had gone out there in October just after they'd met.

The brunette stopped and took Lauren's hand, "So... about Tess... I'm sorry I jumped to the conclusion that..."

"Bo, you weren't entirely wrong on the vibe I'm sure you picked up. She did kiss me... a couple of times... but I asked her to stop both times... it didn't feel like you. Then there was... I don't know... something else. She was... aggressive... not invasive but... she was pursuing me and flirting with me even though I told her I was in love with someone else. It was like she didn't respect my feelings and that's when I realized that she was triggering the feeling I used to get with Nadia."

Bo could feel herself go into defensive mode upon hearing Lauren's gut reaction when she's first met the other blonde, but thinking of her sessions with Ciara, she took several deep breaths and just continued to listen. While she tried hard not to look distant, she knew that she was failing when Lauren wrapped her arm into the crook of Bo's elbow and continued,

"Do you not want me to talk about this?" Lauren asked.

"No, no... I just..." Shut up, Bo... just shut up, "I want you to talk about whatever you feel you need to talk about. Go on... really."

Lauren smiled as Bo moved her eyes back to the sidewalk, grateful she was able to avoid saying something stupid and impulsive. She listened intently as Lauren continued,

"It was this feeling of detachment... my body was there, but my mind just sort of went somewhere else. When I described it to her, she finally realized what I had meant when I'd told her I'd come to Colorado to escape my past... an abusive ex." Lauren sighed, "And then she disclosed she was a therapist on hiatus from her job to pursue her Olympic dream in snowboarding."

"So, what? She just agreed to start counseling you?" Bo became even more suspicious about this coincidence.

"Not at all... she just told me that she would back off and that she would always be there to listen. After that, I actually felt more comfortable spending time with her. She would still flirt occasionally, but we had established some boundaries and became good friends. I just felt more and more comfortable opening up to her."

She could see the scowl forming on Bo's face, so continued quickly, hoping to keep things calm with the brunette,

"Please don't be offended, when I say this, Bo but... well, she's not like Hale or Ciara. She believes that since she's not attached to you or our friends back home that she can be more objective and come from a purely clinical point of view. Plus, she doesn't know me as I was... she just puts her focus on the person she believes I can become."

"And what person is that, Lauren? I thought the idea was for you to find yourself... for you to decide who you become?"

Lauren shook her head, "I just feel like through our talks, she's been able to sort of peel back the layers, bringing to light, certain realities that I hadn't recognized before and in that way, she's helping me to find a person that I didn't know existed within me... The fearless me you always hoped to show me I could be."

Lauren knew that the fact that Tess was able to do what Bo couldn't do for her would probably be a blow to Bo's ego, so she braced herself for the emotional rant that was sure to come, but surprisingly, it never did...

Bo simply said, "Well, I'm glad that you're finding yourself and I'm happy that you were able to find someone who could help you through that. I guess there's something to be said about the space between us. I think I was too close to everything that was happening to you and my need to protect you and help you to just... I don't know... live without fear... that I got in the way of your recovery."

Bo was trying to be open-minded, but dammit... there was just something about this woman that was... off. She didn't know what it was just yet, but she had a few more days to figure it out. If she didn't, when Tess got to Hawaii with the group, Kenzi would figure her out in fifteen minutes or less.

Lauren shook her head, "Oh, Bo that is not true. You were never in the way. You made me realize that I actually had something to recover from. If it weren't for you, I would have blindly continued through life smothered in that damn cast iron shell I always wore. You were the only person who was able to break through my tough exterior."

The blonde pulled them to a stop and moved to stand in front of Bo. Taking her face in her hand, she closed the distance between them and moved her lips to Bo's softly... tenderly... gently... for a brief moment,

"You were the first person to touch my heart, Bo... and that touch has left a mark that is with me every day."

She moved her hands to take Bo's in her own. As her thumbs ran back and forth over Bo's, she spoke,

"Every new thing I see here, I want to share with you. Every time I overcome a new fear, I want to call you and tell you all about it." Lauren laughed, "Tess probably has hours of video messages to you from mountain tops, zip lines and glaciers."

"And she never hit send? Not once?" Bo was careful not to go overboard as she smiled and tried to make a joke out of her comment, but truthfully, she didn't understand why Tess would keep the messages on her phone and not allow Lauren to film her own messages in private. In truth, it made Bo very uncomfortable knowing that the woman had personal messages from Lauren that were meant for her own eyes.

"Well, as part of my therapy, she believes in some detachment from the people I consider my support group. That said, we have an agreement that I won't call or text you more than three times a week and keep the interaction to a five minute period of time."

Bo's breathing exercises were no longer working as her temper began to rise. Still, she kept her wits about her, "And her reasoning by removing your support system?"

It was a valid question and Bo knew it. Both Hale and Ciara had noted the importance of a strong, encouraging – not enabling – support system for Lauren post inpatient care. This woman was doing the exact opposite.

Lauren explained, "She feels that relying too much on my support group would quell the development of my independent nature and otherwise swing my focus from doing this for me, to doing all of this for you and our friends instead."

Bo didn't speak, but instead thought about what Lauren had said. Okay, so maybe Tess' argument had some merit even though it was against the standards of treatment described by two other highly respected therapists, in Hawaii but still... why had Lauren tortured her all of these months? Why hadn't she told her she wasn't returning her texts or her calls on the advice of her new therapist? She'd lost hope thinking that Lauren didn't care... and now she was still left to wonder... did she or didn't she? Was this all just an excuse not to talk to her? Was she only spending time with her now because of Maverick and because Tamsin called her?

A stray tear made it's way down the side of Bo's cheek. She turned her head slightly, trying to hide it, but always the observant one, Lauren saw it,

"Hey, why the tears?"

Bo shook her head before looking up at Lauren. She knew that look. Lauren wasn't going to let this go. She sighed and asked, "Why didn't you tell me... about the restrictions?"

"I didn't want to spend the limited time I was permitted, talking about my therapy. I wanted to know how you were... really were... but you were all business. I have to admit that I thought... maybe your feelings were changing."

"Never... with all of the texts and calls from me, how could you think that? My feelings have never wavered, Lauren..." She lowered her eyes, "...but I have to admit that my hope did."

"Bo, why?"

"Have you read your text message replies to me, Lauren? Have you noticed how long it took for you to respond? Days sometimes... I spent days waiting for a response to a single text only to get one or two in return a few days later. We rarely talk and when we do, you always have to go because something else is more important."

"Bo, I'm so sorry... I just..."

"You're busy, Lauren. I know... it was made very clear to me the second week you were away that you were very busy... too busy."

Lauren watched as Bo released her hands and went to stand by the statue of three athletes holding up the earth in front of the Olympic Hall of Fame. She watched as Bo's fingers ran over the sculpted metal globe, her eyes roaming down and over to Hawaii,

"You know, earlier today I actually considered coming here and honoring the request of the WSL to help grow our sport... Cody and Tess helping me to discover a new move made me feel like maybe I still had more to offer to elite surfing. Being with you and Maverick in the same place, feeling welcome by the snowboarders, seeing Mitch again... it all gave me a feeling that... maybe I could be here... with you... that we could be in the same place and still respect each other's space."

She turned and walked towards one of the short pillars at the front of the building and sat down, pulling the zipper of her fleece Kenbo jacket up to her neck before shoving her hands deep in her pockets,

"But you and me... I don't think it's the right time for us... I don't think you really want me here... and right now, I don't think I feel... Well, honestly I don't know what I feel. This is very confusing for me."

"Bo..."

She shook her head, "If it's okay with you, I'd like to just go in here and see the museum. Maybe I just need to adjust to being around you again."

"Adjust?" Lauren asked.

Bo had no choice. She had no evidence whatsoever to support her gut feeling that something wasn't right with Tess. She needed to be supportive of Lauren. Looking up at the blonde, she spoke with all of the sincerity she could muster,

"I'm happy for you, Lauren... I am really and truly happy that moving here is doing exactly what we'd all hoped it would for you. Right now, you have to not worry about me or us... the truth is, there's just not room for me in your life right now and if you're not ready to admit that to yourself, I don't think I'm the one you should talk to about that. Obviously Tess is the one who has your answers right now."

"Bo, don't be like that... Tess is just..."

"I'm not being like anything, Lauren. I honestly think you need to talk to Tess about it, I really do. I have a feeling that is why she put the time constraints on us. You first, right? For us... well, maybe somewhere down the line there will be an 'us'. I'm sure she has a timeline or process for how she wants to proceed with your treatment. I don't know... I'm not a doctor and I'm not at your therapy sessions, so I'm really not qualified to have this conversation with you. I only know my perspective about us and that's why I've lost hope."

"Bo, I'm working towards us... you have to know that." Lauren reached out to grab the brunette, but she pulled away.

"No, Lauren... don't... please don't. Touching just... confuses things. You are clearly on a different path right now and I don't... no I can't... interfere with that. I have to handle my own shit while you do what you have to do. I refuse to be the reason you don't succeed."

"But what about you? What about what you need?" Lauren asked.

Bo almost laughed... she really wanted to laugh. For three months, she'd heard barely a word from the blonde and now she was worried about her needs? She turned her back to Lauren, hoping that she wouldn't notice the hysterical laughter that rippled through her, eventually becoming tears. She took deep breaths, focusing her thoughts on what had to be. If she truly loved Lauren, she had to love her enough to let her go.

 _ **FLASHBACK...**_

' _Ysabeau, my sweet, sweet little girl... you say you love Rip, right?'_

' _I do, Mommy. He's my dog... he's more than my dog... he's my best friend and... he's our family!'_

' _I know, Ysabeau and I feel the same way, but he is very, very sick, my darling. He's tired and in pain. He can't walk with you, he can't run on the beach with you and he can't ride your surfboard anymore. He's not happy, Bo.'_

' _So I have to let the doctor give him the shot?'_

 _Bo's mother nodded, 'To love someone... truly, unconditionally love someone... you have to allow them to be who they truly are... to come and go as they please as long it isn't hurting them.'_

' _Like when you still love Daddy even though he walks into the living room all wet?'_

 _Bo's Mom laughed, 'Exactly. I love your Daddy even when he breaks the rules.'_

 _The young Ysabeau ran her fingers over the long blonde hair of her beloved Yellow Lab, Ripple for a long while. Finally, she kissed his head and whispered,_

' _I have to let you go, Rip... because I love you...' She looked up at her Mom, 'What was the word?'_

' _Unconditionally.' The woman smiled down at her daughter before looking at Ripple, then listening to her daughter's final words to her pet,_

' _I love you unconditional, Rip. I'll never forget you. Mommy said you're going to go to doggie heaven where you can run on the beach all day and not hurt anymore. I'll miss you so much, Ripple.'_

 _Tears trickled down the woman's face as she watched her daughter hug the old dog. Finally, Bo stepped back with tears in her eyes and watched as her Mom nodded to the doctor._

 _Bo's Mom spoke to the elderly animal, 'Okay, Ripple. Have a good sleep, old boy. We'll all miss you. Safe travels.' She kissed the family dog on the nose and then nodded to the veterinarian._

 _Bo watched as the injection was delivered. She moved back to Ripple, 'I love you, Rip! I'll never ever forget you!'_

 _She watched as his eyes closed and his body went still. She looked up at her Mom, 'Is he gone?'_

' _Yes, Bo. He's not in pain anymore.'_

 _Bo dove into her Mom's arms, the tears coming hard and fast, 'My heart hurts, Mommy. I miss him. I miss Ripple.'_

' _It's okay, baby. Sometimes you have to let go of the things you love most in order to move forward. There is always a beginning and an end for all things.'_

 _ **PRESENT DAY...**_

Bo turned to look at Lauren and smiled,

"What I need isn't important right now. This trip... you being here... all that you are doing right now is about you... for you. I can wait, Lauren."

"But what if you can't?" Lauren asked.

Bo took both of Lauren's hands in her own, "You can't worry about that... you can't worry about me... and I'm guessing that most of the day for these last few months, you haven't been worrying about me. You've been doing you... your day, your job, your fun... your thing. It's only now that I'm here that you're realizing that you've been getting by fine with out me."

"I don't want to lose you." Lauren replied.

"You can't worry about what you might lose, Lauren. You have to look at what you have to gain."

"I gain nothing if I lose you." Lauren asked.

"Lauren, you will never really lose me. We may not have romance and intimacy anymore, but you gain yourself, Lauren... you... free and confident. Nothing is worth more than that for anyone. Who are we as a couple if you don't have yourself. You can't love fully if you don't love yourself first."

Bo pulled Lauren into a hug, knowing that this might be one of the last times in a long time that she would get to hold the blonde in her arms. She had a week... a week to meet the new Lauren, a week to have fun with Maverick, a week to enjoy a state she hadn't been to since she was a child... a week to say goodbye. Bo was going to do all she could to make the most out of the week she had both here and over the weekend in Hawaii.

"Now, let's go see this museum." Bo smiled, taking Lauren's hand and leading her into the museum.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXX**_

The walk through the museum was fun, with each of them posing for pictures with famous Olympians. When they reached the beach volleyball area, Lauren was shocked to see a large mural-sized picture of Team USA 2016,

"TEAM L.T.!" Bo exclaimed as she immediately took a selfie in front of the pair in action, "Come on, Lauren. You've got to get in there!"

Lauren reluctantly got into the picture, "Point to yourself!" The blonde did as she was asked, unable to say no to the smiling brunette. It seemed the longer they were at the museum, the more Bo's mood improved and she didn't want this to end.

The back of the museum was barren, so they turned around and headed towards the exit,

"You know what that empty space is, right? That's where they're going to add the sport of surfing." Bo said, with a smile.

"Oh yea? And will Bo Dennis' face grace the wall of the first ever USA Olympic Surfing Team?"

Bo wanted to say yes. The idea of being a part of this incredible museum... of leaving her mark on the sport in a more permanent way was tempting... more so now that she'd seen this. After the earlier events in the wave pool and being here, Bo felt a spark ignite that she hadn't felt for a long time. But still... this place... this was Lauren's journey.

"Nah... Bo Dennis is officially retiring after this weekend."

"Bo, you can't be serious! The girl that I saw in that wave pool is still learning new tricks... and it seems quite easily. How could you not want to be a part of all of this?"

Lauren moved her arms to spread wide, spinning in a circle around the lobby.

"This place... for surfing... is the future, Lauren. This place is for Kenzi, for Sonjay, for Carissa... for the younger surfers. I'll be happy to see my surfboards standing on one of these stands next to a full size cutout of my sister."

Bo lied. It wouldn't be enough... it would never be enough... but if it meant that she got to spend the rest of her life with Lauren, she would gladly sacrifice surfing for the next four years as an Olympian. Besides, four years was a long time. Who could know how she would feel by then. Just last year she was absolutely sure that this season would be her last. Why was she even considering this? She was just caught up in the gold medal moment.

"Hungry?" Bo asked.

"Changing the subject?"

Bo nodded, "I just don't understand why everyone has to talk about this now. It's four years away and the trials will be what... three months or so before that? Knowing the WSL, they'll use standing scores to determine who goes from each country."

Lauren shook her head, "Nope. The WSL is a world league... a professional league. Their only interest in the games is the global popularity of the sport... that much I'm sure of... That's why they want you and Kenzi. Not only are you two of the most popular and experienced surfers in the states, you're also sisters... the only team of sisters in the WSL. They want to market that and sell that even if you don't win the gold in the end."

"So I'm for sale?"

"Not just you... your sport, Bo. We're not just talking local merchandising opportunities... we're talking about selling an active lifestyle sport. The more people who surf, the more business opportunities... beaches are huge attractions globally. Everyone wins if surfing is part of the Olympics. The USA has some of the best surfing destinations in the world. Think about what it will do for our tourism industry, rental properties, sale of merchandise and gear... that same thing will happen for every other country with a beach."

Bo nodded her understanding, before Lauren added, "Team USA wants the best of the best on the boards. Putting your faces out there brings awareness to the sport. Parents will have their little kids on surfboards and before you know it, more and more kids are striving to be the best and that wave pool is packed with Olympic hopefuls."

They exited the building, "I don't think I could ever get used to how thin the air is here."

Lauren smiled, "I know what you mean, but after about two weeks, I was fine and you would be too."

"Well, I don't have two weeks. My lungs feel like they're in a vice and I've had a headache for about thirty minutes now."

"You may have a little altitude sickness and you get more dehydrated at higher altitudes. Here..." Lauren pulled a dollar out of her pocket and fed it into a beverage machine then handed the bottle to Bo, "I know you're not a fan of sports drinks, but this will help. Don't argue... just drink it and then we'll head back to my lab and give you a little oxygen. It'll help."

"Yes, Doctor." Bo saluted.

"And don't be a smart ass. You should have told me sooner. You have the competition of a lifetime this weekend, Bo. Don't make bad choices with your health or you will suffer at your event."

Bo nodded, downing the sports drink. The truth was, she had been thirsty for more than an hour. After she finished her drink, she followed Lauren to the car, the blonde pulling out her phone as they walked,

"Hey, Tess. What's up?"

Lauren nodded, looking at Bo as she did, "Well, we're heading back to my lab right now. Can you meet us there?"

They got into the car, Bo pulling on her seatbelt while Lauren did the same, then held her phone for a minute, her eyes forward,

"Yea, well tell him he'll have to wait until he can discuss it with Bo."

Lauren started the car, "Look, Tess... I do trust you guys, but you have to remember that Maverick is a ward of the State of Hawaii. Every decision belongs to Bo, so please just come back to the lab so he can talk to her. This is Bo's call and you guys need to respect that."

Putting the car in gear, Lauren looked behind them to make sure the road was clear, "Tess! Please stop arguing with me!"

Lauren rolled her eyes at Bo, "I know he's persistent, but you're the adult there. Tell him that Bo wants to see him before you guys go anywhere else today. Tell him she said end of discussion and he'll get it. If he doesn't, just start counting down from ten."

Bo could see Lauren's face turning red. She wanted to grab the phone and give Tess a piece of her mind, but she instead began her breathing exercises.

"Geez, Tess... don't judge and don't argue. He is not your kid! I'll see you at my lab."

Lauren nodded, "Yea, yea... thank you."

Dropping her phone into the cup holder, she sighed, "Maverick says he's better than the bunny slope. Apparently, he's 'insulted' that they think the bunny slope would be enough for someone who grew up in Colorado."

"So what do they want to do?" Bo asked.

"They wanted to take him up to Eldora Mountain. It's pretty much the closest mountain to us that would have trails that he could handle as a beginner."

Bo shook her head, "I don't think he is a beginner, Lauren."

"What?"

"In his file, it says he was part of some Junior Olympic Program. I don't know what that is but..."

"Shit, Bo... that's a big deal."

"It is?"

"The Junior Olympics is a developmental program in our country for Nordic and Alpine sports... well... actually most sports have a J.O. or A.A.U. program."

"Well, surfing certainly doesn't... at least... not when I was growing up." Bo pulled our her phone while Lauren continued to speak, "I mean, Kenzi came up through the International Surfing Association and then was invited to become a Pro by the World Surf League this year. I know that the two organizations are working together to make the Olympics thing happen, but the ISA is really the one leading the charge politically with the IOC."

"Well, then I would think your ISA's Junior Program would remain intact. They might realign things a bit but since the Olympics only happen once every four years, it may just stay the same. With the other sports, there are competitions held yearly through which athletes can be selected to higher levels of play and therefore be exposed to higher levels of training and the accompanying coaching."

"Oh... well that sounds like what the ISA did for Kenzi."

"Well, did his file specify what Maverick's status was?"

"I don't know. His file is huge, Lauren."

"Did you bring it with you?"

Bo nodded, "I have to carry it with me whenever he leaves the state."

"Would you mind if Tess took a look at it? She knows a lot more about snowboarding than I do."

Bo was quiet for a moment. She realized that this could lead to Maverick leaving Hawaii, but if he was living with Lauren... if he was around snow... if this was really what he wanted, who was she to hold him back? Her mission was to create opportunities for her students to live the lives they choose. Sighing, she decided that if this was to be the life he would want, she would need to help make it happen... even if that meant using Tess... or maybe Cody...

"The file is confidential, Lauren. I'm sure you understand confidential, right?"

"Of course. Sorry... it's just that... well, I trust her and she is a physician, so..."

"It has nothing to do with her being a doctor, Lauren. It has to do with respecting Maverick's privacy. I'm sure he doesn't want your whole group of friends to know his family story. He's know them for less than a day."

"You're right, Bo. It was insensitive of me to ask. I'll take a peak and then translate what I find based on my knowledge of the junior program."

"Just know that if this is what he wants, then I'll make it happen, Lauren. It will take time, but I would never stand between Maverick and his dream."

The brunette looked out the window, her eyes traveling across the deep blue sky that served as a backdrop to the snowcapped mountain peaks that seemed to be everywhere here. It truly was beautiful and she could understand why Maverick missed this place. Tonight or Tomorrow, she would have to have a serious heart-to-heart with the boy, but for now, she would do what she could to satisfy his apparent need for speed... that was something to which Bo Dennis could definitely relate.

"Hey... you okay?" Lauren asked, taking Bo's hand. The brunette looked down at their joined fingers enjoying... no... savoring the sensation of the warmth and touch that was only Lauren,

"I'm fine." She gave a tight smile, before looking back out at the mountains, "It really is beautiful here."

Lauren nodded, "It's a different kind of beauty than what we are used to on the island. I've noticed it since I've come here. Hawaii is warm, relaxing and has this... flow about it... you feel a part of everything. Here, it's... majestic and powerful... I sometimes feel small here, but still a part of something bigger than myself."

Bo smiled, giving Lauren's hand a squeeze as she looked out the window again, "I can understand that. I barely remember anything about this place. I haven't been here since I was a kid and then, I just wanted to go home where it was warm and the board felt normal beneath my feet."

"Will you snowboard?" Lauren asked.

Bo turned to look at her, "Well, I was actually all in for snowboarding when I got off the plane and saw the mountains... of course, having Maverick's powers of persuasion in your ear for seven hours helped the motivational factor."

"And now?"

"Now, I apparently have a five-star escort to the WSL Championship finals in my home state this weekend."

"You're afraid of getting hurt?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "A little. It's going to be a tight event, Lauren. I mean... when I got on that plane, I had resigned myself that missing the competition would mean that the best I could do was third... but it was worth it because I was going all in for you and Maverick. I never thought that you would actually arrange to come this weekend let alone want to come."

Lauren frowned, her eyebrows knitting together, as she pulled the car over. She sighed,

"I didn't, Bo... I didn't do anything except agree to it. I told you that Tamsin called me and told me about the competition, but she also told me about what you were about to give up to visit me. Tess thought it was a bad idea and at first, I didn't agree with her, but then... well... after we talked and I realized that I felt free here... that I wasn't ready to go back to Hawaii... I didn't want to go back home."

Bo froze, not knowing how to feel with that comment, but listened as Lauren continued,

"When I left, you were all lumped in with all of the drama in my life... somehow, my mind had attached you to Nadia, and part of me just wanted to make a clean break from anything associated with her."

"And that included me, by default." Bo concluded.

Lauren nodded, "So when your name would show up on the phone, it felt like..."

"... like it was a burden to be carried, rather than something to look forward to."

Bo swallowed hard, hoping that Lauren was finished with her brutal honesty, but the blonde continued,

"I'm sorry, Bo... but until you texted me about Maverick, I just needed to be... away from you."

It's what Lauren had asked for when she first made the decision to go to Colorado, so Bo really wasn't that surprised by the comment, but the rest hurt.

"Tamsin texted me before I replied and told me that you were going to throw away the championship to come and see me with Maverick. She suggested this weekend and I agreed. I couldn't handle the guilt of knowing that I would have been the reason you didn't achieve your goal when you had done so much to help me achieve mine... including my new life here."

Bo had no idea how close to Lauren's office they were... all she knew was that right now, she needed air... she wanted out of the car... she needed space from Lauren's truths, but she had to go to see Maverick and get him settled. Quietly, she formulated a plan in her mind and did what Ciara had been working on with her.

 _ **FLASHBACK TO CIARA'S ADVICE...**_

' _When you feel a need to give an impulsive response, take three deep, cleansing breaths. Then, pull out a pen and write down what you would have liked to say. If you don't have a pen, then close your eyes and use your mind to imagine having the conversation you would like to have._

 _See the entire conversation through to its logical end and then decide if the ending is desirable. If so, begin the conversation. If not, save it for later. Gather more information and allow things to pan out as life sees fit until you believe its time to have the conversation.'_

 _ **PRESENT DAY...**_

The brunette closed her eyes and began the conversation in her mind as Ciara had taught her, beginning with how she would respond right now if she was being impulsive Bo...

" _My coming here was my choice, Lauren... not yours. I was coming here for Maverick first and foremost... again, my choice... not yours. I didn't expect you to be at my championship event so please do not come to watch me win or lose out of guilt... not even my friends attend my events out of guilt. They come because they truly care about me and want to support my hopes and dreams. So please, if you can't be there as my girlfriend or friend, I'd rather you not be there at all."_

 _The brunette could imagine what Lauren would say in reply..._

" _Bo, you're misunderstanding me. I was talking about how I felt before you came... before I saw you..."_

 _The surfer new that once Lauren made an excuse, her need to shut down the conversation would be swift... and likely have some bite to it..._

" _I can't talk about this right now, Lauren. Maverick is waiting and his needs are my priority. Once I take care of doing all I can for him, then you and I can talk... I just don't see what there is to talk about now. You don't want to be in Hawaii... you said it, now own it. So just stay here and find yourself. If I'm such a burden, then leave the burden behind, Lauren. I can't have someone around who won't put forth the effort to support me when I'm trying to support them. We're done."_

Bo opened her eyes and turned to look at Lauren who was looking at her. How could she love someone who was clearly so focused on her own life to the point that she did not have a care in the world about anyone else? Maybe she didn't love Lauren... maybe she just loved the idea of her. Either way, she needed time to figure it out and Lauren was clearly in no position to be involved in a relationship with her.

Right now, they needed to get to Maverick and Bo needed to serve as his court-appointed mentor... not his friend, not a potential adoptive parent... because if he moved here, that may turn out to be Lauren. Of course, right now she was barely paying him any attention. She groaned internally. Right now, she needed to shut down her heart and do what was right.

"Lauren, Maverick is waiting. I think we've had enough conversation for one day."

"Bo, I didn't mean to offend you... that was how I felt before..."

Bo waved her hand at the blonde, "Please, Lauren... just... let's go see Maverick. We can wait."

"Bo..."

The brunette's eyes had a fire in them that Lauren had never seen before when she turned to her again, "Lauren! Just... don't. You've said enough. Please just... drive."

"I'm sorry."

Bo chuckled, "I'd be willing you haven't said those two words in at least three months. It's easy to not have to say them when I'm not around, isn't it?"

Lauren sat staring at the brunette for a while as the realization hit her that Bo was absolutely right. She hadn't said she was sorry for anything since coming here... largely because she hadn't done anything to make her feel a need to apologize. She didn't feel any obligation to any of these people... except maybe Tess. Sitting here with the woman she loved, she realized that her words had hurt her... deeply... and yet Bo did not yell at her... she did not cry or argue... she just accepted her words and sat with quiet reserve. She had been honest to a point of being cruel. That wasn't like her... there's being independent and then there's just being plain mean.

Putting the car in gear, her guilt was stronger than ever. Bo didn't need to hear everything she'd just told her. Why had she said such hurtful things? Some truths were better left unrevealed. Had she wanted to hurt her? Why was she punishing her? For months, Tess had been encouraging her to stand up for herself... to live an unapologetic life. Is this how you treat others when you live that way? Was that who she really wanted to be?

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo picked up Maverick and headed back to Lauren's house. Right now, she was regretting not getting a hotel. The little guy was exhausted and had fallen asleep on the waiting room sofa outside of the doctor's office, so they had all agreed to meet for dinner at a restaurant in town once the young boy woke up from his nap.

Lauren, on the other hand, had gone back to work and finished up the charts for the day. She'd checked in with the other doctors, met with a few of the physical therapists and finalized her schedule for when she returned to work on Monday with her nurse. As she left the office to head home, she was greeted by Tess in her waiting room,

"Doc. Do we need to talk?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Uh... the tension when the two of you came back?"

"Oh, that."

"Yea, that."

"I overshared." Lauren admiteed.

"Oh yea?"

"Yea, I think I just sent my relationship to the depths of the ocean."

"We talked about this, Lauren. You have to be who you are and stay true to your path. You can't worry about what happens with Bo right now. If it works, it works."

"That's pretty callous."

"Actually, it's pretty honest." Tess said, her arms folded over her chest, "You're regressing already and she's only been here for a day."

"I'm not regressing, Tess."

"Did you ask her if you could have Maverick come to stay the month of December on his own?"

"She has one more competition the first week of December. I don't want to stress her out about Maverick traveling right now."

"She won't have to attend that competition, because it's the later heats of the event she's surfing this weekend and she will have won by then... I looked it up, Lauren."

"Where?"

"Online... there's this thing called the Internet. Look, you can lie to Bo all you want, but I am not going to work with a patient who is going to lie to themselves about doing it."

Lauren's posture sunk as she sat on the sofa, her purse hitting the floor between her legs.

"Time for a session?" Tess asked.

"I suppose so." Lauren replied.

"Okay... define independence." Tess replied, sitting back in the chair and pulling her tablet out of her backpack to take notes as Lauren recited the mantras she had been pounding into Lauren's head for months.

"Standing on my own, free of any responsibilities to others, free of social restraints...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo was sitting outside on the back deck of Lauren's apartment... it was freezing. Still, she needed to be out in the open air. She still felt like she couldn't breathe, but the oxygen treatment she'd had before they came back here had helped. Lauren had insisted Bo take a portable tank with her and use it every hour, but the brunette was being stubborn... and she knew it. She hated the smell of oxygen... it reminded her of her drowning and the subsequent time in the hospital. Every time she would take that tube out of her nose, someone would shove it back in. Now that she had control over it, she wasn't about to put it in there if she didn't have to.

The truth was that by the time she'd put Maverick down in the guest room, she had realized she had reached the point of anger. Of course, Ciara had warned her that holding in her feelings could do that. Stepping back from everything that had happened in the past year with Lauren there was one thing that was clear...

She and Lauren were dealing with events and emotions that neither of them had been prepared to handle and... in short... they'd screwed up. Bo was admittedly all emotion, lashing out when she got frustrated and Lauren was no emotion, holding everything in until she'd burst.

Bo was well aware that Lauren had zero experience with true, loving relationships, although she'd hoped that the time they'd spent together before the proverbial shit hit the fan that Lauren had felt loved and part of a family.

She picked up her phone and called Ciara, hoping she could shed some light on what was going on... this whole Tess thing just wasn't sitting well with Bo and she needed a sounding board. Was she just being a jealous bitch or was her instinct about this woman's intention on point?

So, after conveying the entire story to Ciara, she had asked Bo the usual questions, which led to the same conclusion that the brunette had realized earlier.

Lauren was in no way ready for a relationship with her... or anyone for that matter. While Bo's reaction to things today had improved and she'd been able to stay within herself and keep her presence of mind instead of going off like a crazy woman, Ciara reminded her that until her reaction was second nature, she was still going to be impulsive at times. She needed to keep working on herself while Lauren worked on her own issues.

One thing they both agreed on was that Bo was going to finish up this trip for Maverick's sake, spending time with Lauren only when necessary and only if things remained cordial. They talked about some strategies for removing herself from situations where she felt she was being hurtful or impulsive and then they concluded their conversation agreeing that Bo would not come to Colorado again, but instead, wait until Lauren willingly came to Hawaii.

Before hanging up, Ciara promised to talk to Tamsin and Kenzi about their conversations with Lauren. Bo's wish that they would never address any questions, comments or discussion about Bo, merely telling Lauren that if she wanted to know about Bo, she had to call her. If Tamsin hadn't gotten involved, Lauren wouldn't be coming to Hawaii this weekend and Bo likely would have gone on her own after meeting Tess and Cody.

Bo sighed, thinking about her time in the wave pool. It did feel good and the idea for the new move had gotten Bo thinking about what other moves from other sports she might be able to translate to a surfboard.

"Bo?" Maverick appeared on the porch with a blanket in tow, rubbing his eyes.

"Your hair is a mess." Bo laughed as she turned to see the little boy practically tripping himself over the large bedspread.

The young boy climbed onto Bo's lap and pulled the blanket over himself. The brunette wrapped her arms around him, welcoming the additional body heat.

"So, how was snowboarding?"

"It was okay, I guess."

"Well, that's enthusiastic."

"They had me on a bunny slope, Bo... a bunny slope! Bunny slopes are for babies!"

Bo laughed, "So I hear. Well then, I guess we'd better talk about this. You've never told me anything about your snowboarding other than the fact that you used to love to go with your family. You know, the snowboarding world and the surfing world are pretty different, so you're going to have to educate me."

"Nah. You could snowboard."

"Yea, I'll do okay if I go. I went when I was a kid. Anyway, I'm just saying that the way they compete and the fact that one is in the Olympics and the other is just getting started makes them different."

Maverick sat up and looked at Bo, "What do you mean?"

"In your file, there's this packet of papers from the United States Junior Olympic Association. Can you tell me about that?"

Maverick leaned back into Bo, his eyes fixed on the mountain on the horizon,

"When our... well... you know... the bad man... we were coming back from a family vacation in Steamboat Springs. My sister isn't a very good snowboarder. She likes to ski." Maverick frowned,

"Do you want to talk about your sister?"

"It's better when I just pretend she's dead. Ciara said it's okay and so did Hale."

"Really?"

Maverick toyed with the bracelet on Bo's wrist, "I heard Kenzi talking to Tamsin the other day about your parents teaching you to hope... but hope hurts when they still don't find her."

Bo nodded, knowing exactly what the little boy meant. They'd still not had any leads on their cousin, so Bo had just continued to believe she was long gone from this world. She tried not to think about Maverick's sister and what she might be enduring. The truth was, they may never find her and if they did, she would likely not be the same girl Maverick once knew. She pushed the thoughts from her mind and returned to learning about Maverick's interests,

"So you were going to Steamboat Springs and then what?"

"Well, it wasn't just a family vacation. We had to go to my competition too... then we did vacation. After that, I just... well... I never got to go back."

"Why didn't you ask someone?"

"The lady told me I would have to go wherever the state said I had to go. When I told them my state was Colorado, they told me it wasn't anymore."

"Did they say why?" Why hadn't the state tried to place him with family or a guardian in Colorado so he would have less disruption to his usual life? This is what Bo hated about the system in her country. They had tried to do it with Kenzi and she had intervened. Luckily she was twenty-one and the courts saw fit to assign her custody. Maverick hadn't been that lucky.

"Uh-huh. They said I would have a better chance in Hawaii. When they told me about your school, I just said okay. I sorta didn't want to be here and I sorta did... I guess I just went along with it because I really didn't feel like talking... I was really sad."

"Well, I can certainly understand that. Mav, you don't have any family here?"

He shook his head, "My Mom had a brother but he died when she was in college doing toboggan."

"You mean the big sleds in the Olympics?" Bo asked.

Maverick nodded, "He was supposed to be on the Olympic team some day. Mom always said he was fast like lightning but I never knew him."

"And your Dad's family?"

"My Dad didn't have anybody. All my grandparents are dead except for my Mom's mom. I never knew her. She moved back to Iceland to be with her family after my grandpop died when my Mom graduated from college or something. I never knew any of my grandparents."

"So, do you want to go back to competing in snowboarding?"

Maverick shrugged, "I dunno. I haven't thought about it in a long time. Today was the first time I been on a board since... well... you know when."

"I do." Bo replied, giving the young boy a squeeze.

"But I been on a surfboard and that's fun."

Bo smiled, "I know it is, but it's not really the same, is it?"

"Nah... but it sure does hurt a lot less when you fall!"

Bo smiled, "I guess that's true."

"Bo? Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt, Mav?"

"Drowning?"

Bo didn't really know how to answer the question because she wasn't really sure what the young boy was asking.

"Well, I guess that when I hit my head on the reef, it probably hurt a lot because the reefs are sharp, but I guess it knocked me out. I don't really remember much, Mav."

He seemed satisfied with the answer, so Bo asked, "If you could live here again, would you want to?"

Maverick turned around and looked at Bo, "You would move us here? All of us? The school too?"

Bo smiled a tight smile, "Not us, Maverick... you. If I could arrange it, would you like to go back to competing and living here?"

"Without you? Without Kenzi and Hale? And what about the Professor? He needs me, you know."

Bo nodded, "You know that we would come and visit you. We could come to your competitions. It's only seven hours away."

Maverick stood up and walked into the house. Bo followed quickly behind, moving to the sofa where the young boy had taken up residence.

"Mav?"

"You don't want me?"

Bo wrapped her arms around the young boy, "Oh, Mav... I want you more than you could ever know. I just... I need you to be happy, Maverick and if you would be happier here, maybe I can make it so you could be here. You've gotta chase your dreams, Mav and if snowboarding is your dream, I'm not going to be selfish and keep you with me. It wouldn't be fair."

"Well, Lauren said it was only seven hours away and that we would see each other and then we didn't. She lied to me, Bo."

"She's been really busy, Maverick." Yea, Bo didn't buy that line either.

"I may be a little kid, but I know what it means when big people are too busy to spend time with kids. It means other things are more important. You've been crazy busy, Bo but you still surf with me every single day and put me to bed every single night... even with Emma having nightmares all the time you still tuck me in once she falls asleep... well, when she falls asleep the first time. She wakes up more than I do with my nightmares."

Bo laughed, "Is she keeping you awake?"

"Sometimes. I just feel bad. I try to tell her that the storm won't come back but I don't think she believes me. And you know Daniel Zhou? He's in the big kid group and he sails. She's afraid of him because he has the same name as the storm. He wanted her to go in the sailboat with him and she ran away from him. I think he was really sad."

"I didn't know that. Maybe we need to have him spend some time with Emma together with you so she can see he's a good guy."

Maverick shrugged, "Maybe."

"So... exactly how good are you on a snowboard?"

"I do black diamonds pretty easy most of the time. My coach was starting to get me on double blacks but I didn't like that at all. It was too scary."

Bo nodded, "Well, I don't know a lot about snowboarding, but I do know that anything with a diamond attached to it is very impressive."

Maverick nodded, "It's just straight down so it's no big deal. I mean it's really steep and that's why some people don't like it but to me it's sort of boring. I really like to go to the Freestyle trails."

"The what?"

"Freestyle trails? Duh... Bo! Don't you know anything about snowboarding?"

"To be fair, I know as much about snowboarding as you knew about surfing when you first came to Kenbo!"

"I didn't know anything at all. I really sucked on a surfboard, didn't I?"

"Language! And no, you really weren't that bad. I've seen worse. So tell me about these trails you like."

"It's the trails where you get air, Bo. They have jumps and ramps and pipes and stuff. It's a big snowboarding playground."

"Like a skate park?"

"Sort of but there's more space and it's all covered with snow."

Bo nodded, "So... do you want to get back into a competition?"

"I don't want us to be apart, Bo. That's a deal breaker."

"But what if you could go to the Olympics, Mav? I don't want to hold you back if you're really good. Lauren lives here and..."

"She's too busy, Bo. She doesn't have time for me. You saw it." He immediately turned away from Bo to play with the fringe on the blanket.

Bo nodded, "But you had fun today, right?"

"But Lauren wasn't there. She sent me with Tess and Corey and Cody. Now, she's not even here because she's still at work!"

"I'm sure she'll be home soon, Mav."

"No, Bo! That's not what I mean! I mean... she has a whole other life now. We don't matter any more, Bo."

"That's not true, Mav. Look, there are a lot of things that Lauren is dealing with right now and if we're really her friends, we have to try to be a bit more understanding."

"Fine." Maverick said, "When's dinner? I'm hungry."

"I'm supposed to call them when you get up so we can meet up for dinner."

"Them? You mean we're not even getting her alone tonight?"

Bo was getting frustrated. She really had no idea that he would be this... difficult. Maverick was usually a pretty easygoing kid as long as he was active. She wondered if being in Colorado was bothering him more than he cared to admit.

"She invited her friends so that we could get to know them and make plans for tomorrow."

He sighed, "So they're gonna be in our faces all week."

"Well, I'm sure if you want alone time with Lauren, all you need to do is ask."

"I want us time, Bo. You, me and Lauren like it used to be at Kenbo."

"Sometimes things change, Mav. It's not always going to be the three of us, my friend. Lauren is here and we are in Hawaii."

This conversation was shaping up to be like many she'd had with Kenzi when she was younger and moved them to Hawaii. It was moments like these where she thought she'd made a mistake not putting Kenzi in foster care, but things had worked out in the end. Bo just needed to keep working through the conversation. If he was anything like Kenzi, he would cave in because he was hungry or he would go play video games.

"I just want things to go back to the way they were." Maverick replied.

"Well, that's not going to happen right now and you're going to have to figure out a way to handle it, my friend. You know I'm here if you need to talk, but right now, your belly is growling like a bear so we need to get that thing filled."

Maverick headed for the stairway, "I want meat!"

"Okay, Kenzi." Bo joked, earning her a chuckle from the young boy.

Bo sent a text to Hale,

' _I think you need to call Mav. He's not happy about the way things are going so far. Lauren isn't spending a lot of time with him yet and her new friends are usually with him when she does spend time with him. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day since she doesn't have to work, but not sure yet. We should be back from dinner by eight our time. Planning to leave early for snowboarding tomorrow morning.'_

 _Hale: You got it, Bo._

' _Oh, and one more thing... can you do a little research on his participation in the Junior Olympic Snowboarding Team? Maybe his case manager knows more? He's apparently very good.'_

 _Hale: Will do._

Bo heard a floorboard creak and looked up to see Lauren walking from her kitchen to the front door. She opened the door and closed it before calling out,

"I'm home!" She called out before turning to Bo, her eyes filled with tears. Bo knew right away that she'd heard at least the last part of the conversation that took place inside.

"Lauren... I'm sorry... I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you tell him? Why didn't you jump in and talk to him? When did you get home?"

"You guys were outside and looked like you needed private time, so I didn't want to interfere. As for why I didn't jump in? What could I say, Bo? He's right. I've ignored him. I've ignored you."

She came and sat at the far end of the couch, "You know, I had a session with Tess today after work and realized a few things... of all of the conversations I've had with Tamsin, I have never once asked her how she is... not once. I haven't asked her about Moms, Pops or Kenzi. I didn't ask about the recovery efforts after the storm or about my own house. All I did was talk about myself and what I'm doing and how great I feel in my new life. He's right, Bo... what's happening to me?"

Bo smiled, not wanting Lauren to be too hard on herself. She kept reminding herself of what Ciara had told her. She is a victim of years of abuse who had been cut off and secluded from an adult world she has never been given the skills to interact in. You must offer your patience and reassurance... within reason. It was the 'within reason' part that Bo wasn't so sure how to define,

"You know, Lauren... you could probably make all of us feel a lot better if you would stop calling this your 'new life' as if we are the 'old and discarded' life. Have you never heard the 'make new friends, but keep the old... one is silver and the other gold' song?"

Lauren nodded, looking up when they heard Maverick come down the stairs. He ran right over to Bo, not saying anything to Lauren. He jumped up on her lap and pulled his shoes on one at a time.

"You had to sit on my lap to do that?" Bo asked.

Maverick shrugged and leaned into Bo's chest, "Aren't you going to say hi to Lauren?"

He sighed, "Hi Lauren. Can we go to dinner now? I'm starving."

He jumped off of Bo's lap, pulling her by the hand to the door. Bo pulled back, grabbing her wallet. She turned around to see Lauren wiping her eyes,

"Suck it up, Lewis. This is no time to be a baby." Bo gave a wink causing Lauren to give a small smile at the sounds of the words she'd sent her in a text the day she'd left.

The blonde took a deep breath, "Time to face the music, Lewis." She stood and followed the pair, grabbing her car keys and jacket as she walked through the door.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So... wait. You're from Steamboat Springs 2015? Did you wear a red, white and blue USA bandana around your neck and a bright yellow jacket?" Cody asked, excitedly.

"Yup. That was me. I wear the jacket so my sister can see me. She doesn't see so good... I mean..."

"It's okay, Mav." Bo said, whispering in the young boy's ear while Lauren shook her head at Cody, pleading with him not to continue the conversation.

"So are you all going to the Olympics?" Maverick asked.

Cody replied, "We're all hoping to, but they only take so many people."

"How many?" Maverick asked, biting into his grilled cheese.

He pointed around the table as he spoke, "Well, that depends on your qualifying scores and your event. Corey and me are half-pipe, Greg is a parallel slalom racer, Chas and Ryan down there do slopestyle and Trevor does snowboard cross. We've all got a lot of great competitors in our styles, so we'll see what happens, Mav."

"Cody's a given. He just doesn't like to brag." Pia said, "I do pipe with him and I'll tell you that he can throw tricks that will blow your mind, Mav."

"Yea, but only if we put him in a big plastic bubble until the Olympics." Corey laughed, "For the last X-games, he decided to go skateboarding with his nephew at a skate park in Boston. He broke his ankle and almost didn't recover for qualifying."

Maverick's eyes went wide, "Did you make it?"

"Yea, little bro. I just missed the podium... went for real big air on my last run and totally wiped."

Pia laughed, "We thought he was dead. He dropped like a dishrag in the middle of the course... totally missed the wall on the way down."

Tess looked at Lauren, then looked at the gang, "Careful gang, Doc looks like she's gonna throw up."

Maverick waved her off, "Lauren worries all. The. Time. She'll get over it."

Bo frowned at Maverick. She did not like the way he was treating Lauren at all. If she hadn't overheard their conversation at the house, it might not be bothering her as much, but knowing that Bo knew she did, well, it gave her cause to worry. Then again, Lauren's relationship with Maverick was really her problem and Bo needed to let that go. If he was misbehaving, she needed to rein him in, but technically, he was right. Lauren did worry... at least she used to... now Bo wasn't quite sure who the new doctor was.

Bo chose to change the subject, "So, I was wondering where you guys had wanted to take Maverick snowboarding?"

Cody laughed, "Well, I think he could handle just about anywhere we go."

Maverick shook his head, "No double black diamonds. I don't like them."

"Okay, so you're not gonna be a snowboard cross rider, huh?" Cody asked.

"I like racing enough but I just think double diamonds are too fast right now... I am only ten ya know."

"Nine." Bo corrected.

"I'll be ten next week! Close enough!"

Bo smiled, "Okay, you're close enough. Anyway, is there a mountain not too far that we could go to?"

Bo looked at Lauren who looked at Tess, "You know the mountains best. I'm thinking Eldora? What do you think?"

Tess turned to Maverick, "Well, do you want to slip into a pipe or hit some jumps? It's up to you, Mav. We don't want to push you to do things you haven't done for a while."

Maverick smiled, "Snowboarding is like riding a bike, right? Anything is better than riding straight down a bunny slope hill!"

The group laughed at the boy's facial expression as he spoke the last bit. Bo asked Tess, "Are we talking big air jumps?"

"We're talking a variety of jumps heights and types." Tess said, more or less avoiding the conversation. The blonde had been quiet all night and it was throwing Bo off.

"I just want to be able to do a couple flips. I miss doing air stuff."

"Flips?" Lauren asked, her face now shrouded in worry.

"Relax, Doc. I won't let him do them unless I'm sure he can handle them." Tess replied, placing a gentle hand on Lauren's. The blonde gave her a soft smile in reply, giving her hand a squeeze in return. After a long glance, they released each other's hands, Tess turning to Maverick, while Bo felt her jealousy bloom,

"We're going to put you through some tests tomorrow and see how much you remember. After that, we'll decide where to take you on the mountain, but Lauren is right, Eldora is the perfect mountain for you."

Bo lowered her eyes when Lauren looked her way. The subtle touch between the two blondes had done nothing to improve her mood. She took two deep breaths and pasted a forced smile on her face before handing the waitress her credit card for the bill.

"Bo, I've got it. You're my guests." Lauren argued.

The brunette shook her head, "I've got this, Lauren. You've all been great to Maverick today, Tess and Cody gave me some new stunts and you're all traveling seven hours to see me surf. It's the least I can do."

"You forgot about the return flight, Bo. We're traveling fourteen hours plus luggage time to see your ass surf, so you better win!" Corey said.

"Great, no pressure." Bo moaned.

"Of course, it is a mighty fine ass, so it's not much trouble at all." Cody added, earning him several napkins, rolls and a few pieces of food to the face.

"You are such a pig!" Pia exclaimed, "I swear, I'm going to start bringing a pig farmer with me everywhere we go just to try to train your mouth."

"Aw baby, don't be like that. You know you love my mouth." Cody stuck his tongue out and licked his lips, to which Pia responded with a large slice of tomato to his face.

"Pig. And there is a child present, making you even more of a pig."

Bo laughed. The group really did remind her of the gang she hung out with at surfing competitions. Of course, the men didn't really get into the conversation until late nights in the bars, but now that she was out and away from the school, she was starting to realize how domestic she had become. Maybe going out with Sonjay or some of the other women once in a while wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe a little flirting here and there wasn't a bad thing either. Hell, Lauren seemed to be doing it, so why couldn't she?

The brunette sighed, thinking to herself, _'...because I can't... because until I can stop missing Lauren... I just can't...'_

The waitress drew Bo's attention, handing her the bill. She added the tip, retotaled the check and signed the receipt, handing it back to the girl,

"Thanks for putting up with this crowd. You were great." Bo smiled.

"It was my pleasure." The girl replied, giving Bo a wink as she ran her fingers over Bo's while gripping the billfold. Smooth, Bo thought as she looked down at the receipt the woman handed her. She blushed seeing the note,

' _I'm older than I look... call me... I'll show you around... 719-555-1515, Mel.'_

Bo looked up to see the girl staring at her. The brunette blushed as the waitress gave her another wink before she turned away, grabbing a drink tray from the bar and heading back to work.

Bo's eyes traveled to Lauren's who was still staring at the waitress. She turned back towards Bo, catching her eyes before Bo made an awkward turn to face Maverick,

"You ready to go, snow-Mav? If we want to hit the mountain tomorrow, I want you in bed early tonight."

"But Bo, I'm not tired! I want Cody to tell me more about the Olympics!"

Bo shook her head at Cody, "Somehow I think Cody has stories to tell that are not for your ears. Tomorrow, Cody can show you how an Olympian rides, how 'bout that?"

Maverick turned to the blonde boy, "Will you?"

"I'll be there, Mav. Bo's right. You're gonna need your rest. I don't want you crappin' out on me after two turns in the pipe. We're going hard tomorrow, my man! I wanna see what you've got little dude!"

He gave Maverick a fist pump, then blew it up making Maverick laugh. The younger boy suddenly turned to Bo,

"We better go!" Maverick stood up, pulling Bo to come with him.

"Okay, calm down Mav." Bo smiled. She looked at Lauren, "If you want, I can take your car and drive him back so you can hang out with your friends."

Lauren looked at Tess who showed no reaction either way. Lauren stood, "No, Bo. I'll come with you guys."

The Kenzi side of Bo wanted to say, _'Well, don't put yourself out if you didn't get permission to leave Tess' side'_ but she held her tongue and instead said,

"Good night everyone. I guess we'll see you tomorrow."

Everyone called the farewells to Mav and Bo while Lauren mouthed to Bo that she'd be right with them. They stopped at the door, Bo stooping down to pull Maverick's zipper up to his chin and pull his hat on his head,

"It's dark out. You ready to get hit with cold air instead of tropical air when we go outside?"

Maverick smiled, "I love the cold, Bo."

Bo laughed, "Well, how fortunate for you, Snow Prince, but Princess I-lived-in-California-and-Hawaii-all-my-life doesn't do cold. I still don't understand how people live here! And what's up with training in a place where there's no oxygen? We're athletes, Mav... we need oxygen!"

Maverick smiled, "You get used to it, Bo... I lived here all my life and I always had plenty of oxygen."

They stepped out into the parking lot and the young boy extended his arms, spinning in a circle, "See? Look at all of this air!"

They stood in the parking lot by the car for about ten minutes, talking before Maverick finally looked up at Bo,

"Bo, I'm cold and tired. Can you go get Lauren?"

"Come on, Mav. Walk back into the restaurant with me. I don't want you out here alone."

The pair walked back inside, Bo asking the hostess to keep an eye on him for a moment while she walked back to the table to see what was keeping Lauren. It was past Maverick's usual bedtime and although he had fought her on leaving, she knew he would be ready to pass out in a short while once away from the group.

Bo arrived at the table to see Lauren still seated, laughing with her friends. Walking over behind her, she leaned down,

"Keys, please?"

"Oh, God Bo... I'm so sorry. We just started talking about the plan for tomorrow and then..."

"Yea, Bo... I said just one story and we got a little carried away." Cody apologized.

Bo blew off the excuse and leaned down to Lauren's ear, "Maverick is cold and tired. Give me your keys, Lauren. We are leaving. You come whenever you want. I'm sure Tess would love to give you a ride."

Lauren went to stand, but Bo put a firm hand on her shoulder, "Stay. I need alone time."

Lauren stood, "Bo, I'm sorry... I just forgot..."

Bo laughed. Screw Ciara's advice, "You forgot we were here. I get it, Lauren. I really do. This is your new life. There is obviously no room for the old. Keys."

Lauren looked at Bo for a long moment before she handed her the keys. The brunette looked down at Tess who was smirking at her. Lauren turned back to Bo and whispered,

"I'd like you to take a very close look at the smirk on the woman's face who has become such a good friend to you. I would like you to think about all of the women who have lied and manipulated you. I would ask you to think about what she has advised you with regards to me and your 'old life'. Finally, I would ask you to ask yourself... are you sure that this snowboarder even has a license to practice medicine? I held my tongue for twenty-four hours, Lauren... but something is off with her. Believe me or don't... just remember that before me, you trusted Nadia and Mia... now you're trusting Tess... think about it."

Bo turned and looked at Tess once more. The woman looked worried at first, but the brunette continued to glare at the blonde until she was rewarded with the slow smirk once again spreading across her face.

' _There it is... just like Nadia. You think you've won, Tess. Well, Lauren may be damaged, but she's smart. She may currently forget the life she's trying to put behind her, but she'll remember and when she does, she'll see that you are clearly not who you claim to be.'_

 _Bo stood, wanting desperately to call Tess out, but she restrained herself, not quite ready to show her hand. Her eyes were dark as gaze bared down on Tess, the internal conversation coming to an end in her mind,_

' _Just who are you and what game are you playing, Tess? Whatever it is, just know that regardless how things are between us right now... no matter what wedge you're driving between us... if you mess with Lauren... you mess with me... and I don't think you've ever met anyone the likes of Bo Dennis.'_

Bo turned her gaze back to Lauren to see her staring at the other blonde. Her gaze moved to Bo's, a look of realization on her face,

"Goodnight everyone." Bo said as she turned and walked away.

Once at the door, she found Maverick asleep on the bench. She lifted him into her arms,

"Are you okay, Miss?" The hostess asked.

"Yea, he's just a little heavy to handle as dead weight."

"They grow up too fast. Enjoy it."

Bo smiled, "I intend to enjoy it as long as I can."

She placed a light kiss on the side of Maverick's head and headed towards the car. She got him into the back seat and buckled him in. Now all she had to do was find her way back to Lauren's place.

Walking around the car, she looked up to see the bright lights of a Hilton just down the street, "Oh, Hilton how I love you. That's perfect for the night. Hopefully, you're not booked."

She opened the door and was just about to get into the car when she heard her name,

"BO! WAIT! PLEASE! WAIT!"

She shook her head, her eyes downcast towards the driver's seat. Within seconds, Lauren was standing next to her,

"Please, Bo... I'm sorry. I've handled this all wrong... ever since you and Maverick got here. Maybe you're right about Tess. Maybe the whole reason I've been hanging around with her was because she showed an interest and I was here... alone... I was lonely."

Bo turned to face the blonde, "Lauren, alone doesn't have to mean lonely. That feeling of loneliness is from inside you. It's not about whether or not someone is with you, Lauren. You isolated yourself from everyone by not calling or connecting with us... of course you feel alone and I think that's exactly what Tess wanted... for you to be totally reliant on her."

Bo threw her head back. She was breaking her rules. Lauren needed to figure this stuff out on her own if she was ever going to become and adult... to stop making the same mistakes over and over again.

"Look, Lauren... I'm tired from traveling, touring, surfing and keeping up with Maverick. I really need sleep and that hotel right there is looking like my best option right now. I am exhausted and can't take anymore tonight."

"Bo, please. You can stay with me."

"Lauren, you don't seem to understand that you are hurting this little boy! I don't want to stay at your house if we wake up in the morning and you're gone. I don't think he could take the disappointment, Lauren... and neither could I... just... for tonight... please, I'm begging you. I'm so tired, Lauren."

"Bo, I promise..."

Bo shook her head, her arms outstretched as her face expressed the doubt she had in the blonde's word,

"You made a promise the day you left, Lauren. You said you would have him out here soon. He remembered that promise... counted on that promise and you heard him say it. Now, here he is and just how much time have you spent with him so far? Do you have any idea how much he talks about you? How much he misses you? How much he wants to be like you?"

"I'm sorry, Bo. I didn't just want to dump my friends because I get company from out of town."

"Are you listening to yourself? If those people in there were your real friends, they would understand that there are people in your life who you have known for much longer who might be important to you, too!"

She ran her fingers through her hair, "Geezus! You are the adult here, Lauren... the adult! You're acting like a child who is hanging out with a bunch of grown up children in there! You made promises to him and if you're not going to keep them, I'm going to rent a car, take him to Steamboat Springs, find his old coach and let him have some fun until we leave on Friday night."

"No!"

"No? I'm resourceful, Lauren. I practically raised myself and I did raise a teenager... or did you forget that Bo can stand on her own two feet? I am not here for you to abuse and neither is that little boy. We've done nothing but support you and your effort to get healthy... but this... that in there, Lauren... it's not healthy and I will not expose this little boy to that... I have half a mind to throw you over my shoulder and take you home to Hawaii."

Bo got into the car and slammed the door shut. Starting the car, she pulled out of the parking space, looking up for long enough to see Lauren standing there with her hands in her hair. As much as Bo wanted to stop and pull her into the car, fly her home and re-admit her to the inpatient facility, right now she had a little boy in the back seat that had to be her priority. Lauren was an adult. She was either going to get her shit together or not.

They pulled into the hotel parking lot mere minutes later. Bo pulled out her phone and called Ciara, knowing that it was just after four o'clock in the evening in Hawaii. Ciara picked up on the first ring,

"Bo? Is everything okay?"

"No, Ciara. It's definitely not okay. I think this Tess chick is messing with Lauren."

"What?"

"I need you to look her up in your doctor books or whatever."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's just... the fact that she's giving Lauren advice, putting limits on how much and how she can contact me and people at home..."

"Wait... she's what?"

"Is that a 'you-didn't-hear-me' what or an 'I-can't-believe-she's-doing-that' what?"

"The second one. No therapist in their right mind would isolate a patient from their main support group unless they were in an inpatient facility or the support group was deemed abusive."

"That's what I thought. So... can you do it? Is there a way to look her up?"

"Yes, but I'm surprised Lauren hasn't done so already."

"Well, the girl was... smitten... with Lauren. She showed her attention and brought her into this group of partying snowboarders. She has spent zero alone time with Maverick and only spent an hour with me to tour the training center. Other than that, we've been with her and her snowboarding friends the entire time. Something is off and if it's not... well, I don't think it's my jealousy. I don't exactly like this new Lauren... I think she's just become dependent on this Tess woman because she was vulnerable and alone. She's gone from one manipulative bitch to another."

"As much as I hate to admit it, that tends to be the trend with abused individuals. That's why I wasn't particularly happy about her taking on the responsibility of a lead role in Colorado. She was barely handling part time duties in Hawaii."

"Then why did you let her go?"

"I didn't have a choice, Bo. We talked about it and she was going. She's an adult and I had no grounds to readmit her full time to inpatient care."

Bo was silent for a moment as she turned back when she heard a light snore come from the back seat.

"Where are you now?" Ciara asked.

"At the Hilton in... well... truthfully, Lauren drove here so I don't know where we are... somewhere in Colorado Springs or maybe just outside of there."

"You're staying in a hotel?"

"Long story, but Maverick fell asleep in the car, Lauren got caught up with friends, I took her keys, the car and the boy. We ended up here. I left Lauren standing in the parking lot... probably pretty upset but... I just couldn't Ciara."

"I'll look into this right now and call you back in about fifteen minutes, Bo. What's her full name?"

"Well, that's the problem. I'm not even sure if she's using her proper name. She's supposed to be training at the Olympic Training Center, but from what I've heard, she hasn't actually been in the center. She goes out with her buddies and hits the mountain several times a day. They seem to go wherever there's snow. She said she put her practice on hold to pursue her Olympic dream... but I didn't see one snowboarder actually working out in the training center. I think she just hopes to be one of the Olympians. Does any of this sound familiar to you?"

"Shit. You don't think this is related to Nadia, do you?"

"Not after what I saw on that prison footage when Lauren visited her. I think that our good doctor got through to her and that Nadia is truly sorry. I really don't think that she would be the one sending someone to fuck with Lauren's head again, but we do know someone else who could have taken a page from that book."

"Evony."

"If she's planted here, yes. If not, she could just be some stalker who's trying to get into Lauren's pants... or the woman whose Mom would have loved for her to marry the rich doctor. She doesn't seem to have a lot of money which is another red flag to me if she's supposed to be a doctor... not that I think you're all rich but... I mean poverty-stricken isn't the norm."

Bo could hear the loud sigh that came from Ciara on the other end before the doctor replied,

"Lauren just can't seem to get out of her own way, can she?"

"For someone who claims to be unable to trust, she sure does trust easily." Bo shook her head.

"I'll call you back, Bo. I'll figure this out."

Bo lifted a card from Lauren's center console, "Ciara, wait! I was just looking down at Lauren's junk compartment... there's a business card here... Contessa Morgan, Certified Snowboarding Instructor... now, if I'm doing a part-time job and I'm a licensed doctor who needs money to travel to global mountaintops, aren't I going to make a shitload more money in sports psych or private counseling?"

"Yes... yes you are. Call you back."

"Okay. I'm going to get Mav to bed."

Bo opened the car and stepped out, her eyes meeting the big brown eyes she had once longed to see. Now, they just brought her pain and confusion.

"You followed me here?"

"It's less than a mile, Bo. I used to run five to ten miles a day."

She moved to the back seat. Opening it up, she unbuckled Maverick and got him out of the car,

"Bo?" Mav asked in a sleepy voice.

"Shhh... it's okay, Mav. Go back to sleep. You'll be in bed in a jiffy."

"Bo, this is ridiculous. Please, come and stay at my house."

Bo tossed Lauren the keys to her car and pulled her purse over her shoulder, "No thank you."

She walked past the blonde and into the hotel. Lauren stood there, frustrated before she slammed the car doors shut and threw her arms and head down on the roof of the car.

She'd gone back into the restaurant and told the gang she was leaving to hang out with Bo. Tessa had objected, saying that they'd probably seen enough of each other for one day and that she didn't want her sliding back into old habits. Lauren was torn over what Bo had said, planting the seeds of doubt in her mind with regards to Tessa's intentions, but what if Tessa was right and Bo was wrong?

She sighed, thinking to herself how three months ago, she never would have doubted Bo's word. But really... could Tessa really pull off this elaborate scheme of being a therapist? Why would someone do something like that?

Right now, Lauren didn't know and she was too tired to try to figure it out. Looking up at the hotel sign, she decided to go after Bo. At the very least, she could share a bed with Maverick for the night... Maverick... was it odd that Tessa didn't want Lauren getting too attached to the boy? She remembered the therapists words at their last session reminding her,

' _We've been through this, Lauren. Old attachments need to be severed... it's the only way to truly move on from your past.'_

Lauren pulled out her phone and checked the time. She sent a text to Ciara,

' _Hey! Sorry I've been out of touch. I just need some advice. If a therapist told one of your patients 'old attachments need to be severed... it's the only way to truly move on from your past', what would you think of the therapist?'_

 _Ciara: Hey, Lauren. Good to know you're still alive. As for your question, I'd think said therapist was a damn quack! What licensed physician would ever tell a patient to sever ties with their old attachments unless those old attachments were abusers or addicts?_

Lauren didn't reply... instead, she re-read the text several times until another text came,

 _Ciara: Lauren? Are you okay?_

 _Lauren: Yea, sorry. I was tied up for a second. Thanks for the advice._

 _Ciara: Well, it's not really advice. It's just standard protocol. We're trained to ask question that lead our patients to answers, not put constraints on our patients or tell them how to live their lives. I know it's been a while, but remember your psych rotation, Doctor. LOL._

While waiting for Lauren's reply, Ciara called Bo, "Hey... can you talk?"

"Sort of... I'm just finishing up the paperwork for our room tonight. Can you give me the highlights?"

"Well, she's not doctor, that's for sure. I called Danny. He's running her name now and looking for connections to any of the Terrible Trio."

"Fuck! I knew it! How the hell did she get to her here?" Bo was kicking herself in the ass for not listening to her gut. She was turning into an emotional mess and she really needed to start getting her shit together. The old Bo from a year ago would have called Tessa out ten minutes after they'd met. She knew something was off about this chick.

Ciara had an idea about that, "Bo, think about when you were in court the first week after Lauren left. Do you remember Evony making eye contact with anyone in the courtroom?"

"I... I don't know... my eyes were sort of glued to Lauren on the big screen."

"Well, no surprise there, I guess." Ciara laughed, trying to keep Bo's mood light.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, she had to announce the reason for her video testimony to the courtroom. There were a lot of people there, Bo."

"Shit... they knew she was coming to the Olympic Training Center... everyone in that courtroom knows." The realization that Lauren's anonymity was blown hit Bo hard. Before she had left, it was one of the positive points that she and Ciara had discussed and now that was gone.

"Can you have Danny pull up footage of the courtroom?" Bo asked.

Bo's eyes moved to the automatic sliding door, "Shit."

"What?"

"Lauren just walked in. What do I tell her?"

"The truth. I'm going to call Danny again. We'll figure this out, Bo. Just don't let her disclose anything to Tess."

"Right. I'll see you Saturday."

"What?" Ciara asked, confused about Bo's comment.

"Hey." Bo said, loud enough for Ciara to hear, "I've gotta go. Lauren just came in, so I'll talk to you later."

Ciara responded, "I'll text you later."

Ending the call with Ciara, Bo turned to Lauren who stopped just short of her, giving Bo the space she suspected the brunette would want as she spoke,

"Okay... so you might have a point."

The hotel desk clerk interrupted them, "Your credit card, Miss Dennis. Here is your room card. It's Room 117, just down that hallway. Do you need help with your bags?"

"I only have that little guy. We stopped here because I just couldn't drive any longer. I don't suppose you have a few toothbrushes or a gift shop where I can buy some clothes?"

The man smiled at Bo as she picked up Maverick, "I'll have the concierge bring a complimentary emergency package to your room for your comfort and convenience. I can throw in a few souvenir hotel items you might need if you can... well..." He leaned over and whispered to Bo, "This is totally against hotel regulations. We're not supposed to bother famous guests, but..."

"You know me?" Bo asked.

The clerk smiled, "I'm a California boy who was all about baseball growing up. I moved here when I was traded to the Colorado Rockies a few years back. Now I'm using my hotel management degree to get some experience and open up a hotel chain of my own that caters to the discreet needs of professional athletes like yourself."

Bo nodded, "I see... so what do you want in exchange for some PJ's and maybe some sweats for us all for tomorrow?"

"I'll raid the gift shop if you give me an autograph and... well... is there any chance you can score me tickets to the winner's circle for one of the WSL events next year? I'm coming home in spring for surgery on my shoulder and I'd love to lay on a beach and watch surfing. It's been a long time since I've been on a beach."

Bo smiled, "I'll bet. Well, at least I know there's someone else here who shares my misery with the weather."

He nodded towards Lauren, "Well, I'm sure half of Team Slamsin over there isn't too fond of the weather either."

Bo smiled, "Yea, well she's been here a lot longer than me. What's your name?"

"Chad."

"Sorry if I'm supposed to know you. I don't follow baseball."

"No offense taken." He smiled.

Bo signed the hotel stationary the man slid towards her to which he responded,

"Thank you. Give me about twenty minutes to add some items to the usual package, then I'll have it delivered to your room."

"Thanks, Chad. I'll have my manager send those tickets to you. I'm planning on retiring, but I'll get you to one of my sister Kenzi's events."

The man smiled wide, "Your sister's got spunk. She's a feisty little surfer."

Bo smiled, hearing that he knew of her sister, "That she is... she's the future of women's surfing or I'm not Bo Dennis."

He gave her a nod before Bo turned to see Lauren standing behind her. She didn't want the blonde here if she didn't really want to stay, so she simply said,

"See? We're all good. You can go home now."

Lauren followed her, "Bo, I'm coming with you... I'm spending the night with you and Maverick. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen."

Bo spun around, covering Maverick's ear, "Well, I hope you enjoy talking to a sleeping person. Maybe your words will sink in through osmosis!"

"Bo, you're being unreasonable."

"Like I said, it's called tired, Lauren. I'm having trouble being unreasonable when you are being so incredibly gullible for someone who doesn't trust anyone!"

Lauren's eyes went wide, "So your answer is to insult me?"

"Shhh... stop yelling you guys. You sound like the preschool kids at Kenbo!"

Maverick's eyes were barely open as he scurried out of Bo's arms and ran into the reception counter, "Ow."

Lauren pulled him back to her and rubbed his head, checking for a bruise. The young boy looked around, "You guys, where are we? I wanna go to sleep!"

Bo sighed, watching Lauren pick Maverick up, "I've got him Bo."

"I'm sorry, Lauren... I'm just... I'm so damn tired."

"So stop arguing with me and lead the way."

Bo sighed and gave in to the blonde's request, part of her grateful to see the blonde fighting so hard to spend time with them rather than what she'd experienced earlier today.

They arrived at the room and Bo slipped the card into the lock slot before the green light signaled to open the door. Lauren walked inside and took Maverick to the nearest bed,

"Wow. This is a really nice room." Bo said.

"Well, you just paid peak price for peak season for an efficiency apartment, so I certainly hope it's nice."

"Crap." Bo replied, "You know what? I don't even care. I just need to sleep."

A knock on the door drew a groan from Bo, but Lauren waved her off, "You get ready for bed. I'll get it. It's probably the concierge."

While Lauren handled the visitor, Bo slipped into the bathroom to relieve herself, then roused Maverick to do the same. He grumbled and moaned, but finally did as Bo asked. She opened the bathroom door to Lauren holding up three toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste which she took.

"Here you go, Mav... brush up, dude."

The young boy moaned and did as he was told, his eyes barely open. Bo shared the sink with him, brushing her teeth as well. Lauren walked over and brushed her teeth in the sink next to the microwave while the other two finished up in the bathroom.

He left the bathroom, to Lauren handing him a nightshirt, "Look, the hotel gave you a T-shirt, Mav."

"I'll wear it tomorrow. I don't have any clothes here." He collapsed back onto the mattress, "Will you tuck me in like you used to when you loved me back home?"

Lauren rolled her head as sadness rushed over her, "I do still love you, Maverick... so much."

The young boy's eyes were closed as he spoke, "Then why don't you want to be around me?"

"I do... I just forgot how much I do because I was being a foolish adult who forgot what is truly important in my life. I'm here now, Maverick and I promise it's you and me for the next few days."

"And Bo?"

Lauren smiled, "And Bo."

He held up his hand, his eyes falling shut. Lauren smiled as the hand fell over onto his pillow,

"Lucky handshake tomorrow, Mav."

She tucked the covers up over his shoulder and planted a kiss on the boy's cheek. She stood and turned to see Bo standing in the bathroom doorway, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Thank you."

Lauren nodded, "I've been foolish, Bo."

Bo sighed, "No, you've been lost. You're just trying to find your way. You came to a state where you knew no one and... well... according to Ciara... your past has followed you here."

"What?"

Bo knew this was going to hit Lauren hard. She moved to their door and locked it before turning back to the blonde,

"I don't suppose there was anything for us to wear in that bag?"

Lauren nodded, "Hilton night shirts and he gave us each a T-shirt and sweatpants for tomorrow morning."

She held one up to Bo who took it and smiled. She turned her back to Lauren and pulled off her shirt, then released her bra. She could feel the blonde's eyes on her skin as she pulled the shirt over her head.

She turned around just as Lauren lowered her eyes. Slipping out of her jeans, she folded her clothes, knowing she would have to wear them tomorrow. Now, she had to tell Lauren about the text message she received from Ciara while she was in the bathroom.

She moved over to the bed, "Lauren... you can't just stand there all night."

"I can get another room, Bo."

"Don't be ridiculous. We're both adults, Lauren. Get dressed and get into bed... you can sleep with Maverick if you want to, but I have something I have to tell you tonight."

Lauren turned her back to Bo and changed into the nightshirt, "I thought you just wanted to sleep."

"Well, after I left the restaurant, I used my contacts to look into my suspicions."

"What suspicions?"

"You matter to me, Lauren and I'm not going to allow you to self-destruct if I can help it. I won't let you go through that again."

"Go through what again?"

"Tess." Bo said, watching for Lauren's reaction, but the blonde just sighed, "I had a bad vibe from her. Please don't be mad."

Lauren crawled under the covers next to Bo and laid on her back, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, "I was going to look her up with the American Medical Association in the morning."

"Well, at least I know we're both on the same page." Bo said, relief flooding her heart.

"So... what did you find out?" Lauren asked.

"I called Ciara twice today... not for you... for me. I was struggling with your new life and my seemingly non-existent part in it. Tess set me back on my heels. There was just something about her that I didn't like and I was pretty sure it wasn't just my usually impulsive jealousy... well, I was worried it actually might have been, but that was why I called Ciara. What convinced me was when Maverick told me he didn't like her either."

"Sure he did. They got along well all day." Lauren replied.

"No, Maverick was doing what we taught him to do. If a stranger shows a lot of interest in you or your friends, ask a lot of questions and see how you feel about the answers. If you don't like the answers, tell someone that you don't feel comfortable around the stranger and to not let them alone with you."

"But... he was alone with Tess all day."

"No, he was with Cody and Corey who are exactly who they say they are... they're snowboarders and he didn't get a bad vibe from him. I understand how he feels about them... I know the type... they're very much like surfers. They would never hurt a kid and they know how dangerous snowboarding can be. I knew he was in good hands with them, even if I didn't trust Tess."

"So, tell me more." Lauren asked.

Bo's eyes were heavy, but she soldiered on, "I sent Ciara the quote you gave me from Tess about severing your ties with your past. I asked her what she would think of a therapist who told her patient that. She replied telling me that they were either a quack or up to something."

Lauren swallowed hard, not bothering to tell Bo she had sent Ciara a text asking her the same thing, "What else?"

"I asked her what she thought of a therapist who claimed to give up their private practice to chase an Olympic dream while supporting their expenses teaching snowboarding lessons instead of taking on patients part-time."

The blonde sighed, "I hadn't thought about that one... partly because I understood the idea of giving up work to chase an Olympic dream."

"Right, but you continued to practice medicine with a revised schedule... why not coach volleyball?"

"Are you kidding? The pay wouldn't take care of an electric bill."

Bo nodded, "So how do you think Tess is funding her Olympic dream?"

"Fine. What else?" Lauren asked, the tone of her voice becoming more and more agitated.

"I finally told her who I was talking about. We talked and came up with the idea of another woman planted by Nadia, but I told her I didn't think Nadia would do that again... she seemed truly regretful in the prison footage."

Bo took a moment to look at Lauren who nodded, "I agree with that assessment. So if she's not another woman hired to torture me, what's the theory?"

"We couldn't figure out who would want to get to you, but then she remembered you being asked to announce the reason you weren't testifying in person back when you first came here."

"You mean in court?"

Bo nodded and then watched as Lauren's face dwarfed with recognition,

"Evony." Her anger flared as she sat up in bed and looked down at Bo, "Are you telling me that Tess knows Evony?"

"Lauren, I'm going to need you to stay calm." Bo pointed to Maverick and the blonde nodded in understanding. She laid back down in bed heaving a great sigh as Bo continued,

"Danny ran her name through Evony's known associates and it turns out that Tessa, aka Contessa Morgan, aka actually Vanessa Crane... is connected to Kristy through high school volleyball."

Lauren laughed, "Oh. My. God. I've now allowed myself to become a victim of high school mean girls all over again. I'm truly an idiot."

Lauren covered her eyes with her forearm as she rolled onto her back. Bo didn't comment... in truth, she couldn't figure out why Lauren truly had no gut instinct about this stuff when her own creepy-person-radar was going crazy from the time she met Tess... or Vanessa. Trying not to judge, she continued,

"She came to work at your hospital in Hawaii when she got in touch with Kristy because she was broke. It turns out she was cut from the last Olympic Snowboarding team because she had a torn ACL and they didn't trust the stability of her new ligament. Did you serve on some committee having something to do with the reliability of ACL repairs in athletes?"

Lauren's brow scrunched together, "Yes. But that was four years ago. We studied athletes during my orthopedic residency at Stanford Medical Center and I was selected to serve on the panel as the lead resident among the physicians. We studied the difference between the reliability of a cadaver ligament repair versus a synthetic ligament repair."

"Well, apparently Tess had the one done that was less reliable and your name was all over the report."

"I was barely a real doctor yet!"

"Apparently, she didn't care. Your opinion is quoted."

Lauren rubbed her face, "This is like living _'Revenge on the Nerds Part 5'_ only it's Revenge ON the Nerds instead!"

"Yea, your life really could be a movie." Bo sighed as Lauren asked,

"So I take it Evony is somehow involved?"

"Well, based on her connection to Kristy and Kristy's connection to Tess..."

Lauren filled in the blanks, "... and the fact that Tess was working at my hospital..."

Bo replied, "... combined with your testimony in court about where you were headed... and the fact that she's a snowboarder... well, it led Tess right to you. She visited Evony the day after you testified."

"I met Tess three weeks after I moved to Colorado which gave enough time for them to come up with the flights, housing and cover story. She had met up with the other snowboarders in Vancouver, telling them she was making a comeback and that she had quit her job at the hospital to do it. She never actually said she was a doctor in front of any of them... at least not with me present."

"So how did she end up in Colorado?" Bo asked.

"That's easy... she told Cody and Pia that she was headed to the Olympic Training Center to get her shot and that if they were boarding with the best, they would know what they were up against. They all agreed to come here until December, then they're all going to Boston for the holidays... with either Cody or Corey's family, I forget which. Tess was trying to get me to go with them instead of going home to Hawaii."

"Thereby driving a further wedge between you, me, your friends and family back in Hawaii."

The two were silent for a long time before Lauren reached down and took Bo's hand. Despite the sniffles and hiccups that escaped, Lauren remained on her side of the bed, gripping Bo's hand tightly. Finally she spoke again,

"What now?"

"The same as before... Danny is sending the FBI to Tess... she's probably in custody by now."

"No she's not... she's not home. She was going to my house to wait for me there. I told her I wasn't staying the night here just to get her off my back. I knew that she wouldn't come here once I was with you."

Bo sighed, pulling out her phone and calling Danny. She explained the situation and then put Lauren on the phone. The blonde explained where the spare key was and texted him a picture of the woman in question. In addition, Lauren asked them to be sure to confiscate her cell phone... that there were pictures of Bo and her that she would not want to have go public if it came out that Tess was some sort of ex-con.

Danny then asked Lauren to put him on speakerphone,

"Do I have you both?"

The two responded allowing him to continued,

"So, here's the problem... other than impersonating a doctor, she hasn't done anything wrong. We're going to need to find something on her to hold her, Lauren. Her record is just misdemeanors with a few years served for theft and extortion. Uh... have you checked your bank account lately?"

Lauren sat up straight, pulling her phone into her hands and typing wildly. Opening her account, she sighed seeing her balance untouched, "It's all there."

"Call your bank... right now. Leaving her alone in your house alone tonight would have given her the perfect opportunity to take everything... your identity, your money, your house... she could literally become you and be hired by a hospital if she's as good as her record says she is. She's smart as is evidenced by the fact that every time she gets caught, it doesn't seem they ever have quite enough to hold her."

Bo spoke, "Lauren is calling her bank now. Is there anything you can do to lock down all of her other accounts?"

"These days, banks have 24-hour customer service, but calling each of her accounts will take time. I'll get my Fed contacts lock down her credit and identity right now. Just know that she'll be denied use of any of her accounts, Bo."

"It's better than losing her identity, right?"

"Agreed, I'm on it, Bo... hold, please."

Bo sat, nervously waiting as she watched Lauren talk to someone from the bank and listened to Danny typing away on this computer. She sat up and looked over to make sure Maverick was still sleeping soundly before realizing the lights were still on.

She got out of bed and turned off all but the light next to her bed. Turning the knob once, she dimmed the lamp and then lay back down in the bed.

"Done, Bo... how's Lauren doing?"

Lauren held a finger up to Bo, signaling her that she was on hold or the service agent was talking to her,

"She just held up a finger to me, so I guess she's making progress. Now what?"

Bo stood up and took her phone off of speaker. She slipped into the bathroom and listened to Danny explain, so she wouldn't disturb Lauren's call by talking,

"The Feds are now monitoring all of Lauren's accounts to see if they get used. They're standing down on Tess, Bo."

"Wait! What?" Bo almost shouted into the phone.

"When they ran her name, all sorts of shit came up. Apparently, she is wanted for more than just misdemeanors. She's wanted by the Feds in California, Seattle, Florida, Michigan and Boston. You'll have a tail from now on, Bo... the Feds are watching you, Lauren, Maverick... they'll be on you but you won't see them. They're working on trying to put together her next move."

"She told Lauren they were going to Boston next month."

"Why?"

"The group she's with... they're planning to go to one of the guy's parents house for Christmas... but Danny, I don't think all of them are involved with her... maybe none of them."

"What do you think they're doing, Bo?"

"Look, I have no evidence, Danny but from what Lauren says, she ran into them in Vancouver and more or less talked them into coming here. If that's true, I think she just needed them to create more of a cover for her with Lauren. I think she was trying to get Lauren to go to Boston to get her away from anywhere we could find her."

"I have no idea how long this is going to last, Bo but under no circumstances should Lauren agree to go with her to Boston. We don't know what the end game is with this. Evony did try to kill her."

Bo connected the dots, "But why wouldn't Tess have killed her already if that was the end game?"

Danny replied, "Do I really need to remind you that Evony actually came after you and Kenzi, Bo... she sent Kristy after Lauren."

"So you think this was to get me here... you think Tess is going after me?"

"She would need to be alone with you if what you're saying about the gang she's with is true."

Bo thought for a minute, "I think Tess may have been the one that suggested the whole gang go to my tournament in Hawaii this weekend."

"Wait... they're coming here?"

Bo nodded, "Yes... to see me surf... now that I think about it, it's totally weird other than the fact that she and the others were suggesting I try some new moves... look... that doesn't matter... what matters is that she would be staying with Lauren at her house in Hawaii if it's finished."

"It is... all but the furniture which I think is coming Friday or Saturday... I just happened to run into Tamsin today."

"We can't let her stay alone with Lauren."

"Keep the whole gang together at Lauren's then... or have Lauren stay with you while they all stay at her house?"

"Or how about the home isn't finished and they're all staying at the Kenbo School?"

"Bo, I can't advise putting this Tess anywhere near the kids."

Bo shook her head, "Yea, yea... I wasn't thinking."

"We'll figure it out, Bo. I'm going to pass on the Boston information for now."

"Good... and Danny... thanks."

"I want to keep Lauren safe the same as you do, Bo. I just wish she could catch a break, ya know? The girl is like a magnet for trouble with these two women."

"Yea. She got Nadia to back off, but I have a feeling Evony isn't going to go down so easily. I'd love to see them nail Kristy as a part of this... she would get those years added back on."

"Very true. That's another lead for me to check out." He chuckled, "I'm going to have to start paying you as my assistant. You make these cases easy."

"Yea, well I'm afraid this isn't going to be easy on Lauren to know that she got hit like this again."

"Well, at least this one wasn't... intimate."

"Oh believe me, the bitch tried."

"Shit."

"Yea. Danny, we've got to lock these women down. I'm not sure how much more Lauren can take."

She peeked out of the door to see Lauren nodding to her, "She's finished with the bank, Danny. I'm going to put you back on speaker."

Lauren hung up and turned her attention to Danny, "All done, Danny."

"Good, Lauren. Bo will tell you the rest. I'm going to get going for now. Bo... change the plans tomorrow... whatever it takes... no contact."

"Got it. Thanks, Danny."

"Goodnight, girls."

"What does that mean?" Lauren asked, pointing to Bo's phone.

The brunette picked up the device and placed it on her nightstand, "The Feds said Tess is part of something bigger... in a handful of states... they're not taking her tonight now that your accounts are locked down... all they need to do is catch her hacking into something, then he said she'll likely run. When she runs, we know where she's going next... she told you."

"Boston."

Bo nodded, "And she's wanted there as well. Even if we don't nail her for what she's doing to you... whatever that is... she'll get nailed for other things... hopefully."

"So she's going to be expecting us tomorrow." Lauren worried.

"Yup, but your phone battery will have died and we will be unreachable."

"Really?"

"Yes. You stayed here last night with your phone on and neither of us have a charger."

"But Maverick's snowboarding trip..."

"No contact, Lauren... he doesn't trust her with you and frankly, neither do I."

"So what... are we in danger? I mean... what about Maverick?"

"The Feds will be watching us... they'll see us, we won't see them."

"Great." Lauren replied, "So, do we take him snowboarding?"

Bo nodded, "We're taking him to Steamboat Springs. You up for a rode trip to Maverick's old stomping grounds... find his old coach or someone that knew him... see what we can learn about just how good the little guy was?"

Lauren smiled, "Sounds perfect."

"Okay... now I definitely need sleep."

"Me too... Bo... I'm sorry... it seems I've dragged you into more drama. I don't know why this keeps happening to me."

"Because once upon a time, two women were jealous of you who also happened to be a little mentally ill. Besides, Evony is probably more my problem than yours. I've been driving her crazy a lot longer than you have."

"I'm starting to think I'm the one who is mentally ill."

Bo frowned, "You're okay, Lauren. But from now on, maybe you stick to the nerd friends. There are plenty of therapists, doctors and nurses at the facility."

Lauren frowned, "But they're boring!"

"You're a doctor and you're not boring. Besides, they're safe."

"Okay, so that is probably true of most."

"Sleep." Bo smiled.

"Bo, I know I've hurt you since I've left... and... well, I was wrong... my gut told me I was wrong for listening to her months ago and I still followed her lead without checking her story. It was so stupid of me and I regret all that I've put you through because of it..."

"Lauren, I really am tired, so I'm just going to say this... You are younger socially than most because of having lived such a controlled life. I think most of us have developed instincts about people that you haven't because you weren't really exposed to a lot of social stuff in your life. The next time we go out, we're going to play a game my Mom played with Kenzi and me when we were teenagers. It was her version of stranger danger."

"A game?"

"Yup... it can't hurt for Maverick to learn it either... for now... can we please sleep, Lauren? I'm beyond tired."

"Of course. Bo... and I know I have no right to ask, but... will you hold me?"

"Sure, Lauren... especially if it means we're going to go to sleep." Bo chuckled, sliding her arm up and out, offering her chest and shoulder for Lauren to lean on. The blonde settled in with Bo's arm wrapped around her. Right or wrong, Bo was exhausted and for tonight, the comfort of the blonde could only help her sleep.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Maverick opened his eyes and sat up, looking out the window. He had no idea where he was and for a moment panicked until he looked the other way and saw Bo. He stood up and walked to the edge of her bed and giggled when he saw Lauren wrapped around his mentor. He leaned over to Bo and whispered,

"Psst! Psst! Bo! Hey Bo!"

The brunette groaned, opening one eye, "Mav? What's wrong?"

"Uh... do you know that Lauren's hand is on your... uh..."

Bo looked down and saw that the blonde had placed her hand on her right breast. Her eyes opened wide as she gently gripped the hand and pulled it down to her waist, causing Lauren to groan, turning her head the other way.

Maverick giggled, "She would be really embarrassed if knew I saw that, huh?"

Bo smiled, "She would. I think you should hold that one for later, but please don't mention it if we're around other people."

"I gotta pee."

"The bathroom is right there."

"Where are we?"

"We're at the Hilton Hotel down the street from the restaurant where we stayed last night. Don't you remember?"

"I remember when you put me on the bench in the restaurant." Maverick said, dancing back and forth.

"Go pee before you pee on the floor."

The young boy ran off to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him and then yelling, "Sorry! Hope I didn't wake Lauren."

Bo heard a mumble come from the covers, "Of course not... why would she wake up when a door slams near her head and a little voice yells out from behind said door?"

Bo laughed, "I'm just going to give you a little heads up so that the next time Maverick gets mad at you or feels a need to embarrass you, you can be a little ready."

Lauren turned her head around, facing Bo, "For what?"

"We were asleep when he woke up and your hand was not on my waist like it is now."

"Oh God... where was it."

"Cupping my boob."

"Oh gawd."

"Yea, he mentioned you being really embarrassed if you knew that he knew which you now know... just be prepared for when he decides to use it. I told him not in public."

"Well, thanks for that much." Lauren replied, "And... uh... sorry for that."

Bo gripped Lauren's fingers, "You know... no matter what has gone down between us, I have never stopped loving you, Lauren. I think you're just a bit of a mess right now but I still consider you my mess... a hot mess but I think we can fix it... starting with teaching you how to read people."

"The game?"

"Yup. We start at breakfast."

Lauren's cell phone rang, "It's Cody... what do I do?"

Maverick came running out of the bathroom, "It got it!"

"No Maverick!" Bo yelled, but it was too late.

"Hey, Cody!"

Maverick looked at Bo and Lauren, confused by the looks on their faces. He said, "It's Cody. He wants to know what's up."

Bo whispered, "Ask him if he's alone."

Maverick did as he was asked and nodded yes, and then gave Bo the phone when she motioned for him to give it to her,

"Hey Cody, we have a change of plans for the day and... well, actually I could use your help but I need you to keep it just between us. Can you do that?"

Bo nodded to Lauren that Cody was on board, but Lauren still looked worried, "Can you meet me at the restaurant where we had dinner last night in thirty minutes?"

Bo nodded his affirmative response again, "Okay then. Please... not a word to anyone where you're going?"

"Okay... see you in thirty."

Bo hung up the phone and looked at a worried Lauren, "I'm going to go meet him, feel him out and then decide if we can take him with us today. If not, I'll excuse us for the day to attend a business meeting and tell him I just wanted to talk to him about helping me Saturday at the pre-event practice with my new moves."

Lauren sat up, "Wow... that's... impressive."

Bo smiled, "Thanks."

Maverick jumped onto the bed and crawled between them, "What's going on you guys? I thought we were going to the mountain?"

Bo smiled, "We are, buddy, but right now you and Lauren are going to have a room service breakfast and then get yourselves together."

"Something's wrong. I can tell."

Bo pulled Maverick towards her and pulled up the covers, "So... you know how yesterday you said you didn't trust Tess?"

He looked at Lauren and then looked at his hands. The blonde smiled, "It's okay to say it, Maverick... whatever it is."

"I don't trust her and I don't like her. She asked me a lot of questions about Bo and then she asked me questions about my school."

Bo looked at Lauren and shook her head, "Well, we don't trust her either so we've decided we're not going to spend time with Tess. If we happen to run into her, we're just going to politely excuse ourselves from her presence as soon as we can and go do our thing."

"I like Cody though. Can we still hang out with him?"

"Well, that depends on whether or not he insists on bringing Tess with us today."

"I only want Cody... and he can bring Corey. They're besties like Lauren and Tamsin."

Lauren smiled, hearing the word he associated with her and her teammate. She frowned at the thought of having isolated herself from the woman who knew her better than anyone. She had been so foolish not to see through Tess.

"Well, I'm going to go meet Cody so we'll see. For now, you and Lauren eat breakfast in bed and watch some cartoons. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Bo headed into the bathroom, leaving the two reading over the room service menu. It was probably a good thing that she was leaving because Maverick and Lauren needed some alone time to square things between them.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey Cody."

"Hi Bo. What's up?"

"Let's sit. I'll buy you some breakfast."

"Wow. This must be serious."

Bo smiled, putting up two fingers to the waitress and following her back to the table. She had gotten there before Cody and asked to be placed in the far back. She wanted to be able to see the door and had also parked Laurens' car in the back of the parking lot so it wasn't obviously visible.

After placing their order, Bo turned to Cody, "So... Maverick has really taken a liking to you."

"He's a great kid. Is that why you asked me here? Is something wrong with him?"

Bo shook her head, "Not right now but I definitely don't want to put him in danger. I can't really say much about his life but..."

"It's okay, Bo. He and I were alone for a while yesterday. He opened up a bit and asked me to keep it between us guys."

"Wow... that's... that's huge, Cody."

"Yea?"

Bo nodded, "He attends my school... I mean... my sister and I have this school..."

Cody laughed, "Oh, we got the whole scoop. You and your sister Kenzi have this really cool school in Hawaii called the Kenbo School. He told us that you and Kenzi are sort of his adopted parents, but you're really more like his older sisters. He said you guys are totally cool because you teach him to surf, help him with his homework and tuck him in every night. He said Kenzi really pushes him to do tricks he doesn't think he can do and it reminds him of the coach he used to have here."

"He said all of that?" Bo asked.

Cody nodded, "And more... he told us he was taken from the car where his parents were killed by a bad man and that the bad man took his sister and they can't find her. We sort of figured that was just a story, so..."

Bo shook her head, "It's not a story, Cody... it's Maverick's reality."

"Shit." Cody replied, his face paling as his mouth hung open.

"They think his sister was sold into the sex trade... maybe Russia, maybe somewhere else, they're just not sure. He slept through most of it until he heard his sister scream."

"He said he was sick and that his parents put him in the way back of their SUV and that they covered him with a blanket, so no one knew he was in there until later."

Bo nodded, "I won't trouble your mind with any more details, but he has been through a rough patch and... well, I'm very protective of him Cody. He doesn't trust easily and I tend to follow his gut... he's got pretty good instincts when it comes to reading people."

Cody nodded, holding his tongue when the waitress arrived with their food. Once she walked away he looked at Bo,

"This is about Tess."

Bo worked hard to keep her face neutral, but she had no idea how he had picked up on that little fact,

"Why do you say that?"

"Maverick told me flat out that he didn't like her... that doctors are supposed to help people and he thought she was making Lauren worse."

"So..."

"Tess isn't a doctor, Bo... I know that much. She's a snowboarder and that's it. I know that she works in hospitals once in a while... custodial staff, food service... but it's to get to the candy, ya know?"

"The candy?" Bo asked.

"Pills, Bo. She's a bit hooked... or at least she was. Every once in a while, she goes back on them... that's usually when she takes a job at a hospital. After she got hurt, she got hooked on painkillers. I don't know that she has ever been without them for a long period of time. She told us that Lauren was helping her with her addiction so that she could compete clean."

"That's funny because she told Lauren that she was a licensed psychiatrist and that she could help Lauren with her situation... which I can't discuss."

"Sorry to hear the Doc is having trouble. She's a great Doc and a great person. I just wish she wouldn't let Tess keep her on a leash, but that seems to be Tess' M.O."

"So you've seen Tess do this before?"

"Yup. She gets close to a Doc to get her hands on the prescription pad, then..."

Bo nodded, "That's how she gets her pills."

"None of us are very close to her. She's a pretty manipulative liar, but we feel bad for her... well, not all of us but most of us. She had her whole career taken from her when she blew out her knee with no backup plan for what she wanted to do with her life."

Bo smiled, "And do you have a back up plan?"

Cody laughed, "Well, apparently I could be your assistant manager."

"Oh really?" Bo asked.

"Yup. Maverick offered me a job at the Kenbo school."

Bo laughed with Cody, "He did? Gawd, I love that kid."

"So... I take it you don't want Tess to be around Maverick?"

"Or Lauren, but that's not really my call." Bo shook out her thoughts of Tess having her hooks in Lauren and kept the conversation about Maverick, "Look... Cody, I don't want to pull you into anything where you could get hurt. Your take on Tess is accurate but she's into a lot more than just pills."

Bo nodded towards the door, "Do you see the guy over there in the suit sipping coffee and facing the door while reading the second page of the paper for about the tenth time since we've sat down?"

Cody slowly glanced around while Bo concentrated on her omelet. He spoke, "He a friend of yours?"

Bo shook her head, "There are three guys in here like him and I'm pretty sure they're the protective detail assigned to us."

"Because of Tess?"

"Her actual name is Vanessa by the way."

"Holy shit! I had no idea."

"Yea, she's using you guys and under no circumstances should you take her to see anyone's family in Boston."

"What the hell, Bo."

"Look, we don't have a lot of time here, Cody. I want Maverick to have a great day, but I've got to get him out of town. It will also give me an opportunity to see if I can track down his old coach and figure out what his future should be."

"You want to go to Steamboat Springs today?" Cody asked.

Bo nodded.

Cody's grin was wide as he nodded, "Now we're talkin' Bo. I've got peeps there and so does Corey."

"Cody, if I may ask... what is Corey's relationship..."

"Oh, he and Tess hate each other... he's not too tolerant of drug addicts. His take is that the whole country has been taught not to use drugs since we were five. If someone chooses to do them, they're idiots and deserve whatever they get. He hates that anyone bows down and gives Tess second, third and fourth chances that she really doesn't deserve. He just doesn't think she's a nice person... his opinion, of course."

"And your opinion?"

"Look... Tess got hurt and the doc prescribed her an addictive substance with fair warning that she needed to be careful and that he wouldn't allow her to stay on it for more than two weeks, but she didn't listen. She went to another doc who filled the script. He knew how to play the system and did it well. I don't think anyone wakes up one morning and says, 'Hey, I think I'll become an addict today' so I feel sorta bad for her... but still, if she's gonna use she can't do it around me or mine, ya know? That's where I draw the line on being sympathetic. When she's using, she's a mess and I hate being around that... I mean... who doesn't, right?"

"Right. Is she using now?"

"Corey and I talked about it the other night. He thinks she is, I'm not sure. If she is, we'll know in a few days... that's when she gets... well... let's just say she's not nice to be around and Corey will have no time for her."

Bo nodded, "It sounds like Corey is like the poster boy for the war on prescription drugs." Bo smiled, thinking that she felt much better about Maverick hanging out with these guys now.

"Any drugs... and that includes alcohol. His Mom died of a drug overdose... before that, he had to live with her. He kind of beats himself up for being grateful that she died so that she couldn't hurt other people anymore... the whole thing really messed him up but his Uncle enrolled him in snowboarding and... well... the rest is history. I know this will probably sound strange, but boarding became his religion."

Bo smiled a quiet smile as her own thoughts drifted to her childhood, "It's not strange at all... not at all." She looked up at Cody, "I can understand why he doesn't like addicts then."

"Not just addicts, Bo... you didn't see him drink at dinner last night either... he's a zero use, zero tolerance kinda guy... nothing mind altering goes into his body other than what endorphins and dopamine give him when he skates or rides. I rarely see him drink so much as a cup of coffee. He's a purest in ever sense of the word."

"I'm liking Corey more every second, although I don't know how anyone survives without coffee." Bo laughed, "So, do you think he'll go with us?"

Cody nodded, "Sure. Our coach is there, so we could have him take a look at Maverick. He's always looking for the chance to work with young talent and I'm sure your boy would catch his eye. It would be a fun day."

"Cody, can I ask... I mean... you and Corey are always sort of pitted against one another. How does that work for you guys? I mean... someone has to lose, right?"

It was a question that Bo had been mulling over in her head ever since she was first asked about competing with Kenzi in the Olympics. What people didn't seem to be thinking about was that they wouldn't be competing with each other, but rather against each other. Part of the reason she was stepping down was because she wanted Kenzi to have her time in the spotlight. Bo wanted to support her through her career just as Kenzi had always done for her.

"Corey and I compete against each other, but when we're off the mountain, we are like twin brothers of another mother. Sometimes I win, sometimes he wins... well... honestly, most of the time I win but he swears he doesn't have a problem with it. As long as we get to wear Team USA together and go for the Team gold together, he doesn't care which one of us wins."

Bo tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at the younger man.

"Yea, I don't really buy that either, but it helps me sleep at night not to think about it." Cody laughed, "A few years ago, he beat me at the Winter X Games. Everything was fine until we got back to the states and he watched the games on TV. That's when he realized I'd thrown one of my runs on purpose. I just wanted him to know what it felt like to be on top of that podium. Anyway, he didn't talk to me for a month. If he's gonna beat me, he wants to do it when I'm at my best or it doesn't mean anything to him."

Bo nodded, remembering Kenzi telling her the exact same thing about three years ago, "I get that."

"Look, I'll get us out of town and arrange a great day for Mav, but we've gotta get going if we're gonna pull this off. Can you trust me, with this Bo?"

Bo shook her head, "I will count on you to get it done."

"So... not trusting me, huh?" Cody smiled.

Bo frowned, "My trust in people has been tested these past years. It's not something I give easily anymore."

"Well, what do you say you let me try to earn it today?"

Bo nodded, "What do we do to keep Tess from going?"

"I've got that covered too. I'll tell her Maverick asked for a guys' day out, so the girls aren't invited... we do guys day all the time, so it's no big deal. She's a downhill and pipe specialist, but her days in the pipe are over. That knee can't handle the landings like it used to."

Bo nodded, "But won't she come looking for Lauren?"

"I'll tell her that you and Lauren took off to some meeting about USA Surfing... that you've decided to come on board with the WSL Olympic project."

"But I..."

"You're not sure, Bo. I get it, but Tess doesn't need to know that."

Bo sighed, "Well, okay then. I guess we're all set."

Cody nodded, putting a comforting hand on Bo's shoulder, "We are, Bo. You just get everyone ready to go and I'll see you in say thirty minutes?"

Bo nodded as she watched Cody leave. She sighed, hoping that this was going to work. Getting out of this town was the first hurdle, finding Maverick's coach would be the next.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren and Maverick sat in bed, eating a smorgasbord of breakfast foods while watching cartoons on TV. They had showered and gotten dressed before getting back on the bed to play cards while they'd waited for the food to arrive. They'd fallen into easy conversation about the past few months, with Maverick doing most of the talking about how he'd been doing in his classes, his work at the campground with Professor Meade and how he was doing with his surfing.

"Lauren? Can I asked you something?"

And there it was. Lauren had been waiting for the conversation. She knew things were too easy up until this point. Maverick was angry yesterday before dinner and she knew that it would eventually come out. In truth, she was glad. She didn't want to be a source of pain for the young boy. She knew what it was like to carry anger around with you your entire life.

"Sure, Mav. What's up?" She wiped her mouth and hands before putting her plate back on the tray and turning to face the young man, wanting him to know he had her full attention.

"Did you forget me until Bo asked you if I could come?"

Lauren shook her head, "Of course not, Maverick. I've thought about you almost every day since moving here."

"But you didn't call me like you promised. You lied to me, Lauren and it made me really mad... and sad... I was mad and sad together."

Lauren sighed, "I'm sorry you felt as though I lied to you, Maverick."

"I didn't feel that way... you actually did, Lauren. You said you were going to call and you didn't. That's lying."

The blonde nodded, "You're right. I betrayed your trust by breaking a promise. I guess I got so caught up in my own problems that I became focused on myself instead of the people who have always been there for me."

"Like Bo?"

Lauren shuddered... it was in that moment that the blonde realized that Maverick was right... Bo had always been there for her. From the time they'd met on the beach, even when Lauren was absorbed with her own goals and dreams, Bo had usually put her needs and wants first. Even after all of the drama she had wrought on the Dennis Family, the eldest sister remained by her side... waiting... even now, Bo was still bailing her out of trouble while doing everything in her power to satisfy and protect Maverick.

She looked up at Maverick and nodded, "Yes, like Bo."

"She misses you a lot, ya know. She tried to hide it from me, but she cries a lot now that you're gone. I heard you. You told her you love her. You don't leave people you love if you mean it, Lauren. Not unless you can't help it... like my Mom and Dad... even my sister... they loved me and they never woulda left me if it weren't for the bad man that took them from me."

He lifted his eyes to meet hers, his palms up as his arms waved up and down, "You left us with no good reason. That's not how you tell us you love us."

Lauren didn't know what to say. She knew that she'd left them... all of them... everyone who had ever showed her love and support. Hadn't that what she'd wanted her entire life... a family, love and a place where she felt like she belonged? Had she run away? If she had sabotaged her own happiness, did she do it intentionally?

No. That couldn't be it, could it? She had come here to seek a new career... something that would energize her... something that would bring her out of her funk... a change... that's what she had been looking for... a new start. Did that include Bo? Was she hoping to meet someone new? Did she lead Tess on? Was she actually thinking that she was going to get a new home, new job and a new girl? Had she felt more than friendship for Tess?

She shook out her thoughts and responded to her young friend, "I got a job here, Maverick."

"You had a job in Hawaii, Lauren."

"I had a job that was hard for me to do, Maverick. It wasn't one that I truly loved."

Maverick was quiet for a long moment before he looked back up at the blonde, "So that means you're never coming back?"

Lauren sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do, Maverick. The Winter Olympics are in about fourteen months..."

"But that's more than a year!"

The look of pain on his face was almost more than Lauren could bear. This young boy had been through so much and she hated that she was the cause of more distress.

"Maverick, the time will go more quickly than you think... I promise."

"Nu-uh... you don't get to promise me anything ever again! You break your promises!"

Maverick stood and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Lauren turned and threw her legs over the side of the bed unsure of what to do in that moment. She heard the door handle turn and looked up to see Bo staring around the room,

"Uh... where's Maverick?"

"In the bathroom. He asked me a question, my answer sucked. He asked me another one... that answer sucked even more. From there, I just dug myself a whole." Lauren sighed, pointing at the door, "He got mad and went in there."

"How long ago?" Bo asked.

"About three minutes."

Bo nodded, "We'll give him a few more. Right now, I've got to tell you what I've learned from Cody and what our plan is for today."

"Okay." Lauren said, her face flushed with worry until Bo began her very animated explanation of her conversation with Cody.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"He's here! He's here! Come on!" Maverick said as he headed for the exit from the hotel lobby at a sprint only to be grabbed in a bear hug from behind by Bo,

"Not so fast, Mister. Get your coat, hat and gloves on first." Bo laughed in the young boy's ear before lifting him up swinging him onto the lobby sofa.

Maverick laughed, "Don't be so protective, Bo. I'm just gettin' in Cody's truck anyway."

"Coat, hat, gloves or we go nowhere." Bo cautioned as she pulled on her own gear. The brunette looked over at Lauren who was putting her wallet away after paying the hotel room bill. She turned and quietly began packing the additional gifts the hotel clerk had provided as well as the extra clothing she had purchased for everyone in the gift shop.

Bo approached her, "You know, we can still split the hotel room bill."

Lauren shook her head, "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have stayed here last night and wouldn't have had a bill to pay. My fault, my bill to pay."

"It was my choice to stay here. It wasn't like you uninvited me to your house. Let me pay for the things you bought at the gift shop then." Bo replied.

"Bo, it's fine, really. It's the least I can do."

"You know, buying him gifts isn't going to fix what he's feeling."

"Are you insinuating I'm trying to buy his forgiveness?" Lauren asked.

"No, I'm not saying that..." Bo reminded herself to be honest, "Well, yes actually, I guess I am. Talk to him, Lauren."

"He doesn't want to talk to me, Bo... and honestly, I doubt you really want to either. Maverick was right. I turned my back on the two of you and everyone else who has ever showed me the love and support I'd hoped to have my entire life." She threw the bags onto the ground and put her hands on her hips, exhaling a great sigh, "I fucked up, Bo. I fucked up and now I have to face the consequences of my actions. I had everything I'd ever wanted and I blew it. Now I have to learn from my mistake, hope I am granted forgiveness by... well, everyone I care about... and move forward."

Bo nodded, "Well... that's the first time I've heard that much clarity from you in a very long time."

"Yea, well I got quite the wake up call from an almost-ten-year-old boy this morning. It made me look back on these last few months and take inventory of my choices and feelings. I regret to report that I have regrets."

"On the bright side, that certainly sounds like progress to me. I guess coming here has been good for you after all."

Lauren frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said... you're owning your own shit, Lauren... instead of pretending you did nothing wrong, you're looking at your part in what has happened between you and those around you."

Lauren nodded, "Would you really have gone to stay at my house last night if you'd have known I'd invited Tess to spend the night?"

Bo frowned, wondering where she had been planning to have Tess sleep before she started to wonder where the other blonde did sleep last night. Had she stayed at Lauren's before? It seemed to be such a casual remark that Tess was staying there.

Bo replied, "Well, I must admit that I would have been upset at the surprise that you'd invited her to stay without giving me a heads up. I would have wanted the courtesy of the choice to share a roof with them woman. Regardless, for Maverick's sake, I would have made nice with her... and I would have been fine in the guest room."

Lauren sighed, "Bo, Tess and I never slept together. I told you..."

"I know, I know... just friends. She hit on you, but you rejected her." Bo frowned, lacing up her boots, "It still... nothing... just forget it."

"Bo..."

"I'm all ready!" Maverick said, jumping down from the furniture in front of Bo who looked up at him and smiled, "Okay then, let's get you out to the truck." She lifted Maverick up by the arms and spun him around until he was on her back, "I'll give you a ride."

"Cool!" Maverick smiled, his hands gripping Bo's shoulders while his legs wrapped around her torso.

Bo looked up at Lauren, "Can you get the two bags and go first? Make sure it's all clear?"

Maverick leaned around in front of Bo's face, trying to make eye contact with his mentor, "Make sure what's clear?"

"The back seat of Cody's Jeep." Bo said, "Here... hold my sunglasses."

Bo watched as Lauren exited the lobby and looked both ways before giving a casual wave to follow her.

"Hold tight... we're moving out!"

"Go fast, Bo! Go fast!" Maverick called out as Bo ran for the truck, intentionally making the ride as bumpy as possible for her passenger. The young boy giggled and laughed before he was spun around and dumped into the back seat of the waiting Jeep.

Bo looked at the small boy, enjoying the sound of his laughter and the look of pure, innocent joy on his face. She hated what this youngster had been through and seeing him in this moment just made her more determined to give him the best day possible,

"Okay, Mav. Buckle up so we can get on the road." Bo smiled, watching the young boy get settled. She looked up to see Lauren standing awkwardly by the Jeep, "Are you going to get in or just stand there?" She smiled as she spoke to the blonde.

"Maybe you all should just go on without me." Lauren said, taking a step back and placing the bags in the rear of the vehicle. Bo followed,

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I am, Bo. He hates me. He'll never forget or forgive what I've put him through these last months and I can't say I blame him. I broke a promise to a kid who has been to hell and back. I don't deserve his friendship."

"Hey! Are you girls gonna get in or what? If we get there too late, the snow'll get mushy! Where're we goin' anyway?" Maverick was twisted over the back of the seat, facing the two women.

"Get yourself buckled in again! And we're not telling you where we're going. It's a surprise."

"It'll be a surprise if you and Lauren ever stop talking and actually get in the truck! Cody, tell 'em!"

Cody laughed and stood from the driver's seat before calling back to the two ladies, "You heard him, girls! Get in the truck! We still have to pick up Corey!"

"Cool! Corey's coming?" Maverick asked.

Cody smiled and nodded, "It's guys day on the slopes, little dude! We're gonna rock some serious powder!"

"YES!" Maverick replied, fist pumping from the back seat.

Bo placed a gentle hand on Lauren's elbow, encouraging her forward, "Please, Lauren... just give it a chance. Putting more distance between yourself and us is not going to help our relationship with you. Time heals all... so I guess all you have to do is give us some of your time, right?"

Lauren lunged at Bo, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck before whispering in her ear, "I'm so sorry, Bo. You'll never know how sorry I am. I don't know why I listened to her. I wanted to talk to you so many times... I thought about Maverick every day... I just..."

"She manipulated you, Lauren. It wasn't all you and I know that."

"But Maverick doesn't and he'll never understand."

Bo shook her head, running her hands up and down the blonde's back, "I think he understands more than you think. He has an instinct for people, Lauren. He didn't Tess from the get go and he was right to feel that way."

"Maybe I should hire him to be my social director. He could just walk beside me and say yes or no to everyone I meet."

Bo laughed, "That might be a good idea with your track record."

Lauren frowned, causing Bo to laugh, "I'm just kidding, Lauren. Hell, if you can't laugh at your life by now, you better just plant yourself on that curb over there and bawl your head off."

"I guess you're right." Lauren relented.

Bo hugged the blonde again, "I'm going to go with laughter as the best medicine for the tragedy that is your life. You've got nowhere to go but up, right? Come on then... we're going to have a great day. We're going to reunite Maverick with his coach, learn more about the mystery that is his life, watching his apparently mad snowboarding skills and give that boy some hope that his life is looking up."

Lauren nodded, "Okay... but still, I should probably ride in the front seat. I'm not sure he's ready to ride with me next to him all the way to the slopes."

Bo nodded, kissing the blonde on the cheek, "Fine. I'll sit in the back with him, but you'll see... he'll lighten up throughout the day. Just be yourself, Lauren... he'll remember who you are... and what you mean to him."

Lauren hesitated... her eyes watery as she stared at the open door.

"Lauren?"

"Since you've been here... I've remembered... the promises we made... the promises I made to him... I remember what I wanted... what I wanted to be in his life... what if I missed my chance with him?"

Bo smiled, "Like I said... give us a chance to remember... to see that you are still you. If he feels anything like I do, he wants to give you a second chance. Come on... let's get out of here before we give the snow witch a chance to show up."

Lauren frowned, "I really am sorry I've brought yet another criminal into your life."

Bo laughed, "You do seem to be a magnet for trouble."

Lauren smiled, "I did meet you."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Was that humor, Dr. Lewis?"

"A feeble attempt, maybe?"

"There is hope for you after all. Come on." Bo pulled Lauren's head to her lips and planted a kiss on her temple, "It's going to be a great day... you'll see."

Lauren took one last glance around the area making sure there was no sign of any familiar vehicles before she got into the Jeep. She smiled at Cody as she clipped her seatbelt.

"All ready, Doc?"

Lauren nodded, "As I'll ever be."

"Don't worry, okay? Pia's on Tess along with all of those suits Bo pointed out to me. I got peeps too, Doc."

"Is Corey coming? Bo mentioned..."

"He's meeting us there with all of our gear. I didn't want to have to strap my boards onto the roof... the clock was tickin', ya know?"

Lauren nodded as she watched Cody throw the car into gear and pull out. She looked over her shoulder at Bo who was being dealt the cards that she had bought at the hotel for the ride to Steamboat Springs. Just before the blonde looked away, she caught the brunette's eyes. They shared a brief smile, Bo nodding to offer her courage before Lauren turned her eyes back towards the road.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo stared out the window, seeing the sign for Steamboat Springs. She smiled, knowing they weren't far from their destination. She looked down at her lap to see her young charge still sleeping soundly. He had twitched a few times, a familiar indication that he was probably having unpleasant thoughts or dreams, but he settled back into a soft, heavy breathing pattern soon after.

Lauren looked over her shoulder and smiled at the pair, watching as Bo ran her hands through the young boy's soft curls. She felt a longing in her chest for the way things were before the Olympics... the time when things between she and Bo were easy. Since Nadia had come to her room in the Olympic Village that night, her mind had become a jumbled mess of memories, her emotions a rollercoaster of instability.

The doctor in her had wondered if it had been a mistake not to take the offered medication that Hale had prescribed for her PTSD, but even that was a case of second guessing every aspect of her life these days. Still, as she looked at the pair of visitors to her knew home state, it seemed that they were the one thing she had never second guessed... not until Tess had led her to do so in their 'sessions' together. Now that she knew the not-a-doctor had been advising her, she was pretty sure it was safe to discount her opinion where Bo and Maverick were concerned.

It was in that moment that Lauren had one goal for the day... to being the process of repairing her relationships with her island family. She sighed, her eyes wandering over the mountainous landscape of snow-capped mountains before her. Blue skies stretched across the valley for miles and miles. It was beautiful here... granted, a different kind of beauty from the island she'd grown accustomed to, but beautiful nonetheless.

She pulled out her phone, her fingers hesitating over the screen for a moment before she swiped the glass and opened the text-messaging app. After entering several names, she typed her message...

 _Lauren: Hey... I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for being so absent from your lives lately. I have no excuses other than I was given some bad advice and against my better judgment, I took it. I'll be coming home this weekend and would love the chance to begin to make amends. I'll understand if it's too late, but I hope you'll give me a chance to try. I love you... all... so much... and I've missed you terribly despite the fact that my actions seem to demonstrate otherwise. Again... I truly am sorry._

She put her phone away, not expecting a reply. Over the past twenty-four hours, she'd decided that lowering her expectations was a smart move now that she had gone back through all of the texts and calls she'd received from her family in the past months. Realizing how many she had received and not replied to... well, she knew forgiveness was likely a long shot that, if granted... would take an equally long time.

She looked over her shoulder again when she heard a soft moan. Bo was smiling down at a sleepy Maverick who was rolling onto his back, while wiping his eyes.

"Hey, Mav. We're almost there. You ready to wake up?"

He tucked his head into Bo's leg, not bothering to answer causing the brunette to laugh. She looked up, her eyes meeting Lauren's allowing the blonde to offer her a quiet smile.

"We're about four miles away, Mav. It's time to get ready to get up and go." Lauren encouraged, her voice filled with hesitation over whether the young man wanted to hear anything from her at all, but Bo joined her effort providing support.

"You should listen to Lauren, snowman. You're gonna be our guide for this part of the trip. Check it out... anything look familiar?"

Maverick groaned before climbing up onto Bo's lap and looking out the window. It took several minutes, but as they approached the lodge that had been noted in his file, the young boys' eyes went wide,

"OH. MY. GOSH! IT'S MY LODGE! I'M HOME! OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

He dove into Bo's arms wrapping his arms and holding tightly to her. Bo responded in kind, her eyes meeting a smiling Lauren's before traveling to Cody who was watching in the rearview mirror.

"Okay, my young champion, I'm going to need some guidance here. Where do I park? Corey is right behind us."

Maverick released Bo and looked out the window to see Corey waving at him. He waved back,

"Hey! You're right! He's right there!"

Cody smiled, "Yup. Now point us in the right direction."

Maverick turned to face forward, his eyes gazing around the entrance, "Uh... you know... I'm just a kid... I don't do the driving so I'm not really sure. I remember seeing the lodge... I think it was called Mountain Lodge. My Dad always said there was no sense spending a ton of money on a fancy room since I spent most of the day on the slopes."

"Smart man, your Dad." Cody replied, "Okay, well let's just park over here and head on in to see what we can find."

Maverick leaned up between the seats, "There! That's where my coach used to meet me!"

He crawled up onto Lauren's lap, "Maverick! You're in a moving vehicle!" Bo scolded.

"It's okay, Bo. Lauren would never let me fly out the window." He turned to Cody while Bo smiled at a grinning Lauren, "Park here. I'll see if Grant is here."

The vehicle was barely stopped before Maverick reached for the door handle, but Lauren stopped him,

"Whoa there, Maverick. Let's wait for the car to stop first. You don't want me to have to put you in a cast before you have a chance to get on the slopes, do you?"

"Oops." The young boy laughed, leaning back into Lauren.

The blonde cherished the contact as she felt the young boy relax against her. She wasn't sure how to respond, so she just rubbed his arms before saying,

"Okay... car is parked. Ready to go?"

"Yup!" Maverick sat up, watching as Lauren opened the door and gripped his arm, helping him land safely on the ground, "Wait for us, Mav!"

The boy stopped and turned to face the adults in the car, turning away only when he heard Corey's voice,

"My man!"

Maverick ran across the single parking space that separated the two vehicles and jumped into Corey's arms,

"Corey! Did you bring that board I rode the other day? It had a nice edge!"

"I sure did and I brought you three other ones to try since I think we'll probably be going a little harder than we did last time out."

"No more bunny slopes! I know this mountain like my little hand!" He held his hand up in front of Corey's face,

"The phrase is like the back of your hand, stud. Now, let's go see if we can find this coach of yours. What was his name?"

"Grant. Grant McGregor. He's an older guy but Dad always said he really knew how to bring out the greatness in little boarders like me."

Corey looked at Cody, his eyes wide with recognition. Cody leaned over to Bo, "Uh... Grant McGregor is one of the best names in coaching. I have a feeling we're all about to be surprised by what Mav can do."

"Just please don't let him get killed, Cody."

"I'll do what I can to keep him on a tight leash today, Bo. He hasn't been on a slope for a while, right?"

Bo nodded.

"Well, I say we find Grant and have him take the reins today. If he's who I think he is, I'm sure Cody will do whatever he's told to do. Grant is a gentle soul, but he brings his boarders along real slow. He is all about technique over tricks."

"That's good to know." Bo relaxed a bit at the knowledge that she wasn't going to hand Maverick's life over to some balls-to-the-wall adrenaline junky.

Lauren stood watching the two pairs converse, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans, unsure of what to do. She felt like the awkward fifth wheel, but supposed she'd brought this on herself. She lowered her eyes to the ground as she leaned back against Cody's truck, waiting for one of the four to invite her into a conversation or tell her to follow them into the lodge.

"Lauren?"

The blonde looked up to see Bo looking at her with concern on her face, "Are you okay?"

"Uh... sure. I was just waiting for the four of you to decide what was next."

Bo frowned, "We already went inside. I came back out when you weren't with us. What's going on?"

How long had she been staring at the ground feeling sorry for herself?

"Lauren?"

"I'm sorry, Bo. Please... lead the way. I just... well... Corey was talking to Maverick and you were talking to Cody, so..."

Bo nodded, "...Feeling a little left out?"

"Honestly? I just... I'm having second thoughts about having come, Bo. I really don't fit in and..."

"Lauren, just stop. Stop it. Stop it! I am not going to do this all day with you! I want you here! Trust me when I say Maverick wants you here! Cody and Corey are your friends! I value your opinion and I want you standing there when we talk to this coach of Maverick's... I'm about to make a huge decision about his future, Lauren and you know him better than anyone else here... you also know about the system that technically has to approve any decisions I recommend."

"Bo, you can't seriously be considering having him stay here with his coach!"

"I am, Lauren. If Maverick is as good as Cody and Corey seem to think he is, I have no right to stand in his way if this is what he wants. If this is his dream, I'm going to do everything in my power to help him achieve it... even if that means I have to leave him here."

"The state will never let that happen, Bo. We don't know anything about this coach."

"Grant... his name is Grant McGregor and he's a legend in the snowboarding world. We know that Maverick's parents entrusted his training to their son and we know that this state was the boy's home. If I can find a qualified adult to foster him, the state may just approve it."

"Who are you going to..."

"You, Lauren... I had intended for that person to be you."

Bo turned and walked away, leaving a shocked Lauren standing in the parking lot. It took several moments for the blonde to grasp what the brunette had just said, but she was pulled from her thoughts by the same voice,

"Lauren! Come on! They're waiting for us."

The blonde nodded and moved towards the entrance to the lodge, the weight of fostering a child now placed squarely on her shoulders. Was Bo out of her mind?

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"GRANT!"

Maverick broke free from Bo's grasp and ran towards the older man who was sitting at the table at the base of the slope, shuffling through a magazine. He turned towards the young voice and pulled his sunglasses off, his eyes wide,

"Maverick?"

"GRANT! It's me!"

The man stood and welcomed the youngster into his arms, lifting him off the ground and spinning him around,

"What are you doing here?" He put him down on the ground, but knelt in front of him, his arms still on his waist, "You're taller, my boy!"

Bo walked up to the pair with Lauren just behind flanked by Corey and Cody, "Hi. Grant?"

The older gentleman stood up and faced Bo, his arm wrapped over Maverick's shoulder,

"Yes."

"Grant, this is Bo and Lauren and..."

"Bo Dennis, Lauren Lewis of Team USA Beach Volleyball and these two guys... you need no introduction to me... Cody Landis and Corey Sampson of Team USA Snowboarding... kings of the half pipe... our gold and silver medal hopefuls for 2018."

He extended a hand and shook the hands of all four athletes, "It is, indeed, an honor to be in the company of such greatness. So tell me, what brings two beautiful women accustomed to sun and frolic on the beach to the winter snow of Colorado?"

"They're mine!" Maverick interrupted.

"Yours?" Grant laughed.

"Uh-huh. That's my Bo and that's my Lauren... well... Lauren used to be mine, but she moved here now so..."

Lauren ruffled Maverick's hair, "I'm still his even though we're not in the same state."

Maverick smiled up at Lauren who knelt down in front of him. She leaned in and whispered, "I made a big mistake... I swear to you we will talk daily if you want from now on."

The young boy held out his hand. Lauren smiled as their secret handshake commenced. When they were finished, Maverick took two steps and wrapped his arms around Lauren's neck while Bo whispered to Grant,

"Lauren just moved here to take a position as the Team Doc for Team USA. The move has been pretty hard on Maverick. They were very close before she left."

Grant smiled down at the pair, "I can see that. So, how do you fit into this little family?"

Bo grinned at the term family, "Well, I run a school with my sister called the Kenbo School in Hawaii. It's a home for kids who have been thrown into the system. We strive to give them a better life than foster care would. Maverick was sent to live with us, so I'm the one who has assigned custody of your young protégé here."

Bo ran her fingers through Maverick's hair before looking back up at Grant, "We weren't given much information in his file, but between what was available in his file and his knowledge of his life here, we came to find you hoping that we might be able to fill in some of the gaps in the life his parents had intended for him."

Grant smiled, "I see... so, you flew all the way to Colorado to try to help him pick up where his parents left off?"

Bo nodded, "That pretty much sums it up. Cody and Corey met Lauren at the Training Center in Colorado Springs. When Mav and I arrived, they agreed to take him out on the slopes and... well... let's just say they encouraged me to look back in his file when they saw a natural talent in him."

"Good eye, boys." Grant smiled up at the two.

"When Mav told me that his coach was Grant McGregor, I was stoked. I mean... I'm still stunned. You're Grant 'The Legend' McGregor! The guy who has surfed anything you could possible ride down a mountain of snow and ice."

Grant smiled, "Well, that was a long time ago, but yea... I guess I had a need for speed back in the day. I've slowed down a bit now, but I still love to nurture talent when I see it."

Corey nodded, "I heard you don't take on just anyone. Maverick must be pretty special."

Grant placed a hand on Mavericks' shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "He certainly is... he was my only pupil when we first started together. I picked up a few more kids so he would have someone to challenge him, but I've since moved them on to other coaches."

They all noticed the frown on Grant's face, especially Bo who turned to Maverick,

"Hey, Mav... why don't you take Lauren over and pick up some lift tickets for you and the guys."

Maverick looked up at Grant, "What run should we do?"

Grant looked down at his young student, "When was the last time you were on a board?"

Maverick laughed, "I was on a surfboard just yesterday!"

Grant's eyes went wide, "Surfboard? Is Bo trying to steal you from me?"

"She's awesome, Grant!"

The older man turned and picked up the magazine from the table, "Well, why don't you put this in your bag so you can read just how awesome she is."

Bo looked down, confused at the Sports Illustrated the man passed to Maverick. Grant glanced at the brunette and smiled at the look on her face,

"I guess you haven't spoken to your publicist lately?"

Bo shook her head, "Not since earlier this week."

"There's a feature story on the Team Dennis in there... the Olympic hopefuls for 2020. Apparently you haven't made up your mind yet, but it sure sounds like your sister would love to have you there. She said that if she wins gold and you're not there, her gold would feel like silver."

Bo laughed, "She has to surf against the best to be crowned the best."

Maverick smiled, "Kenzi told me that too!"

Bo smiled down at the young boy, "Our Dad taught us that. You can never say you're the best unless you know in your heart that the best of the best were on the waves with you... I think that counts for snow too."

Maverick nodded while Grant added, "Your Father was a wise man. I'm sorry you lost him at such a young age. It must have been difficult."

Bo gave Maverick's shoulder a squeeze, "Yea... Mav and Lauren know that feeling too."

Maverick wrapped an arm around Bo's leg, leaning into her, "So how about those lift tickets?"

Grant looked at Maverick, "Okay, so since you haven't been on snow for a while..."

"Awww... please don't make me go on a bunny slope! I did that all day yesterday with Cody and Corey! They made me do all of the drills and stuff. I felt like I was taking my junior test all over again!"

Cody laughed and looked up at Grant, "We ran him through his paces because we weren't sure how good he was. He told us he ran pipe and could do jumps, but... well... Bo would have kicked our asses if anything happened to him, so we didn't take a chance on..."

Grant held up a hand, "His edges were good and he seemed confident?"

Corey took off his hat and scratched his head, "The little man was a master! He's got great speed and amazing flow in and out of his turns. He can stop on a dime and carve like no kid his age I've ever seen."

"Yea, that's our boy." He turned to Maverick, "Okay then... why don't you warm up on Sunset and then head for the black diamond on Storm Peak?"

"Okay, but we're gonna do Storm Peak North because it's mostly a straightaway. I'll do Storm Peak South if I get my edges right."

"You know best, Maverick. Be safe and stay focused on your form, right? Stay with Cody and Corey... don't be too hard on them. They're old me, after all."

Everyone laughed as Grant added, "We'll take the ladies up Four Points so they can watch you come down, then we'll all meet up at Maverick's, alright?"

"Really?" Maverick asked, "Cody and Corey wouldn't let me..."

Grant waved him off, "They don't know you like I do."

"Maverick's?" Bo asked.

Grant looked at Cody and Corey, but Cody was already explaining, "Mavericks is the Super Pipe at Steamboat. Sorry, Bo... we had no idea he was that good."

The brunette waved them off, turning to Lauren and Maverick, "Well, you've got your marching orders, my man. Go get those three lift tickets for you boys and get three for the spectators to get to wherever it was Grant said we were going."

"Four Points, Bo!" Maverick said, "You don't listen to well... and you yell at me!"

"Hey!" Bo called after the young boy.

He turned around and smiled, "Just kiddin'!"

"You better be!" Bo replied, watching Maverick jump up on Lauren's back. It was good to see the young boy bonding with the blonde again.

Bo turned to Grant, "Just how good is he, Grant?"

Cody and Corey moved in closer to the conversation, wanting as much information before they went up on the slopes with the young boy.

"He's expected to compete in the 2022 Olympics, Bo."

"Little dude be a little man!" Corey said, shaking out his hands at the revelation.

Doing some quick math, Bo replied, "His sixteenth birthday."

Grant nodded, "He was slated to go to Youth Worlds at age thirteen and Junior Worlds at fifteen, followed by the Olympics at sixteen. Of course, the IOC is looking into age limits, so it's always possible he could go in 2018, but it's a long shot... especially with the gap in his training. I mean... I don't want to assume anything here."

Bo shook her head, "If this is what he wants, I'm going to do what I have to do to make it happen, Grant. I'll battle the courts of every state all the way to the Supreme court if I have to."

Cody laughed, "Well, I hope you don't have to go that far seeing not all of the seats are filled right now!"

Grant smiled, "A snowboarder with a brain and knowledge of current events in his country... how refreshing."

Cody smiled, "Born and raised in Boston, Grant... the seat of the greatest public education system in America. Education isn't a choice, it's a requirement for us Boston boys."

"Speak for yourself." Corey replied.

Bo waved her hands, "Okay, men... this day is about Maverick. Let's try to remember that. Now, are you two sure you can keep him safe up there? Knowing what you now know about his background, I don't have to emphasize how important it is that he come back to me... and the great state of Hawaii... in one piece, do I?"

Cody and Corey shook their heads in unison, "Nope... we've got it Bo." Cody replied for the pair.

"Good. After today, I'll be in touch Grant. Maverick and I will have a long plane ride home to discuss what he wants. I think he's very confused right now. He is reluctant to leave Kenbo because he has found a make-shift family of sorts while there... I think he's afraid of giving that up for something unknown."

She sighed, "I have no even begun to work out the kinks in this just yet, but he and Lauren were very close until she moved. She had considered adopting him at some point, but a lot has happened since then and... well... she hadn't considered adopting him alone..." Bo hesitated, not wanting to get into the specifics of her relationship with Lauren, "Anyway... we don't know how things will shake out or if Maverick will even be willing to come back to Colorado..."

"But if you come back here for the 2020 games, then he would be with you and your sister. Problem solved, Bo." Cody suggested.

"So you are leaning towards competing in the next Olympics?" Grant asked.

"Yup." Corey replied on Bo's behalf.

"I haven't said that! I really don't know." She turned to the two young men, "Don't put words in my mouth!"

Cody laughed, "We're not putting just any words into your mouth, Bo. We're putting the right words into your mouth. You know you still have the surfing bug... we could see it on your face at the wave pool the other day. You're still learning new tricks and I'll be Grant could teach you a thing or two!"

Grant shook his head, but Corey intervened, "Cody had her doing skate tricks on waves yesterday. The woman is badass, Grant!"

"Wow... that's really something... but I think we all know that the decision to compete really has to be with the athlete. If your heart isn't 100 percent in it, you've got no business being out there. It's too easy to get hurt if you aren't all in and you boys know it... and so does Bo."

They all nodded, "Thanks, Grant."

Grant nodded, "You bet, Bo... but I sure hope to see you compete."

Bo shook her head as the three men high-fived each other, their celebration interrupted by an excited Maverick,

"Come on, come on! We got 'em!"

He came at the group, waving the lift tickets, "Put 'em on and let's go!"

Lauren took her place next to Bo as the three snowboarders waved and moved back to the car to get their gear. Grant turned to Bo,

"He's got gear?"

Bo shook her head, "All of his possessions... all of his family's possessions... were sold by the state, the cash from the sale placed in a trust for him. He can't touch it until age twenty-one."

Grant nodded, "Well, that's two things they did right by the boy."

Bo asked, "Two?"

"Clearly, putting him with you at the Kenbo School was the first 'right' thing they did."

"Thank you." Bo smiled, "Shall we?" She pointed towards the lift.

"After you." Grant smiled, following behind the two women, "I'm just going to go give some last minute guidelines to the boys."

"We'll meet you at the lift?" Lauren asked.

Grant nodded and moved out to the parking lot, "You guys got everything?"

Maverick nodded, "Corey and Cody got a few boards for me. Can you pick the one you think I should use?"

Grant shook his head, "You pick it and then I'll decide if you're right."

Maverick nodded and laid the four boards Cody handed him from the roof on the ground at Grant's feet. He lifted each one, examining them closely before handing two back to Corey,

"Definitely not these two... not stiff enough and they're directional."

Cody and Corey smiled at Grant who nodded, "Good call, my man. You're not just doing downhill today."

"I think I should take both of these... use this one on the blue diamond and black diamond, then use this one on the pipe."

"And why would you say that?" Grant asked.

Maverick looked up at Cody and Corey, "Ya see what I mean? He makes me know everything! I'm not allowed to just go and ride."

Cody smiled, "That's why your coach is the best, Mav. You're going to know things that other boarders your age... even our age... don't know, so you'll always pick the right equipment for the conditions. Did you watch the Sochi Olympics?"

Maverick laughed with Grant, "Yea. Grant called them the Slush Games."

Cody nodded at Grant, "You have no idea just how bad it was. Me and Corey had five boards each. Most of the other guys went up there with their favorites, not really considering the conditions."

The coach smiled, "Good call, boys."

Corey took off his hat and scratched his head, "Uh... Grant... any chance you'd be willing to work with me..." Cody elbowed him, "... I mean... us... before the games? I mean, no offense to the other coaches on Team USA, but... well... you're the legend and..."

Grant nodded, "I understand, boys and I've received my invitation to join the coaching staff, but... well... this guy and other kids his age... they're sort of my niche. I've found older boarders... and I'm talking guys and girls in their late teens and early twenties when I say older... well, they don't seem to want to be coached. They're sort of set in their ways and I have no desire to work with someone who isn't willing to trust me and listen to me. I'm too old for the frustration."

Corey nodded, "And if we promised to do whatever you said?"

"Promises can sometimes be empty words. I'd need to know the people I was coaching are gonna shut up and put up."

"Well, what if we were to say... give it a try... and you could quit if we didn't put up?"

Grant's eyes moved to the ground where Maverick's boards lay under the scrutiny of the young boy's eyes, "Did you decide yet?"

"Well, this one's a rocker and this one's mixed camber so I guess it depends on the conditions. But the rocker is a freestyle board, so I guess since the mixed camber is an all-mountain board, I should use this one if I have to pick just one."

Grant looked up at Corey, "Did you know all of that?"

Corey pulled his hat back on his head, "Honestly, I didn't know all of that until two years ago... I didn't think it was important until then... you've got my undivided attention."

Grant nodded, "Well, we'll see just how strong that attention span is when we get together next week."

Corey and Cody high-fived, "Yes!"

Maverick pushed the two men on the hips, "Well?"

The pair looked down at him, Corey asking, "What?"

"Aren't you going to thank me?"

"For what?"

"Duh! You wouldn't have even met Grant if it weren't for me. He's your best shot at medals in 2018 and you know it! The Canadians, the Swiss, and half the rest of the globe will be after you guys."

Cody nodded, "You're too smart for your own good, little dude. I can't wait until you're Team USA."

"Me either." Maverick smiled, "Let's go!"

He turned to run into the lodge once more as Grant laughed, "He still has his spunk."

Cody walked up next to Grant, "Hey... I just want to say I'm sorry for your loss. I'd imagine you were close with the whole family."

Grant nodded, "They were good people and he is an incredibly special kid. It's just not right. I've got a P.I. of my own trying to track down his sister. Those two were inseparable... fought like cats and dogs sometimes, but totally loved each other. I want that kid to have the life that was taken from him and if I can't give him his family back, I want to make sure he has whatever I can get for him."

"Well, from what we've seen, Bo and Lauren are his best shot at that. They're his biggest fans next to the three of us."

Grant smiled, "Well, they seem like good women and he seems to have grown quite attached to them. I'll do what I can to support their efforts."

The three grabbed the remaining equipment with Cody handing Grant a thermos and some cups before they headed towards the lifts.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So, rather than fear for their safety, watch for the modality of injury, Doc."

Grant had been informed of Lauren's qualifications and then witnessed first hand her fears when she'd reacted to Maverick barreling down the steep hill through the binoculars in her hands.

"I'd rather he not get injured at all, thank you." Lauren replied.

"I'm not insinuating that he'll get injured, rather saying that you need to watch the skills so that if he does take a spill, you can predict what might be injured. Remember, you will be some distance away, so knowing what emergency personnel might be needed as well as the equipment necessary will be crucial with regards to the time required to administer care."

Lauren took in the older man's words before replying objectively, "Yes, I can see the need to understand the skills of the sport. Would you be willing to help me out with that, Grant?"

"Anything that will help Team USA, Doctor."

"Including adding your wisdom to the coaching staff?" Lauren asked, pulling her eyes from the binoculars to look at the older man.

"Honestly? I've got some... philosophical differences... with a few of the other coaches, so I've gracefully declined offers to work with the team in the past."

"Well, I would love to have a discussion about those differences. If they in any way endanger the physical or mental health of my athletes, I'm in a position to remove coaches with said philosophies."

Grant smiled, "I wouldn't want to..."

Bo interjected, "Oh, cut the crap, Grant. Some of the coaches suck and you know it, so you're not willing to work with them because you don't want your good name associated with idiots. Lauren can throw out the trash and help the team by adding you to the mix. If you really want what's best for Team USA, you'll let her do her job by giving her the knowledge she needs to bring in the best coaching staff."

Grant looked surprised, but quickly replied, "And if you care about Team USA, you'll be on a surfboard in 2020."

Bo laughed, "Touché."

"He really hasn't lost a beat." Grant said, watching Maverick carve his way down the black diamond slope with Corey and Cody flanking his position at the center of the path.

"Whoa... he's getting some serious air." Bo replied.

"His style... something has changed... it's like it's got a new influence." Grant replied.

Lauren smiled, "Surfing."

Bo pulled her eyes from the mountain to look at Lauren before turning to look towards Grant's voice,

"You're right, Lauren. He reminds me of a young Candy Hines... she was a surfer turned snowboarder from California. Unfortunately, she got involved in drugs at the age of seventeen, right before the last Olympics. Didn't pass her drug test, so... well... I'm sure you can imagine. I worked with her until she was old enough to finish out Junior Worlds at number one. I suppose she was already using at that time, but managed to stay clean for the games. Still... it was a tragic loss for the team."

"I'm sure." Lauren nodded, "Where is she now?"

"The last I heard, she had entered rehab for the fourth time. Maybe it will take this time. I'd love to see her get back into a sport, but I think it may have been the pressure of a public life that led to the use to begin with. Maybe she'd be better with a behind-the-scenes job."

The two women nodded, "Here they come."

"One last jump. Let's see what he does." Grant said, pulling the binoculars away since he was close enough to see with the naked eye.

The group watched as Maverick approached the jump, Cody crossing in front of him to hit the jump first before Corey crossed as well before Maverick went down the center. All three of them hit a different trick with the youngest landing a perfect reverse with a full twist.

The audience of three raised their arms over their head cheering as the three boarders powered towards them, spraying them with snow as they screeched to a stop.

The adults laughed while the three comedians bowed low, completing their final act with the air of a magic show.

Maverick coasted towards Lauren, "Did you see it, Lo? Did you see or did you have to close your eyes?"

Lauren laughed, "I watched every second of both of your runs, Mav. You are brilliant!" She turned to the other two, "You all are! What a thrill to watch!"

"Can we go to the pipe now, Grant? I'm all warmed up and I've got my edges back!"

Grant smiled, "You certainly do, but you're going to do a few easy runs... no new tricks and by that I mean nothing that isn't a routine part of your last run. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Maverick nodded before unclipping from his board and lifting it over his head, "I really like this board... like, really really like it. Can I buy it from you, Corey?"

"It's all yours, Mav."

Maverick looked to Bo for her permission, but the brunette shook her head, "He'll pay you for it, Corey. Can we work it off in installments? He gets an allowance for chores he does back home."

"Really, Bo..."

Lauren interjected, "Maverick knows the rules, Corey."

"You can only give me gifts on Christmas, Birthdays or if I accomplish something outside of my..." He looked up at Bo, "Outside of my what?"

Bo smiled, "Outside of his normal skill set. Snowboarding accomplishments don't count since it's something he already knows how to do."

"But I'm learning how to make a surfboard, so maybe that could count?" He looked up at Bo who nodded,

"Okay, if you finish your first board, I'll give you money towards the snowboard. I'll work out the price with Corey and then you can work it off from there. Sound fair?"

Maverick nodded, "Thanks, Bo."

"Thank Corey, Mav. He's the one that gave you the opportunity to get the board."

"Thanks, Corey." Maverick replied.

"No problem, little stud. Since you're buying it, I'm going to get you a new one just like it. This one is used."

Grant interjected, "Can you give the new one a multi-radial edge? It's what he's used to."

"Oh yea, I forgot." Maverick replied.

"Sure thing, kid." Corey replied.

Cody smiled, "So... to the pipe then?"

"Mavericks!"

Grant smiled, "It was not named after him, if that's what anyone is thinking!"

"Nah. It's just a coincense."

"You mean a coincidence." Bo corrected.

"Right."

The group headed off for the grand finale to their day.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was late when the gang had left the slopes, so they had gotten dinner and then accepted an invitation from Grant to stay at his home for the evening. When they arrived, Bo lifted a sleeping Maverick into her arms and headed towards the house with Lauren right behind, holding the blanket around the boy. They were greeted by Grant's wife Mary, who immediately led them to one of the many spare rooms in the large home, where Bo and Lauren tucked the young boy into the large queen-sized bed, placing kisses on his forehead before turning to walk out of the room.

They stepped back, watching the young boy, restless in his sleep, "He looks so tiny in that big bed all by himself." Bo commented.

Lauren nodded, "He looks like he's having one of his bad dreams."

"Will they ever stop, Lauren?" Bo asked, her face covered with worry.

"One day, Bo. It takes time to overcome PTSD." Lauren replied, realizing that she needed to have the same patience with herself that she was asking of Bo with reagards to Maverick. It would just take time and no drastic life change was going to make that time pass faster. Maybe she had gone about this all wrong... sacrificing the relationships she counted on the most when she needed them the most. But still, she'd committed to a contract.

Looking at Maverick now, she couldn't imagine being without him again. Her eyes moved to Bo and she realized she didn't want to part from her either. She'd created this situation for herself and the bottom line was that she now had to reap what she'd sowed for her life.

"Bo? Lauren?" Lauren turned towards Maverick's voice, stepping next to Bo who was already sitting next to him. The brunette sighed. She had hoped he would have stayed asleep, his mind moving onto more pleasant thoughts from the day.

"We're here. What's up, buddy?" Bo replied

"Where are we?" He sat up, but Bo urged him back down onto the bed.

"We're at Grant's house. He invited us to stay. Bad dreams?"

Maverick nodded, looking around the room, "Is Mary here?"

The slender raven-haired woman entered the room with a smile, "I'm here, love. It's so good to see you," she pushed the stray hair back from his eyes, "You sleep. We'll catch up in the morning. I want to know all about your new life in Hawaii."

"This is Bo. She's like my big sister and my new mom all in one... and Lauren too."

"Well, it looks like you've found some pretty special ladies, then." Mary smiled.

Maverick smiled, "My Mom and Dad are dead, Mary."

The older woman's eyes grew sad, "I know, love. I'm so very sorry. Just know that Grant and I are doing all we can to find your sister."

Maverick nodded, "So are Bo and Lauren. I don't think she made it, Mary. I think the bad people hurt her."

"Well, let's not rush to that conclusion until we know for sure. She's got your spirit, Maverick... she's no quitter. If she can find her way back to you, she will... count on it."

Maverick nodded, "It hurts to hope, but Bo says I have to."

Mary glanced at Bo before turning back to the young boy, "Well, you found two beautiful women to care for you who are also very wise."

"Yea... they're super smart... Lauren 'specially... she's a doctor."

"Wow... that is smart." Mary smiled, "You sleep, Mav. We'll see you in the morning."

"Bo and Lauren hafta stay... they always stay until I fall asleep. Will you guys stay?"

Bo nodded to Mary who turned and left the room. Lauren sat on one side of the bed while Bo sat on the other,

"Did you have fun today?" Bo asked, leaning down next to Maverick who cuddled into her chest.

"It was great. Did you guys have fun or was it boring just watching?"

Lauren smiled, "We could never be bored watching you snowboard, Mav. You're amazing."

"I'm a little rusty."

Bo smiled, "Well, we couldn't tell."

"I can do better."

"Well, there's time for that." Bo replied, "Were you happy out there today, Mav?"

The young boy nodded, "I love snowboarding... but it was really great today because you guys were there to watch. Family makes things special." He said, his eyes heavy with sleep.

Bo nodded, looking at Lauren's hand that slid beneath hers, as the blonde moved to lay next to the young boy. Bo thread her fingers into Lauren's as the blonde turned to Maverick,

"Family does make things special. Now sleep."

"Don't leave." Maverick replied.

Lauren laid her head down on one side of the young boy while Bo laid hers down on the other, their hands joined across the young boy,

"We're right here, Mav." Bo replied, her eyes closing.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren awoke to the sounds of soft snores coming from the other two occupants of the bed. She propped her head up, the moonlight through the window giving just enough light to see the silhouettes of the two people who had captured her heart many months ago.

How had she allowed herself to leave a life that was more perfect than any she had ever known? She supposed she now understood the phrase 'you don't know what you have until it's gone' or 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'. The problem was, there was no green grass here right now... only snow everywhere she looked.

It was symbolic... this place had grown colder and colder with each month she'd stayed away from her warm home state. But the warmth of the love the two laying before her now was a warmth that couldn't compare with the warmth of the sun... it was a feeling that held her heart and made her feel safe. She'd been reliving her youth for the past several months... exposing herself to new experiences... partying, going for the adrenaline rush, throwing herself into social situations and anything else her new friends offered. As she lay here now, she realized that she missed the quiet that was once her life. She missed the routine... waking up knowing that her life, in many ways, was predictable. It was a comfort that she missed.

She ran her fingers over Bo's forearm... she'd missed the touch of this woman, the laughter of this little boy, the way he challenged her to see the world from his point of view... a child's point of view... something she'd never had the opportunity to do. She'd had to grow up so fast.

Sighing, she whispered to the pair, "I'm so sorry I traveled so far from my path... I have so many regrets in my life and I never wanted to have another, but now, I do and it's my greatest regret... leaving you is my greatest regret ever... so... I don't know how... but some way... we're all going to be together again and if I have my way... we'll never be apart again."

The sudden movement of the brunette took Lauren by surprise. Propping herself up on her elbow, Bo leaned across Maverick,

"I'm going to hold you to that, Dr. Lewis. I don't know how you're going to make that happen, but I'm going to hold you to it." Bo paused looking down at Maverick, "I won't let you break his heart again, Lauren... I won't allow it... and I won't let you break mine either. Maybe your words had been better left to the dark, but I heard them and now I'm going to make you own them. Bring your love for us into the light, Lauren. You've lived in the darkness long enough."

Bo watched as the glimmer of a single tear traveled down Lauren's cheek in the moonlight. She whispered,

"Don't cry... just love us."

Lauren nodded, "I do, Bo... I really, really do."

Bo laid her head back down next to Maverick, her eyes on Lauren as she spoke, "I'm going to go change, grab a drink and then go for a walk. It's become a bit of a habit for me... I usually only sleep for two or three hours at a time these days, so a walk helps me get back to sleep."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Bo asked.

"Of course not. You stay here just in case he wakes. I'm okay, Bo... I promise. It's just that... well, I'm just... I'm working through... things."

"Okay, I have no idea what that means, but I'm trusting that the way you are working through things is a healthy way and not Tess' way."

Lauren chuckled, "No more Tess and her ways. Believe me, I've had twenty-four hours to think about how ridiculous her suggestions were and I'm embarrassed that I ever bought into any of it... I'm utterly, utterly mortified and humiliated as a professional that I didn't see right through her charade."

"Give yourself a break, Doctor. You were going through a bit of trauma and were probably not in the best frame of mind when you met."

Lauren shook her head, "Ciara warned me and I didn't listen. Instead, I just stopped calling her so I wouldn't have to listen. She told me my mind was too pliable... that I was susceptible to the influence of others. I'm ashamed to admit that I thought that influence was yours... that I was staying because it was what you wanted, so I left because..."

"... because it was the opposite of what you thought I wanted, not necessarily because it was what you wanted."

Lauren nodded, "I thought it was what I wanted... I convinced myself it was what I wanted... and now..."

"... now you're in a contract..."

"I'm stuck here... the two of you have a home in Hawaii and I'm stuck here for at least fourteen more months."

"Lauren..."

"I screwed up, Bo... I screwed up and now I have to pay the consequences and if you and Maverick want a life with me, you have to pay them as well... I screwed up and you both suffer if you choose me."

"And it's a price we would both gladly pay because we love you, Lauren. It's not about where we're living... that's just geography. It's about what we do with the time we're together be it by Skype, FaceTime, phone or in person. It's about quality, not quantity."

"That sounds good, Bo but you know that long distance is tough."

"No, these last few months have been tough. As long as you take our calls and return our texts, we can survive. It will be hard, but we will survive it. Trust the love we share as a family, Lauren."

The blonde pulled her phone from her back pocket, "Speaking of family... I sent a long text today... I sent it to Kenzi, Tamsin and Ciara... they didn't reply."

"A little of your own medicine, perhaps?" Bo replied.

"Well, that's petty."

Bo laughed, but pulled in the volume out of fear of waking her young charge, "No, it's deserved if that's what they're doing. Sorry... just being honest. Now you know how we all felt... over and over and over again. Try sending a few messages every day for the next few days until we leave..."

"Okay, I get it."

"No, Lauren... you don't because it didn't happen to you. We all tried to keep in touch with you... you were the one rejecting us... trusting someone you had just met over people who had, I thought, earned your trust. It's a hard pill to swallow, so just give them time."

Lauren nodded, "And you?"

"I'll be okay... I'm hurt, Lauren but I love you... I've never stopped loving you... but I still want you healthy and that includes seeing you make healthy choices for yourself and for us. It's hard watching someone you love keep making the same mistakes like I have you... I want you happy, Lauren. I want you to believe you can start being happy now. You don't have to dwell on your past. It's okay to put it behind you."

"I wish you could tell my past that. It seems to find me when I try to leave it behind."

Bo smiled and nodded, "I guess it's true what they say about your past catching up with you, but hopefully this will be the end of it. Tess' testimony will be the key to connecting Evony to this latest fiasco and if they give her a few years for the testimony, so be it."

"What's to stop her from coming after me again?" Lauren asked.

"The FBI?" Bo replied.

"I guess that's true."

"They'll always keep you notified of where she is, Lauren. When she gets out, you'll know it... and she may not get out for quite some time."

"Well, I'm going to go for my walk. It helps me to clear my head."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, Bo... really... it's okay. I'd rather walk alone."

"Stay nearby, okay?"

Lauren nodded, "I will. I'll keep my phone with me."

Bo lowered her head to the pillow as Lauren stood and turned towards the door. The blonde stopped and turned back, moving around the bed to lean over Bo and place a soft kiss on her cheek. The brunette looked up at the blonde, their gaze holding firm for a moment, eyes speaking more than words could ever say before Lauren lowered her lips to Bo's. The kiss surged through Bo, filling her with a sense of warmth and love, offering a respite from the separation she'd felt from the blonde.

"I love you, Bo. I'll be back soon."

"See you then." Bo replied as she watched Lauren walk away, stopping for a moment in the doorway to look back, offering the brunette a quiet smile.

Bo watched the door close, knowing that Lauren's heart had opened to hers once again. This was the start... they would find their way back to each other. Slowly, but surely, the turbulent seas they'd been forced to navigate since the day they'd first met would calm and gentler winds would guide their path.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Bo! Bo! Wake up!"

The brunette slowly opened one eye to find the face of her young companion lingering mere inches from her own,

"Mav, you better have an amazing reason for waking me up!"

"I do! Mary makes amazing pancakes! Come on! Lauren already went out to help her with breakfast! It's not good manners to be a guest who lays in bed while the people that invited you do all the work!"

Bo groaned, knowing that her young mentee was throwing her own words back in her face. Sometimes she hated being the teacher. Students were allowed to break rules once in a while, but as the one making the rules, you always had to back up your words with actions.

She reluctantly opened her eyes and sat up, "Go on. I'll be there as soon as I'm finished in the bathroom. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Uh-huh. Mary had some of my old clothes from when I was here last... they're a little smaller, but they were baggy to begin with so they sort of fit now."

Bo nodded as the sweatpants and sweatshirt Maverick had on before she registered what was printed on them,

"Junior Olympics?"

"Yea, I was in a J.O. program but I wasn't old enough to compete in Worlds... I had to compete in the Youth program."

Bo wasn't sure what any of that meant, but Grant had said they would talk about Maverick's options today. The brunette wanted as much information about choices as possible so they could work through them over the next several weeks.

"Come on, Bo!" Maverick yelled, running out of the room.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Bo whispered, wiping the sleep from her eyes, "I hate morning... even in Colorado I hate morning."

"I'm not surprised. You hate morning no matter where you are... Hawaii, Colorado, Rio..." Lauren smiled, handing the brunette a cup of coffee.

"Oh thank gawd. You might as well put another pot on... better yet, just start a coffee I.V... I'm going to need a lot of caffeine. What is wrong with me?"

"You were pretty restless last night... well... this morning, actually. I think it was in response to Maverick being restless."

"He was restless?"

Lauren nodded, "He was better when I held him."

"Yea, Hale suggested that about two months ago. He's been sleeping outside with me... it's a long story that has to do with another little girl who has a more minor case of PTSD from the storms that hit us. Anyway, I hold him very tightly, binding his arms by his side and curling him into a sort of fetal position. He relaxes almost immediately... something about reverting back to innate responses in the womb or something."

Lauren nodded, "I seem to recall some research about..."

"No offense, sweetie, but it's too early to talk science. My brain will implode if I have to concentrate too much."

The blonde laughed, "Well, get in the shower and get ready. Mary and Grant's sons are taking Maverick dog sledding so we can have an adult chat."

"Where does that kid get his energy?"

"He's high on life, baby." Lauren smiled, "You taught him that, so blame yourself."

"Hooray me." Bo replied sarcastically as Lauren took the cup from her hand, "Hey! I need that!"

"You're not drinking coffee while you take a shower, pee or brush your teeth. I'll have it all warmed up for you when you get to the kitchen. Now hurry... it's not polite..."

"I know, I know... Mary is making awesome pancakes and it's rude not to help."

Lauren turned and walked out the door, leaving a grumpy Bo behind, "The worst part is that I'm not even hungry."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

With the boys gone, Bo and Lauren were seated at the table with Grant and Mary, The brunette was downing her third pancake, apparently finding herself much more famished than she'd previously thought.

"So, what do you ladies want to know?" Grant asked.

"His background with regards to snowboarding? How he got involved, what his goals and dreams were versus what his parent's goals and dreams were."

Grant smiled, "His parents weren't those overbearing types. They wanted whatever he wanted. They actually didn't want him to compete, but he wanted it as much as he wanted air. We all tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted he could handle the pressure. For that reason, we spent a lot of time working on the sports psychology aspect of sport. He's sharp and has never really let the pressure get to him."

Bo nodded, "Good to know. So... how good is he, Grant?"

"He's one of the best I've ever seen at his age, Bo. Quite honestly, the boy knows no fear and when he does fear, he is quite capable of talking himself through the technicalities of what he's attempting, thereby making him feel more sure he can accomplish the move."

"I think I understand what you mean."

Grant nodded, "Well, having drowned while doing what you love, I'm sure you do."

"I used to surf... well, people said I was reckless... I never thought about dying or getting hurt... that was beneath me. Now, I surf differently. I mean... I'm not reckless, but I'm also more aware of what I'm choosing to do. I'm more conservative in some ways, but I'm smoother and more... connected... to what I'm doing than I've ever been in my life."

Grant nodded again, "So that's what Maverick picked up from you."

"What's that?" Bo asked, downing her orange juice before wiping her mouth and sitting back, "That was great... I'm so full."

Mary smiled before Bo turned to Grant and answered his question,

"My sister and I have worked on getting him to focus on what he feels beneath the board... to sit into it and go where it takes him like a paintbrush gliding across an empty canvas... we had him paint so he would understand the feeling."

"Interesting... as a snowboarder, you can see the difference now. His moves used to lack connection. Now, he flows easily from one move into the next. His tricks in the pipe were almost seamless. It was a very new look."

"Is that good?"

"Oh, definitely, yes. I think he can benefit from surfing when he's not around snow."

Bo nodded, "I'm glad to hear you say that because it may be some time before we can get him here on a more permanent basis."

Grant nodded, "I understand. We will be here to do anything we can for Maverick. He's like another son to us... a much younger son, but one nonetheless."

"Good to know." Bo replied, although part of her felt a surge of jealousy at the thought of Maverick living with them instead of her or Lauren.

"Okay then... let's talk competition and options." Bo said, taking out her iPad to take notes.

"Okay, well you see..." Grant began.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	14. Chapter 14: Wherever the Road May Lead

_**A/N:**_ _Hello everyone! Apologies for the long delay, but as a reward, I'm posting a double-length chapter that finally resolves many of the issues that have been plaguing our favorite couple. My spelling and grammar check was quick at best, so please excuse!_

 _I hope this finds all of the Lost Girl fanfic family well and enjoying what are currently the fall months here in the USA! What that means depends on if you live in the north, south, east, west or Midwest, but overall, it means that the heat wave that has been lingering since what was supposed to be spring is mostly broken... for now!_

 _Anyway... hope you are all happy and enjoying whatever season you are currently in the midst of... I know those of you who are near the southern poles are approaching your spring and summer months! Why not try surfing?! :) I'll send Bo and Kenzi your way to give you a few lessons!_

 _Thanks again to all of you who have continually supported this story! Your reviews, comments and PM's are most welcome and appreciated. Hello to those who have just found this story as well as those who are still getting into Finding Our Way. Yes, the rewrite and trilogy are in process... the sequel will be in process eventually as well. It's a massive task, as I'm sure you might imagine. I wish I could say I'm working on it full time, but sadly, real life involves a real job that pays the mortage!_

 _Thank you to KTM250... check out her new story, Love and War._

 _Best wishes for a healthy September to everyone! As Beth would say... PEACE!_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 14: Wherever the Road May Lead**_

The day had been filled with conversation, until Maverick and the older boys returned with the dogs. They'd decided to spend their last night in Colorado with Grant and Mary, since Maverick had wanted to 'hang out' with them a bit longer before they had to return to Hawaii.

When they were alone, Maverick had confessed to Bo that he just didn't want Lauren to be around Tess again. He didn't like the person she was when she was with the other blonde and Bo had agreed with him. They gave the secret handshake that it would be their secret and that they would leave the decision about Tess up to Lauren.

When they returned to the Olympic Training Center for Bo's wave pool appointment, Danny and several agents from the FBI had instead requested some alone time. Mitch had taken Maverick into the pool for some surfing while Bo and Lauren received the news that Tess had been taken into custody. It turned out that the security cameras they'd placed in Laurens apartment had caught the blonde planting evidence... in the form of narcotics... in the doctor's apartment.

That had given them the evidence they needed for the warrants they had been previously unable to obtain to search her apartment in Colorado and her former apartment in Boston. In both locations, they'd found drugs, counterfeit money and most importantly... a room with news articles and photographs of Lauren and other doctors who had been involved with the supposed downfall of her snowboarding career.

Seeing pictures of the room had been hard for Lauren, but Bo had been there to support her as had Danny. There were red targets drawn on her face as well as two of the other doctors from the committee. The part that had disturbed Lauren the most was that they did not know what the red bulls eye meant. Danny had simply emphasized to the blonde that she was safe now... the evidence against Tess was strong and they also had evidence tying her to Evony. He expected to the case to be finalized quickly, especially with the feds involved.

Before Danny left to see the other members of Tess' circle of 'friends', he and the agents took testimony from Cody and Corey. The two younger men were very cooperative, agreeing to testify if necessary. They both wanted Lauren safe and if putting Tess away was how that would be achieved, they were on board.

It was approximately four hours before the officials had finally left with Danny being the last to go after saying his goodbyes. The two had then moved to the pool, assuming Maverick would be playing in the lap pool by now. Instead, they arrived to find the young boy trying to teach Cody and Corey how to surf.

Bo and Lauren stood by the pool, laughing as the pair suffered wipe out after wipe out. Maverick finally surrendered, his fingers pruning and his lips blue. Lauren hoisted him out of the pool, wrapping him in a towel before carrying him to the bleachers and holding him on her lap while he shivered.

Bo changed and hopped into the pool while the two snowboarders watched her workout. During the almost two and a half hour training session, she threw several new tricks with a good amount of consistency before deciding she had sufficient tools in her bag for her competition this weekend. They still had time before they had to be at the airport, so Cody and Corey re-entered the pool to get lessons from the expert.

After several tries, the two were able to stay up for a full three-minute run each. Cody even managed to perform a few cutbacks before wiping out on his best attempt at a 360. As the three climbed out of the pool, Cody commented to Bo,

"I've got even more mad respect for you now, Bo... and Maverick too. Surfing is much harder than it looks and it definitely doesn't translate easily from snowboarding. Hell, even the Doc does better than we do."

Bo smiled, "That she does, boys... that she does."

With their goodbyes said to the staff, the group headed for the airport. Bo was shocked to see the rest of their little pack waiting with their bags and boards with them. Pia was the first to speak,

"Hey! You're late!" She smiled, her blue hair, peeking out from beneath her North Face cable knit beanie.

Bo's eyes went wide, "Hey! You're here! I had no idea you were all coming to Hawaii!"

"Sun... surf... a chance to wear something other than waterproof, windproof and cold proof clothing... we're in!" Pia said, "I'll be stripping off layers every twenty miles!"

Cody smirked, "Does that mean you'll eventually be sitting on the plane in a bikini?"

Pia smacked Cody's shoulder on one side while Bo hit the other while the youngest of the group simply said,

"Gross."

"Hey, little stud... some day you'll understand the attraction to a bikini-clad woman. Until then, don't knock what you don't understand."

Bo pointed a finger at Cody, "Do not corrupt him!"

"Why the boards?" Lauren asked.

Pia looked at Cody, "We're all headed to Boston from Hawaii. You've still got an invite for Thanksgiving if you'd like to come. We're staying through Christmas since the training center is closed for the month."

Lauren nodded, "I appreciate the offer, but... well... my home has been under construction, so I'd like to check on the progress. I think I'm just going to hang at home and... well... see if I get an offer for holiday meals there."

Cody winked at Bo, "I have a feeling you'll have plans. If you don't, hop a flight to Boston and I'll pick you up at the airport... after I call Maverick to give him a piece of my mind about not inviting Lauren to spend the holiday with him."

The young boy was oblivious to Cody's comment as he made sure his new surfboard was carefully placed in the baggage check. Bo saw him checking the board and ran over,

"Uh... look... I'm sure you have many passengers who tell you how important their cargo is, but in this case, those boards he just checked and the three in my hands... well... this is my livelihood in here and my last flight with this airline left me without any boards. As a matter of fact, these are literally the only three I have now because the hurricane that hit Hawaii a few months ago, took out the rest of my inventory. I know that..."

"BO!"

Bo turned to see a familiar raven-haired boy headed her way, "Hey." She said, forgetting the young man's name.

"Kenzi called me and told me you were on flight 371 to Hawaii. I promised her I'd take care of your boards personally since I'm heading out on the same flight."

"You are?"

"Sure! You guys got me tickets for the Pro this weekend in Hawaii, so I figured I might as well be the personal escort for your gear."

He grabbed all of her bags, "Is this it?"

Bo shook her head, "Actually, there's eight of us in total. This little guy's boards just went back..."

"I heard you all talking and already pulled them aside to put with yours. Those are mighty small surfboards. Some new invention?"

She turned to see where he was pointing and smiled, "They're snowboarders heading to Boston for the holidays via Hawaii."

"I didn't know you could snowboard in Boston."

Cody laughed, "Well, I'm sure some people do, but we prefer something much steeper. We're headed to Killington, Vermont before heading north through Canada riding every mountain from there to Vancouver before heading south into Colorado again after Christmas."

"Now that makes more sense." The luggage boy replied, "I'd love to try snowboarding some time."

Cody extended his hand, "Name's Cody and we never turn down someone who wants to give our sport a try. You're always welcome."

"Name's Pete... and thanks for the invitation. I have three weeks vacation, so depending on how things pan out in Hawaii, I may just take you up on that offer."

Bo smiled as the Pete said his name, happy that Cody had done the introductions since he was clearly going to be around this weekend. She hated not remembering people's names... especially those who helped her with any aspect of her career... and let's face it... she couldn't compete without boards. She kept her eyes on him, finally remembering when he had helped her last. He was the kid who helped them to and from China a few years ago. Kenzi had promised him tickets if Bo ever broke into the top three. Leave it to her sister to remember a promise made years before. She truly was amazing with PR... almost as good as she was at marketing and computer hacking.

"Thanks for handling our gear, Pete. It's nice to know it will make it there with us. Bo's been through some nightmares with her gear lately." Cody replied.

Pete nodded, "Yea, Kenzi told me about your latest nightmare." He said as he turned back to Bo.

"Did she hook you up with a hotel? I'm sure she did, but I want..."

"I'm all good, Bo. She told me I'd be staying with some professor? I mentioned I love camping and that led to..."

Bo smiled, "No need to explain. Professor Meade loves anyone who loves the great outdoors. You'll be in good hands and he makes great campfire food... of course, you'll have to catch it first."

"Fresh fish! Yes!" the boy fist pumped, reminding Bo of Lauren's reaction on the day she'd caught her first fish with the Professor and cooked it over an open fire at the campground.

"Okay, that's everything?" Pete asked.

"It is. Thanks, Pete." Bo said, slipping the boy a twenty for his trouble.

Pete nodded, "Thanks, Bo. I'll see you on the flight."

Lauren, Cody and Corey also slipped Pete some cash and their thanks before the others followed suit. The group made their way down the corridor to the escalators. Bo gripped Maverick's hand firmly, making sure he kept up with them on the way to the gate.

As they walked, Bo thought about the conversation she was going to have with Maverick on the way home. It broke her heart to think of life at Kenbo without the young boy, but it simultaneously warmed her heart to think of Lauren having him there with her in Colorado. Of course, she wasn't sure that the doctor was ready to take responsibility for a child since she was still trying to figure herself out at this point, but she had ideas she wasn't yet ready to share about a temporary arrangement for him.

"Wow... look at all the planes, Bo! They didn't have this many when we left Hawaii! They're so cool! I wanna be an engineer like you guys! I wanna build that, Bo!"

The brunette took a knee next to the young boy whose face was plastered up against the glass, his fingers pointing at the various types of jets pulled up to the line of gates along the terminal. She kept her hand on the small of his back as she watched his animated explanation of how planes actually get into the air. She smiled, fully aware that his knowledge came from a book that Lauren had bought him on the subject of space flight. His science teacher had told Bo of his student's unquenchable thirst for more information on all types of aeronautical topics.

"Bo! Are you listening? Did you hear me? I could be a pilot, right? Do you think? Huh? What if I was a pilot? I could have my own plane! That would be so cool! I could live in Hawaii and Colorado and fly back and forth all the time!"

Bo smiled as his words hit her. There it was... he wanted both worlds... he wanted the seemingly impossible. Well, if it was what he wanted, Bo knew in that moment that she would move heaven and earth to help him to do just that.

"You can be whatever you want to be, Maverick... a surfer, a snowboarder, a pilot or an engineer. If you focus your energy on something that you want bad enough, you can usually earn what you seek in life."

"Well, I am only almost ten... I guess I don't have to decide right away, huh?"

"No... no you don't, Mav. I know that when I was your age, I wanted to stop earthquakes... it was something that happened a lot in California where I grew up. As I grew up and learned about volcanoes, I learned how the two were related. That's how I got into geological engineering... especially the deep water stuff. Of course, when I was even younger, I wanted to be a surfer." Bo laughed.

"And now you're both! I can be a pilot and a snowboarder and a engineer, right?"

Bo smiled, pulling the youngster to her side, "Well, if you're an aeronautical engineer, you probably have to know how to fly a plane to understand how it works, so I guess so! You know it's your choice, but you also know how I feel about you just being a snowboarder."

Maverick nodded, "You want me to go to college because if I get hurt and my career ends before I can make a living on snow, I need a back up plan, right?"

"Right. And just think of it... if you were an engineer, maybe you could build the perfect snowboarding course for the Olympics! You could build them, ride them and watch huge competitions held on your courses." Bo smiled.

Maverick smiled, "I never thought of that... I mean about the people who build the courses like the half pipe." He watched as another plane taxied into the terminal before he turned his eyes towards Bo, "So engineering is your back up plan?"

Bo nodded, "Yup and Kenzi's is her marketing and business degree."

"But you're both already doing both!"

"We are and so can you, as long as you can learn to focus on what's most important and manage your time to juggle both worlds. When I have a competition coming up, I have to make my workouts my priority, so I have to make sure I'm caught up on all of my projects at work so I can leave work on time. Of course, it helps that Pops is so understanding about my second career."

"I have to find a Pops."

Bo smiled, "Well, I'm sure there is no one quite like Pops out there, but I'm sure you can find someone who feels the same way about letting you live both of your dreams."

"I hope so." He turned towards the planes, his fingers splayed out across the glass, "Because I have a lot of stuff I wanna do... like, I'd really like to be able to fly one of those and still be able to snowboard too."

"Well, then that's what we'll focus on for now."

Bo watched Maverick's eyes wander around the scene outside. He was so focused on every detail of what was going on with the planes and the workers... Bo guessed it was like what her Dad used to describe about how she used to sit and read about every earthquake ever recorded in California.

She wasn't sure what was going to happen in Maverick's future, but she did know that he was going to need her full support. Regardless of what her own personal desires might be with his living situation, she knew she had to be strong enough not to interfere or influence his decision. She'd had a long discussion with Grant, Mary and Lauren about what his parents would have wanted for him, but they were gone now. As unfortunate as that was, it was Maverick's new reality and his life was now about what he wanted for himself. Every choice Bo made for her charge moving forward... regardless of her own hopes... was about Maverick and she was determined to help him achieve the dream that he dreamed for his life.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren was asleep against the window while Maverick read a book on planes given to him by the flight attendant. The young gentleman had promised to try to get Maverick a visit to the cockpit to meet the pilot once they were settled into their flight pattern and the weather was calmer.

Bo had been struggling with how to bring up the topic of Maverick's future for the last fifteen minutes, so she finally just decided to go for it,

"So, Mav... we need to talk. Would you mind putting the book aside for a little while?"

Maverick put the book in the seat back pocket and leaned over towards Bo, "Okay, but we should whisper a little so we don't wake up Lauren. I don't think she slept too good last night."

"Slept too well and why do you say that?"

"Why do you always correct my English?"

"It's my job to reinforce Mrs. Brody's curriculum... besides, she does it to me all the time. If I have to correct my English, so do you. It's only fair, right?"

Maverick laughed, "Alright."

"So why don't you think Lauren slept well?"

"She was talking in her sleep about that woman Nadia."

Bo frowned, "How do you now about Nadia?"

"Duh... I'm a kid, but I'm kinda smart, Bo. You adults think us kids don't listen, but we hear stuff when you think we're busy doing other things. Nadia and Ebony are the bad people and they hurt Lauren. That's why she's so sad all the time and I think that's the real reason she moved away. Did we do something wrong too?"

This was not a conversation Bo was prepared to have, but she was going to have to respond in some way. Maverick was not going to let this one go,

"We didn't do anything wrong, Mav. You already know that Lauren was on her own a lot as a kid, right?"

"Yup. She said she was like Cinderella only instead of a wicked stepmother, she had a wicked stepfather, right?"

Bo smiled, "I didn't know she shared that with you, but yes... I suppose that's a good way of explaining it. Well, after she finally broke away from her stepfather, you know that she lost her Mom and lived with her Aunt, but when she went to college, her Aunt wasn't around much... she doesn't know where she is now."

"Sort of like my sister?"

Bo frowned, "Well, she has an idea where her Aunt is, so I guess it's a little bit different."

"If she knows where she is, why doesn't she go find her?"

"Honestly... I really don't know, Maverick. That's Lauren's decision and I'm sure at some point, she'll either decide to look for her or not."

"So it's none of our business?" Maverick asked.

"Well, we love Lauren, right?"

Maverick nodded, his eyes moving towards the blonde, "I'm still sorta mad at her sometimes because she hurt my heart, but I guess I still love her anyway. Do you?"

Bo nodded, "I do."

"It's the right thing to do, right? We're not supposed to love people half way just because they make mistakes. We have to love them just the way they are, right?"

Sometimes, Bo just wanted to scoop this little boy up and put him in her pocket so she could carry him with her for all eternity. She could only hope that somewhere, somehow his parents could see him right now and be as proud of him as she was in that moment,

"That's right, Mav. We have to accept people for who they are, just as they are and love them no matter what."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to do with Lauren." He looked up at Bo, "Did Nadia and Ebony hurt her?"

Bo nodded, "Nadia and Evony did hurt Lauren... and they did some things that allowed them to keep hurting her even when they weren't around. We're working with that detective Danny to stop them from ever hurting Lauren again, but I have to tell you, Mav... you were right about Tess. If you ever see her again, I want you to go to the nearest adult, pull them aside and tell them that you aren't supposed to be around her, okay?"

"I should be a detective like Danny. I knew Tess was bad. I got... well, I don't know what you call it but I got that stuff that Sherlock Holmes has when he solves his cases."

Bo smiled, "I'm sure you do. So we have to add detective to the list too?"

"I wanna be a lotta stuff, Bo."

"I noticed."

"So what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Your future. Do you really want to be a snowboarder?"

"I think so... I mean... it's what my parents wanted me to do... well... my Dad always said that if it's what I wanted then it's what they wanted. I was good at it and everyone told me I was so I thought it was a good thing to do."

Bo nodded, "I understand exactly what you mean, Mav. I was good at surfing, but I really wanted to stop earthquakes from happening. I started surfing because everyone else told me I should. I'm still not sure it's what I really, really want to do, but for now, I'm doing it because I do love it... I just love geology more."

"Are you gonna do the Olympics?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Mav."

"But we could go together, Bo!"

This was something Bo had not considered. If she did go for the 2020 games, Maverick would be fourteen and two years away from the 2022 games. He would be at the Olympic Training Center if he were a contender for the team.

"That would be pretty cool, huh?" Bo smiled, making no promises.

"That would be the best! Kenzi would be there and Lauren too!"

Bo nodded, "It sounds like that could be a possibility. So, I'm just wondering... if I wasn't there, but Lauren was... with Grant, Mary, Cody, Corey and eventually Kenzi... would you want to live there?"

Maverick's eyes went wide, "But where would you be?"

This was the hard part, "I would be at the Kenbo School doing my jobs, visiting you once a month... sometimes twice a month unless you guys flew home."

"I don't think so." Maverick replied quickly.

"You don't think so about what?"

"I don't wanna go to Colorado anymore." He said, a definitive tone to both voice and mannerisms.

"Maverick..."

He pulled away from Bo before looking directly in her eyes, "No! I lost my whole family, I lost Lauren and I'm NOT losing you too!" He raised his voice causing the people around him to look their way. Lauren awoke, turning immediately to face Bo,

"Are you guys okay?" She asked, her eyes struggling to open fully.

Bo placed a gentle hand on Maverick's leg, and nodded before turning back to the blonde, "We're fine, Lauren. Go back to sleep."

Maverick shook his head, "We're not fine if you're gonna make us be apart, Bo. I'm not doin' it!" He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes firmly planted on the seatback in front of him, his legs swaying back and forth in mid air over the edge of his seat.

Bo placed a finger over her lips, encouraging the young boy to lower his voice,

"Maverick, I already told you that I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. I'm just trying to have a conversation with you about what you want, because whatever you want is what I want."

He shrugged "Well then, there's no need to have the conversation because what I want it to be with you no matter where that is or what I have to give up. If I'm in Hawaii, I'll surf and study. If I'm in Colorado, then I'll be a snowboarder and... wait... where would I study if I was back there?"

"You'd go to school in Colorado like you used to, but you would probably be somewhere closer to Colorado Springs since I think Lauren may have talked Grant into coaching Team USA at the training center."

"Really?" Maverick asked, his eyes wide, "He really doesn't like those other coaches... especially the guy named Tanner... he used to coach me and my friend Amanda. He's really mean and he tried to make us do stuff we were afraid to do. He called Amanda a bad word and made her cry."

Bo looked up at Lauren who, naturally, had not gone back to sleep and was well aware of their conversation,

"Well, I know that Lauren is working on getting the coaching staff straightened out based on Grant's recommendations, but she has to work with the sub-committee that governs snowboarding through the USOC to do that... until then, I just want you to consider your options, okay?"

"Living without you isn't an option, Bo. Can we please not talk about that ever again? It makes my tummy hurt."

Bo looked up at Lauren who was giving the brunette her best 'I told you so' face,

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just don't want to be the reason you look back on your life one day and say, 'I should have gone to the Olympics' but Bo didn't make that happen for me. Can you understand that?"

"I guess." Maverick sighed.

"Besides, even if I'm in Hawaii, there may be a way that you and I being apart might not be so bad. I mean... you'd still have Kenzi there from Hawaii and Lauren is the team Doctor, so she'd be there, plus you'd have Grant and Mary back in your life. You'd have great training partners in Cody, Corey and the rest of the gang... I just want you to think about it, okay? I'm not pressuring you, but if you did decide it's what you wanted to do, I swear to you I would do all I could to be there as much as I could."

"Then you will go to the Olympics?"

Bo sighed, "All I could except that... I'm a lot older than the other surfers, Mav and..."

"That's not true and besides, my Mom used to tell me that age is just a number... I mean... I don't really know what that means, but I heard her tell my Dad that when he didn't want her to learn to snowboard with me."

Bo nodded, "Okay then... here's the deal... I'll think about the Olympics if you think about making the move to Colorado again."

"I'll think about it, but I'm not gonna change my mind unless you're going there too."

"Well, we have until after New Year's to decide."

"And then what?" Maverick asked.

"Then we do whatever you want... I guess based on what we both decide." Bo replied with a smile, "I promise you that I will not force you to do anything you don't want to do yourself."

"Honest?"

"Honest, Mav." Bo smiled.

The young boy leaned up against the brunette, lifting her arm to wrap it around himself,

"I'm gonna take a nap now." He snuggled into Bo's side.

The brunette smiled, "Okay, Mav. I'll be right here when you wake up."

"You'll wake me up if the pilot wants to see me?"

"Absolutely. I will not let you sleep through your chance at the cockpit."

"Good, 'cause that is way more important than sleeping."

The young boy smiled as he closed his eyes. Bo stared down at him for a while before her eyes moved up to find Lauren's gaze placed intently on the two of them.

"You're his constant, Bo."

The brunette shrugged, "That's just because I haven't left him, Lauren. You were as much a constant in his life before you left... and Kenzi is a constant as well. We both know he would adjust after a while. He's young and he's resilient."

Lauren nodded, "Still... you won't force him..."

"This is 100 percent his choice, Lauren. I won't force him into anything."

"Okay... good."

"Lauren, just do you know... if he decides on Colorado, I'm not going to leave him with you. Grant and Mary or Kenzi and Tamsin will be my recommendations to the state. It's nothing personal... but I think we both know you are not ready to take care of a kid on your own when you still have so many things to work out on your own."

Lauren nodded, "I'm better, Bo... I am... and by the time..."

Bo shook her head, effectively cutting the blonde off, "I'm sure you are better... in some ways... but Lauren, you allowed yourself to be taken advantage of by Tess. Maverick knew there was something up with her from the minute he met her. I knew it too, but I tried to talk myself out of it because I was afraid it was just jealousy."

She watched Lauren turned her eyes downward, her fingers toying with the gold medal necklace that hung low on her chest.

"Lauren, you said that you left Hawaii to work on yourself. You wanted to become independent and not rely on others... to stand on your own two feet. Do you think you did that?"

"I made new friends, I made a smooth transition to my new job, I'm conquering my fears but trying many new things and I'm taking care of myself. I feel... refreshed... like I have so many new possibilities in my life."

"And that's great, Lauren... you should pursue those. Having a child to care for would mean that you couldn't do that."

"You don't trust me with him." Lauren said flatly.

Bo sighed, "Lauren, I don't trust you with myself. We talked about it."

"And I told you I'm going to work hard to earn your trust back, Bo."

"And I believe that, Lauren. But these things take time and Maverick needs someone to take care of him now if he goes back to Colorado. Right now, I just don't think that someone should be you. You're too... uncertain of yourself."

"Uncertain? You mean unstable."

"No, I don't and please don't put words in my mouth." Bo frowned while Lauren remained silent.

"Lauren... when you left Hawaii, you told me it was because you were taking the job in Colorado to find yourself... to become independent."

"And I did do a little of both... and I'm still working on myself."

"I know you feel that way, but... well, I'm sorry Lauren, but you walked right into Tess' trap... again. You seem to allow these women to take advantage of you and... well, what if Maverick had been with you when Kristy came after you? Would you have considered taking him in when Nadia was still free? You allowed him to spend an entire day with Tess... a woman who did not permit you to talk to him for months. Think about that, Lauren..."

"I know, but..."

"No buts, Lauren. You are the most brilliant doctor... everyone knows it... but your instincts with regards to people are... geez... I hate this!"

Bo threw her hands up into her hair causing Maverick to jump, "Shhh... sorry, Mav... go back to sleep."

"Mmmm... seat belt... off... off..."

He fought the restraint until Bo finally released it, lifting her arms to allow him to curl up and position himself on her lap. The pair watched as the youngster settled back into a restful sleep before Bo looked up at Lauren,

"I hate having to say this stuff to you. I love you, Lauren but you're so naïve about life and people. Nadia didn't just abuse you, sweetie... she sheltered you in the worst possible way. You once told me that you have trouble with trust, but the truth is... you moved to Colorado and fell right into trusting Tess and dammit, I was pissed about it... I still am. I just don't understand... the only thing I can imagine is that you were here and alone... you were lonely, so you leaned on the only person who was offering... someone who told you they were attracted to you... you were flattered and felt worthy... Nadia taught you that... that your self-worth is all based on your appearance."

Bo shook her head, her eyes on Maverick as she continued, "You're better than that... and you can be alone and be independent... you are a strong, independent woman who does not need anyone to be worthy of others."

Bo looked up at the blonde, "But I can't make you feel that... you have to feel it for yourself... and... well, before you left... the day we went grocery shopping... I caught a glimpse of that version of you. It was the same woman that sat in her house and called Pops to start the renovations on your house. Do you remember? Can you remember how you felt in that moment?"

Lauren nodded, "I felt... empowered."

"And have you felt that since coming to Colorado?"

Lauren shrugged, "At the training center, yes... everywhere else, I felt like I was following a crowd that I didn't fit into. I think you're right... I squeezed myself into Tess' mold because she liked me... I wanted to give her a reason to continue to like me... just... not too much."

"And if she got tired of waiting for you to like her the way she claimed to like you?"

Lauren nodded, her eyes downcast, "I think you're right... I think I would have done whatever I had to so she would have stayed in my life."

Bo nodded, "And I think she would have done that sooner rather than later, because I'm guessing Evony already had your number on that front, sweetie. I hate to say it, but I'd be willing to bet that she would have worked her way into your life and become Nadia 2.0 within another few months."

Lauren's eyes filled with tears as she sat staring at her hands for a long while. As the tears began to fall, Bo turned away, unable to look at the hurt on the blonde's face.

"You're right, Bo... I've got a long way to go. I have to learn to be on my own."

Bo shook her head, "No, Lauren... we're not going to be apart again. We love each other and there's nothing wrong with that... but you can't allow yourself to believe that the only you have is to the love that we share. You are so much more than just half of Bo and Lauren. You are so much more than just a doctor. It's those other parts that you have to find."

Lauren nodded, "I understand... Maverick will be better off with you or Grant or Kenzi... you're right. So... do you really have no idea if you're going to continue with surfing?"

"I really don't know. I have the school, Lauren... it's been my dream for so long to help kids that were left behind like Kenzi and I... it's why I feel so connected to Maverick... to Emma... to all of the kids at the school. I don't just want to become a figure-head there... someone who stops by once a month and throws money at the school."

"I understand, Bo. Those kids need you, but not everyone trains at the training center full time. I'm sure you could work something out."

Bo nodded, "That will all depend on who they pick for the coaching staff."

"Well, they've already said they want the Dennis sister package."

"Yea... the great marketing ploy of 2020. I want to earn my spot on the team... I will not let our shot at the Olympics become tarnished by some marketing conspiracy contrived by the WSL. I will do what the USOC decides needs to be done for the good of the sport."

Lauren chuckled, "It sounds to me like you've already made your decision."

"We'll see." Bo replied, looking down at Maverick, "There are an awful lot of kids just like Maverick back home, Lauren. How can I just walk out on them?"

"Is that how you feel about me taking the job in Colorado? That I walked out on the kids?"

Bo scowled and shook her head, "I didn't say that, Lauren. You aren't me... that school wasn't your idea. You aren't the one that started the school and committed to it. You don't owe the school... or me, for that matter, anything. You never signed a contract or even made a verbal deal to be there. But I did... and to walk away to chase an Olympic dream now seems... well... selfish. By comparison, I've had the chance to be a surfer, win a championship, rise to fame, go to college, chase volcanoes and land a job with a top engineering firm."

The brunette looked down at Maverick as she continued, "He deserves the same chances life gave me after my parents were gone... he and all of the other kids. It's my way of giving back and I need to do it... to help them get the chances I've had."

"But Bo, no one handed you those opportunities. You had to earn them... fight for them on your own. There's nothing wrong with those kids not having you there every day... you've given them the school, the staff, the legal and financial support to reach for the stars."

Bo shrugged, "Maybe... but I can't help but feel like they deserve my presence. This school... it's personal, Lauren. I don't expect you to understand. You weren't there when it was being built and you didn't grow up without any adults around you."

"Is that supposed to be some sort of dig about me bailing on you?"

"No, no... of course not. I'm just saying that even though we both lost our parents, you at least had your Aunt..."

Lauren shuddered at the mention of the woman who had raised her through her teen years. She had yet to make a move to try to find her. She was torn as to what to do. She felt abandoned, betrayed and many other emotions she couldn't yet identify.

"I guess that's true." Lauren replied.

"You know I don't think you bailed on me. You were where you needed to be and I supported you in getting the help you needed from the time you left Rio. If we had been a committed couple who opened the school together, I might feel differently but that wasn't the case."

"I did say I would help you with the medical facility..."

"And you did, partly by connecting me with Dr. Mansfield who brought a whole new group of doctors to the school."

"What?"

"Sorry... I didn't really have a chance to talk to you about what's been going on back home."

Lauren sighed, "No time like the present... I mean... we're on a plane so it's not like I can walk away."

"Why would you want to walk away?" Bo asked.

"Figure of speech." Lauren replied quickly.

"Well, we brought on a local practice of twenty-five doctors who have agreed to rotate their on-call shifts to cover the school, inclusive of regular physical exams, preventative medicine, emergency care and treatment as well as caring for general medical needs. They have a staff of nurses' who will rotate into the school daily as well."

"Wow... that's... I mean... are they volunteering the time or charging the school?"

"We get a stipend from the State to cover some of the expenses and I needed a licensed physician and at least a licensed School Nurse on staff. I did what I had to do."

Lauren nodded, "Because I left."

Bo sighed, "Don't take it personally, Lauren. You were gone, Dr. Mansfield accepted your old position at the hospital and I was stuck. I did what I had to do. You knew someone would have to fill the positions you left behind and someone did... it just took multiple someone's and some State funding to do so."

"They should be volunteering their time so the money can be put to use on other things the children need." Lauren grumbled.

"Yea, well I couldn't find anyone to do that, so like I said, I did what I had to do."

"They could be offering their services for free, claiming it as a charitable contribution for their practice on their taxes and releasing the State monies to medical supplies and facilities. It is unacceptable and darn near unethical for a medical practice to accept funds from another charitable organization. We took an oath!"

Lauren was clearly upset, but Bo wasn't so sure it was because StatDocs, Inc was taking their money. In that moment, she believed Lauren was feeling the weight of her own guilt for leaving the school without a doctor.

"You should have called me, Bo. I would have spoken to them about the cause and financial options."

Bo laughed, "Really, Lauren? I should have called you? Do you really want to go there with me right now? Because if you do, I'm not so sure that I won't end up screaming at you at the top of my lungs while pacing up and down the aisles of this plane."

Lauren turned on Bo before it hit her... her traveling companion was reminding her that she had called her... several times a week for months and she had all but ignored the calls. She'd abandoned her... she had left her without guidance despite the fact that she had promised to be available via Skype or phone if Bo had questions about finishing the planned emergency facilities. In that moment, Lauren realized that this entire conversation had become about her own guilt.

"I'm sorry, Bo... of course... you did what you were forced to do. You had no where else to turn... I took your other options away when I failed to respond to your attempts to contact me."

Bo sat thinking how many people, in a moment like this, would tell the other person 'it's okay' or 'I understand' or something that would offer and excuse for the actions of the other, but Bo couldn't bring herself to offer that to the blonde. The truth was, Lauren's refusal to reply to the efforts of her family and friends for months was not okay... it wasn't something that any of them understood. Even if Tessa had turned out to be a real doctor, Bo still would have found the blonde's silence to be as dismissive as it actually felt. After all of the understanding and support she and the others had provided, Lauren had turned her back on them and she felt validated in not responding as such.

"You hurt me, Lauren. You hurt Maverick. You hurt Kenzi, Ciara, Hale, Dr. Fitz, Moms and Pops... you put Tamsin in an impossible position by making her the only person you had any conversation of any substance with, but those conversations were hurtful in that you made it sound like your new life was so much better than your old one... a life she was a huge part of, Lauren. You belittled the very people who helped you to get to where you are today and you need to know that and think about that before we land... because actions have consequences, Lauren."

"I'm sorry."

Bo shook her head, "And that answer is just not gonna cut it. You're an adult, Lauren... your closest friends are all privy to information about your past that explains how your path to adulthood may not have given you some of the social skills the rest of us have developed, but as an adult, shutting out those who have provided you the most support is not going to just get a pass."

Lauren shrugged, "I... well... I don't know how to respond other than to say I'm sorry... I regret my actions... I do... but I don't know how I'm supposed to undo what I've done other than to apologize... I am sorry."

"I guess that's the point... you can't undo what you've done... you have to be prepared to handle whatever comes your way. I know that if you'd had to make the decision to come home to see this competition this weekend without Cody, Corey and your new friends it would likely have not been on your radar at all. I sincerely doubt we would have seen you for the holidays at all the way things were going. That said, I don't think you've had time to really think about what this homecoming might be like for you... I'm not saying it will be unpleasant, but I can't say it won't be... I really do not know how everyone will react."

"But they know that I'm coming, right?"

Bo nodded, "They do, so I'm sure many conversations have been had, but understand, Lauren... much like Maverick here, they're hurt and will react as such."

The brunette ran her fingers through the young boys hair as he began to grow a bit restless. She'd learned that his nightmares usually began with tightening of his eyes, but if she played with his hair, he seemed to calm. She often wondered if it was something his parents used to do.

Lauren watched Bo's interaction with the young boy, "I wish he understood... I wish he could see how much I care about him... that my feelings for him never changed."

"Lauren, he's just a kid... how could he possibly understand? For kids, our behavior is very simple. If you love them, you're there for them... no matter what. You told him one thing and did another... that's very simple for a child. Think about your own childhood... use what you lived rather than be a victim of it, Lauren. Why do you feel the way you feel today about your childhood? Why do you continue to allow it to impact you?"

They sat staring at each other for a moment before Lauren asked, "Do you really want me to answer that or was it a hypothetical statement?"

"I want you to answer it... I want you to think about how your childhood molded the woman you are today. I think it is a crucial item in your recovery and I think that not because I'm a doctor, but because it was how Kenzi and I were able to leave much of our respective pasts behind. Granted, my little sister left her past behind much more effectively than I have, but she had me to help her process what happened... I didn't have anyone to do that for me... I just got angry that I had to be a parent to my sister instead of being able to go to college, party, go on dates and live a normal life like my peers."

"I guess I don't really know what impact my childhood had on who I am today."

"Really?"

Lauren nodded, "What else do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say you were abused by your step father, Lauren."

"I don't want to talk about that."

Bo looked at her watch, "We have about three more hours in the air, Lauren. I'll keep asking... like you said... no where to run."

"I don't want to talk about that. You can't make me."

"Tell me... say the words, Lauren... my step father abused me... why is that so hard for you to say? It's the truth, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I don't need to talk about it. It's in the past."

"It's part of your past and therefore part of you if you haven't dealt with what he did to you."

"It's not a problem."

"Really? Then why wouldn't you talk to Hale or Ciara about it in therapy?"

"I did say it in therapy."

"But no details."

"Details don't matter."

"I disagree."

"You don't want to get better, do you?"

"What? Of course I do!"

"Okay then, Physician, heal thyself... talk about it so you can move past it. We've both had psych 101, Lauren... you know you have to admit the problem in order to move past it, otherwise, you're just living in denial."

"I'm not denying it. I just don't see the need to talk about it."

"Look at you... you're turning red, your fists are clenched, your jaw is clenched, you're leg is bouncing up and down and you're picking at the skin on your fingers... I bring that man up and this is the reaction I get... consistently. You do need to talk about it. You do need to acknowledge it."

Lauren did not speak. She turned her head and looked out the window, losing herself in the fluffy white clouds. She could hear Bo's voice in the background... it was fading beneath the sound of the engines and the occasional voices of the flight attendants serving the guests. Her mind drifted back to the tiny house where she was raised... to a dinner table... to her Mom sitting across from her, bruised eyes downcast while her stepfather gripped her upper arm, his fingers pressing down on the already black and blue skin.

She remembered thinking that it must be painful. She remembered wondering why her Mom didn't pull her arm away or ask him to stop because it hurt. She remembered looking at her Mother's face... her eyes... somewhat vacant, yet also present in the moment. She remembered the single tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye near her temple and drained down the side of her face, the woman's head tilted just enough that he didn't catch a glimpse of it. Lauren knew why... she knew the cocked head was because he hated when she cried... he got angrier if she cried.

Her voice was quiet... haunting... barely there, but Bo heard her, "She taught me by the way she responded to him... she taught me how to survive him... detach... never let the pain show... don't cry, it doesn't help, it only makes things worse... don't argue, just agree... let him do as he pleases... submit to his needs, agree with his reasoning – no matter how deranged – and you will survive... survive... that's what's most important... living isn't important most of the time... when he's not home, we can live... for a few hours a day, we can live... survive so you can have a few hours of peace... that's what life is meant to be for people like us."

Bo's eyes brimmed with tears... no one should have this view of life... life was meant to be gripped with both hands and seized... holding on to each and every precious moment... making the most of every day, every hour, every minute... every single second should be a cherished memory... that was the goal of a life well-lived. No matter how short her parents' lives, she had always found some solace in the knowledge that they had each lived more in their forty-some years of life than most will live in eighty.

She watched as Lauren turned to her, tears streaming down her face and whispered,

"My God, Bo... I'm... I'm not living at all... I'm surviving... I'm... he... he abused me to the point where I grew up believing I didn't deserve better than him... I expected no better than him... Nadia... she was a continuation of the life I'd become accustomed to... the life I'd become comfortable with... freedom, praise, success, compliments..." she chuckled, "...love... those are things others deserve... those are the things of which I had no experience... I wouldn't have known what to do with that life... it was not comfortable... it wasn't something I looked for in my life."

Bo nodded, "You lived in chaos, so spent your life seeking to continue that chaos to avoid the discomfort of something unfamiliar?"

Lauren nodded, "I don't know how to stop being... me... the little girl who learned survival from my Mom... from my Aunt who grew up just like my Mom did... they were practically carbon copies of each other, other than the fact that my Aunt never remarried after her asshole of a husband died. She lived alone..."

The blonde looked out the window again, returning to the clouds as she thought of the woman who had cared for her after her Mom's death. She had always thought of her as strong and independent, but in reality, it now the familiar shell that her mother had worn... defensive posture... show no emotion... turn it off... exist... exist to get up and do it all over again tomorrow... don't trust, don't open yourself up to people... they'll only hurt you or disappoint you like her husband did... like her sister's second husband had done...

"... my Aunt was a lot like my Mom, but I saw her as strong and independent because she was different than my Mom... she didn't allow herself to be abused by a man... of course, that was because she never opened her heart to the possibility of love after the first husband treated her much like my Mom's second husband. My Mom taught me to survive and my Aunt taught me to shut down my needs, desires and dreams... together, they taught me to settle for what life offered rather than live to find the best I could find for myself."

Bo shook her head, "They taught you to settle rather than believe you are worthy and deserving of more... to pursue, to dream, to want, to seize more from life."

Lauren nodded, "I... well... I did pursue my medical degree..."

"Because it was expected of you..."

Her Aunt's voice in her head was what prevented her from shouting an emphatic knee-jerk response of 'no',

"My Aunt spent a lot of money on me and always made a point of reminding me that I owed my Mom and her for all of the years they protected and provided for me."

Bo laughed, "Protected and provided for you? Seriously?"

"Well, in their own way, they did."

"Don't you dare defend them to me, Lauren... if you want to continue to live under the delusion that those two women protected you or provided an appropriate childhood for you, go right ahead, but do not expect me to agree with you on that front. Think about how you would react if someone treated Maverick that way."

It was an involuntary sob that Lauren's hands were late in suppressing, "Oh God... I treated him that way... I put my needs before his... I allowed Tess to convince me... I never should have agreed to... my God... I'm a monster!"

Bo placed a gentle hand on Lauren's thigh, "No, you're not a monster, Lauren. You're an adult who never learned the lessons she should have in her childhood."

"That's no excuse."

The brunette replied, "Maybe not... it's not an excuse Maverick could understand, anyway... but it is a truth and the sooner you face and own your truth, the sooner you can act to change that truth."

Lauren turned to the window, now replaying the events of the last year. Tamsin, Chief Fitzpatrick, Moms, Pops... they had all been there for her for years... they had been her support system. She had kept them at arms length... all of them... except Tamsin who continually forced her to own her own shit.

She chuckled at the thought of her blonde friend. She probably knew her better than anyone... maybe even Bo. She now knew the difference between why Tamsin was allowed in and Bo was not... love... it was something she wasn't ready for... she had, on some level, convinced herself that it was okay to let it happen, but deep down, she never really allowed herself to believe it could last.

"That night at the Olympics when you had us meet you where you and Kenzi were surfing with your friends from Brazil?"

"Yea?"

"I lashed out... it wasn't about your being inconsiderate, it wasn't about me being tired or dehydrated, it wasn't even about my game schedule... it was the next step... meeting your family... you... you loving me and me loving you... it was too good to be true... it wasn't supposed to happen and your meeting friends you considered part of your family brought me into a life that I didn't feel I deserved... a life I was taught didn't exist."

"Lauren..."

"Let me finish, Bo... please."

Bo nodded and remained silent.

"I was built to survive without pleasure... a slave to the whims of life. I was built to exist, not to be, feel or experience love... I was a robot... allowing my body to be taken to give me the illusion of love and pleasure when living without emotion began to make me numb. I think that is why I allowed Nadia to do as she pleased with me... I mean... with my body. It was always a sort of out-of-body experience."

Bo was silent... there was something she needed to know, but she wasn't sure if she should ask. Mustering her courage, unable to suppress the need for her own validation, she asked,

"And with me? Was it just..."

Lauren turned quickly to the brunette, "No, no... Bo, please don't ever think that... you were the first... you were the only person I ever truly opened up my heart to... the only person I've ever said I love you to and allowed myself to truly feel the words... but... well, I can't deny that the words terrified me... they still do, Bo. I don't feel I deserve love... that I deserve your love... especially now."

The two sat in silence before Bo finally spoke, trying to let Lauren off the hook and restore some semblance of peace to the conversation. They'd been skirting the edge of a full-blown emotional outburst that the brunette wasn't sure would end in tears or screaming. She needed to change the mood. They were both tired and tired also meant cranky for the pair. That was a formula for disaster if she didn't redirect this conversation. She could see the fatigue on Lauren's face. She was the one who had pushed the blonde into this conversation and she needed to be the one to release her from her emotional burden.

"I don't want you to feel like you've deserted me or the school, Lauren. I think that after hearing all you just said, I understand a little more about what has been driving your actions. I'm not saying it's okay, but I think I understand. I just want you to know that the kids are taken care of in your absence."

"I still don't trust that they're not taking advantage of the state funds they know are directed to you as a charitable organization. I don't know who you're working with..."

Bo resisted reiterating the fact that the blonde would have known if she'd cared to pick up the phone and ask about the school, instead remaining more diplomatic.

"They've been doing a good job for us, Lauren. Really... the kids are in good hands. If you feel that strongly about it, you can call and speak to them on our behalf if you'd like... or you can just stop by while you're home if you have some free time."

Lauren chuckled, "Bo, I have no job and no home that I know of... I think I'll have plenty of free time for the next month."

"Moms is going to have your room ready at the Torrent Estate, so you have a home. You know that you're always welcome at the school if you're looking for something to do. The orchard will also be looking for help with the last harvest before the 'winter' months."

"We don't have winter in Hawaii." Lauren replied.

"Well, it does get cooler and the crops just happen to rotate in November and December, so you might find work on a farm. Of course, you can also get a part-time job for the holidays selling retail."

"Ugh. I did that in high school on weekends to save money for school. I promised I would wait tables before I ever worked in retail sales again."

Bo took Lauren's hand, "Lauren, I just want you to understand that... with regards to me staying or leaving Hawaii... I don't expect you to give up Colorado, I don't expect you to come home, and I don't expect you to come back to a committed relationship with me... I don't know what we are right now... we're trying to see where this goes, but realistically speaking, I know you are in no position to do 'us' right now, as much as I wish you were."

"Bo..."

"Please, just let me get this out..."

Lauren nodded, as Bo continued,

"My responsibilities are mine... I own them and have to honor them. It's just who I am. It's not that I don't feel a responsibility to Maverick, but he's only one child who would have Kenzi, Grant, Mary and, in many ways... you. I can't allow my decisions about surfing or you to supersede the lives of the kids I made a commitment to five months ago. I have to see this through in my own way. I'm not saying no to the Olympics, but I can't commit to anything until I can feel completely secure with a plan that would put the kids first."

"I can understand that." Lauren replied.

Bo looked down at Maverick, "The problem is that he can't. I hate the idea that he wouldn't even give living in Colorado without me a shot."

"You have almost two months to figure it out, Bo." Lauren replied, "And... can I just say that... I've never given up on the idea of us. I rejected Tess' advances because I still loved you, Bo. The fact that I allowed her to... well... do what she did... is definitely something I have to figure out. I think you're right about my past and the impact it had on me. Thank you, by the way, for making me talk about it... part of me wants to hate you for it, but like the kids you work with... you have a knack for putting a bad past... well... in the past where it belongs."

"As long as you don't bury it there." Bo smiled, "You have to use your past, Lauren. I truly believe that if you learn from the past rather than just bury it, it can be a tool for making us stronger."

Lauren nodded, "I think I took a step in that direction today. I became my mother and my Aunt. I don't know why that surprises me since they were my role models, but it does. I thought I was smart enough to avoid becoming like them... but apparently I stopped reminding myself of that after a while."

Bo nodded, "Well... If it's okay with you, I'm going to get some sleep... unless you want to talk about anything else?"

"I'm good... a nap is a great idea... but first..." Lauren pulled out her legal pad and pen.

Writing something on a piece of paper, she grabbed a paperclip and attached it to the front of Maverick's blanket. Bo looked at the sign and laughed as she read it,

' _Please wake me when the pilot is ready for me. Visiting the cockpit is my life-long dream.'_

The pair shared another laugh before they each settled into silence, Lauren's eyes turning back towards the clouds where she lost herself to sleep. Bo's eyes drifted shut, her mind replaying Lauren's words when she finally disclosed her childhood story. Eventually, she too, allowed sleep to claim her.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Excuse me, Ms. Dennis?"

Bo awoke to the voice of the flight attendant, her eyes opening to see the man pointing towards the sign on Maverick's chest,

"Are you sure you want me to wake him? The Captain is ready to receive him in the cockpit."

Bo smiled, "He would never speak to me again if I allowed him to miss this."

She pulled her arm out from beneath the sleeping boy, as the gentleman laughed, "Wow... he's really out cold."

"Yea, he played hard all week." Bo said, "Mav? Maverick, the pilot is ready for you."

"Mmmgrrumph... no school... sleep..."

Bo and the flight attendant laughed, the man asking, "Is his name really Maverick? Like... Top Gun Maverick?"

Bo smiled, "You know, I'm not sure if he's actually named after the movie. I'm his legal guardian... his parents... well... I'm not sure if he was named after the movie, but yes, his name is Maverick. He's two parts adorable and one part dare devil. Quite a little handful sometimes... especially when he's sleeping."

She gave the boy a shake again, "Maverick, you're going to miss your chance to fly the plane... don't you want to fly the plane?"

The youngster opened his eyes, looking up at Bo, clearly confused, "Whaaa? Tired."

"I know, Mav but the pilot said you can come into the cockpit right now? If you don't want to miss your chance, you'd better wake up, quick."

His eyes shot open as Bo's words hit. His eyes scanned the area around him before he locked eyes with the flight attendant,

"Hi, Maverick. My name is Cole and I'm here to take you to the pilot. Are you ready to go?"

Mav's smile spread slowly across his face before his eyes settled on Bo, "Can I? Huh?"

"Absolutely. Go on."

She helped him off her lap and into the aisle where he took Cole's hand. The man looked down at Bo,

"We'll take good care of him, ma'am. He'll probably be just about an hour."

"Well, good luck getting rid of him in a hour. He's pretty persuasive, so I think he just may be the one landing the plane." Bo smiled as she watched Maverick pull on Cole's hand,

"Come on, Cole! I can tell you all about how a plane stays in the air."

Bo laughed, "See?"

The man laughed, "I think I'm starting to... see you when we see you."

He was gone with another tug of Mavericks' impatient hand, Bo watching as they disappeared behind the first class curtain. She sighed, wondering why she hadn't flown first class. The truth was that she was doing pretty well financially... of course, the money from her trust and surfing would have to last her for the rest of her life unless she chose to work full time as an engineer. She just didn't see that happening, though... if she did that, she'd have to give up a lot more time at the school.

In that moment, she came to realize that if she went to the Olympics, she would likely have to sacrifice going to some of the WSL events, which would mean less prize money. Right now, she just didn't see how she could ever compromise as much as she'd have to go to the games. Still, she'd asked Maverick to think about it until after the holiday, so she needed to do the same thing.

She turned her head towards the window to see the sun had settled just below the clouds. The light dimmed, but there was an eerie orange glow that peeked through the billowy cumulonimbus clouds. She laughed, remembering the evening that Maverick had run out of a science class with Professor Meade, explaining all of the different types of cloud formations to her. Naturally, Emma had toddled behind him, pointing at the sky and climbing into Bo's lap, repeating... or trying to repeat... all of the big words Maverick was using.

The little girl had grown quite fond of Maverick since he took her under his wing after the storm. Bo loved how protective he was of the young girl and wondered if he had ever been like that with his sister even though she was older.

Her eyes drifted to Lauren whose sleep had grown a bit restless. Noticing the goose bumps on the surface of her skin, she stood and pulled out a blanket from the overhead compartment. Sitting back down, she spread it over the blonde, her fingers lingering on her shoulder for a long moment.

Lauren had been through so much. Bo knew that she hadn't always handled things well, but she had tried to stand by the blonde and be there for her as much as she could. Sometimes Lauren had taken that choice from her and other times she had just run out of patience to handle things the way she probably should have, but what she knew for sure was that... deep down... she still loved this woman.

She sighed as she thought about what might be waiting for them in Hawaii. She knew that she was going to have to text Kenzi as soon as she landed and tell her to back off. Before they boarded the plane, she'd finally received a reply to her text asking if it would be okay if Lauren hung out with them for a while. Her reply had informed Bo that if the blonde came, she wouldn't be there when she got home and that she should text her when she left. When Bo replied and asked if Tamsin would be there, Kenzi had simply said that would be up to her.

She hated to think about her sister putting Tamsin in the middle of this... she hated thinking about her sister treating Lauren badly... actually, the bottom line was that she wouldn't tolerate it. Bo realized that for all of the 'badass' training she had given Kenzi over the years, she might have been lacking in sensitivity training... it was never too late for Bo to play mother and Kenzi was never going to be too old to learn if the elder Dennis sister had her way.

She reclined her seat and curled up on her side, facing Lauren. She missed the simple act of watching her sleep. It seemed so long ago now since she had done this... since her mind had been quiet enough to allow herself a moment like this. She'd forgotten how truly beautiful the blonde was. Time had changed them both, but while things had definitely been confusing at times, Bo knew that in her heart, she would always love this woman. She just hoped that the time would never come when she would be asked to let the blonde go.

Her eyes drifted to her fingers... her perfect, slender fingers and her strong forearms. After she'd drowned, it was these arms that were strong enough to force her heart to spring to life. As they'd grown closer, Bo had eventually learned that the very same arms were gentle enough to love her with such passion and tenderness, that she would have sworn she was living a dream.

Still, as she sat here watching the steady breathing of the blonde, she knew that this was no dream. Their reality at this moment was cruel... but she didn't have to be. Sure, she was hurt... Lauren had let yet another woman manipulate and control her... allowed that woman to widen the ever-growing chasm between them... who wouldn't be hurt? But hurt didn't have to mean broken and hurt didn't have to mean over... this wasn't over... it couldn't be... Bo wasn't ready for that... not by a long shot.

Lauren's eyes opened just as a single tear trickled down Bo's cheek. The blonde frowned as she noticed the glistening wetness on the brunette's skin,

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Will you fight for me?" Bo lowered her eyes, her voice sounding frail for the first time since Lauren had known her, "Please? I need to know... I have to know that you'll fight for me... fight for yourself... fight for us... I can't do this alone, Lauren... and I do feel so very much alone in this part of my life... the 'us' part of my life. I don't want to be the only one who is dreaming about us, longing for us and still wanting a future that includes us."

Bo looked up at Lauren, "Will you fight for us?"

"I dreamt of us... of our first walk on the beach... I haven't thought of it for a long time... that was a really good walk. I dreamt of lying with you in the hospital, watching TV and talking for hours in bed together. It was always so natural... such a normal part of my day. We always just... felt right, you know? We just... fit."

Bo sat silently, wondering where Lauren was going with this conversation. Was she ending any chance at a future? Was she saying they'd had their time... it was great, but it was time to move on?

"Do you remember the first time you tried to leave the hospital against my recommendation?"

Bo smiled, "I was pretty stubborn, I guess."

Lauren laughed, "I knew then that you were a fighter... that you would always go after what you wanted... that you would always get what you wanted. The more time we spent together, the more I found that fight coming to life inside of me... the fight I had when I was a teenager and had to stand up to the bullies, my life, my academic and sports schedule... you helped me to find the fight that I'd lost Bo... and somewhere after the Olympics, I lost it again."

"So you won't fight?"

Lauren smiled, "These last few days with you, I've found myself reminiscing a great deal and it reminded me... I do have the ability to fight... I just have to choose to do it... and you're certainly worth the fight."

She reached up, cupping the brunette's face with one hand, "I love you, Bo... I always have and I always will. I know I'm a mess right now, but I do have my moments of clarity. I have no idea how we will work out... well... any of the many blockades that have been put in our way, but I promise you that I want to tear them down and fight my way back to you."

Lauren opened her arms to Bo who accepted the embrace. She felt Lauren pull the blanket around her as she laid her head on her chest. Heaving a great sigh, Bo relaxed at the feeling of being close to the blonde again. Maybe the answer was simple... maybe Bo finally realized that all they needed to do was surrender to the hand that life had dealt them. The seas may be turbulent at times in their world, but the truth was, Lauren was her rescuer and Bo was Lauren's lifeboat... together, they could survive any storm.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

As they'd exited the plane, Bo and Lauren watched anxiously, trying to figure out why Maverick had never returned to his seat. When they finally reached first class, they were asked to take a seat and wait for the young boy to be brought to them. Apparently, Maverick was still very busy with the flight crew.

"I wonder what he talked them into." Bo said.

Lauren laughed, "Do you really think he just landed the plane?"

Bo smiled, "I doubt they would have let him do that. Don't you think the F.A.A. or someone would have a problem with that?"

Just then, Maverick came running full speed down the aisle, jumping onto Bo's lap and gripping her face with his hand,

"We gotta go... I can't tell you anything until we're off the plane and in private... I took an oath..." He leaned in and whispered, "Captain Rogers could get in a lot of trouble if anyone knew what he let me do in there."

He jumped out of the seat and gripped Bo's arm, "Come on! Come on! I gotta tell you all about it!"

Bo smiled at Lauren, "I guess we're going."

"Come on, Lauren! You too! I gotta tell you guys! You're gonna flip!"

The three made their way towards the exit where the five flight attendants, Pilot and Co-Pilot were waiting.

"That's quite a little pilot you've got there." The pilot said, reaching out to shake Bo's hand, then Lauren's.

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble." Bo replied.

"Enthusiasm like that is never trouble." The co-pilot replied, "He really kept us on our toes in there."

The pilot added, "I think we just took our licensing exams all over again, but look... we don't want to keep you. He has quite a bit to tell you... privately."

The captain nodded as the co-pilot grinned at Maverick, placing a finger over his lips. Maverick nodded in reply before they all said their goodbyes and deplaned, heading immediately to the baggage check. Lauren could see Bo tensing up as they approached the carousel,

"Everything will be there, Bo."

"This is the worst part of flying. Do you know how many times I've lost items to the void that is the cargo hold of an airplane?"

"THERE!" Maverick called out, running towards the first bag.

"Hold up, Mav. Make sure it's ours." Bo called out, but stopped when she saw the clearly marked WSL tag on the strap of the bag.

"It's ours!" He replied as Bo nodded. Bo grabbed the edge of the bag, applying a good amount of extra lift so that Maverick could get the piece off the conveyor.

The rest of their luggage was found quickly, much to Lauren's relief. She'd witnessed Bo's lost-bag meltdowns first hand and had no desire to go through it again. They were greeted by Milton, one of the teachers from the school who picked them up in the van, knowing that Bo had brought some new boards home with her.

Lauren had asked to take a spin by her house so that she could see what was going on, but Milton informed her he was under strict instructions to take them all directly to the Torrent Estate.

When they arrived, the three piled out of the vehicle. Milton tossed Bo the keys to her car, which was parked outside of the mansion, and told Lauren that her car keys were inside. He jumped into the van and started the engine,

"Milt! Wait!" Bo ran to the passenger side window, "Where are you going?"

"Just following orders, Bo. You'll find out when you get inside. You both have your pocketbooks, so I'm guessing you have your wallets, personals, house keys, etc.?"

Bo nodded, "We do, but..."

"You'll get me fired, Bo. I'm not straying from my orders. Sorry."

"Fired? I'm your boss!" Bo replied.

"That's what I said, but Kenzi informed me that until you set foot back on Kenbo School soil, she is still in charge."

Bo sighed, "Is Kenzi here?"

"I can't..."

Bo opened the door and got inside, leaning towards the young teacher, "Milton, you have to give me this much. Kenzi and I are having a bit of an agreement that involves my... guests... out there. I need to know if I'm walking into a house where she is or not."

"I need to know that you won't say anything..."

"My lips are sealed. You dropped us off and left. "

He nodded, "She's not here. She's back at the school."

Bo nodded, "Okay then... who's here?"

"Tamsin, her parents and Ciara... oh, and I forgot... do you want to take Lauren's kitten with you or should I drop her off with your stuff?"

Bo shrugged, "I really don't know since I have no idea what we're walking into here. What do you recommend?"

"I'll take her back with me."

"Where are you going?"

"I've already told you enough, Bo... now get outta my van, boss. See you soon."

"Fine." Bo replied, getting out of the van, satisfied in the knowledge that her sister wasn't here to spark an uprising within the first five minutes they were home.

She watched as the van drove away. Turning back to the pair, she explained to Lauren,

"Milton is taking Mittens wherever he is going, Kenzi is back at the school and we're supposed to go in here... I have no idea what's happening, so please don't ask. Let's just keep our promise to each other..."

"We fight... together."

"Hey! Am I part of the together?" Maverick asked, his hands on his hips.

Bo laughed, "You, sir are all together adorable and yes, you are part of our together for however long it takes for us to get you back to school. Then, I suspect, you become part of the wonderful world of Emma again."

Maverick laughed, "Do you think she missed me? I hope her nightmares stopped. Do you think the stuffed animal I gave her to sleep with helped her? I sort of missed her... I mean... you know... she's like a little sister and... well... she does get scared a lot. Was I wrong to go away when she still needed me?"

Bo and Lauren smiled at one another, knowing each of them was thinking about what an adorable boy Maverick was for showing such concern for the little girl,

"Mav, it's all good, buddy. Come on now... let's go see what's waiting for us inside."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Pops! Moms! They're here!" Tamsin yelled as she jogged down the steps. She moved right for Maverick,

"Hey there, my favorite dude of the Kenbo School! You miss me?"

Maverick rolled his eyes, "Yea, but you're not supposed to actually ask me that! It's embarrassing!"

"Hey, missing a friend is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's cool... trust me on that."

"Where's Mittens?" Maverick asked, looking around for the kitten.

"She's crawled under the sofa in the living room when I let her out of her crate and hasn't come out since. Do you want to go try to chill her out? I think the plane ride was a bit much for her."

Maverick nodded, "She just needs to be familiar... I can help her. Okay Bo?"

Bo nodded, "Yup, but we're not staying for long, Mav. You need to get some sleep."

They all watched the young boy run down the hallway in search of the missing kitten. Tamsin turned to Lauren, giving her a big hug,

"Lewis! I missed ya, sista. I've got a game for us this weekend on the beach at Bo's competition. Misty and Karch are coming to the island and put out a challenge."

Lauren smiled, feeling her concern melt away at her best friend's casual welcome, "Well, we'll have to show them why we won the gold medal! You look great!"

"Yea, well... I've been working my ass off... literally... as Kenzi keeps reminding me."

Bo smiled, giving Tamsin a hug, "Reminding you?"

"Yea, that my ass is shrinking so I'm no longer filling out my jeans in sufficient quantities for her taste."

"It's still weird for me to hear about my sister having taste in women's bodies... no offense."

"None taken. I'm still waiting for the day to come when she decides she misses guys. I mean... maybe it won't, but... well, it worries me."

Bo nodded, "I can understand that, but I don't think she ever would have started this if she hadn't made a firm decision. Have you talked to her about it?"

Tamsin shook her head, "Nah... don't want to rock the boat, you know?"

"Well, if you don't rock it on this topic, you could feel sea sick for a long time to come, worrying about whether or not the other shoe is gonna drop."

Tamsin shrugged, "I guess that's true."

"Hey! My two favorite adopted daughters!" Pops said, rounding the corner from the stairway with Moms close behind,

"Hello girls. It's so good to have you both back home!"

After hugs and hellos were exchanged, they all took a seat in the dining room. Moms brought out some tea and snacks,

"I'm sure you ladies must be tired from traveling, but we wanted to show you some pictures and then get you on your way." Pops smiled, pulling out a large photo album.

"Pictures of what?" Lauren asked.

Opening the front cover, Pops smiled and replied, "Your new home, of course."

Lauren looked down to see the outside of a beautiful cliff-side home, the photo taken from the shore below... or maybe from a boat that was out on the water judging from the angle,

"it's... beautiful."

Pops smiled as he flipped through the images, "It's got everything you wanted plus some state of the art smart home features that I put in myself. We saved some money on some parts, so I got creative with the extra money. Your kitchen is almost identical to the clippings you showed me in your dream home book..."

Bo watched the smile on Lauren's face, the excitement evident between the two, as was Pops pride in his accomplishment. She turned to Tamsin who winked at her and smiled. They'd talked about the project and Bo had been invited by to visit at various stages, so she knew the final result was going to be stunning.

"Pops, it's everything I'd hoped for and so much more! When will it be finished? I'd love to see it tomorrow!"

Moms pulled out a small box and handed it to Lauren. The blonde looked between the two, then at Tamsin and then Bo who smiled,

"Open it."

Lauren nodded and smiled before pulling the ribbon and opening the lid. She carefully folded back the tissue paper to find one gold key,

"I decided that gold is sort of your color now." Moms smiled.

"Is this... I mean..."

"It is, Lauren... your house is finished... right down to the paint colors, the silverware pattern and the wine glasses... oh, and the wine cellar is full, courtesy of Bo's friendly neighborhood grocery store."

"The wine is local?" Lauren asked, looking at Bo.

"The people that own Orchard Island also own several vineyards and yes, one is local. You have a mix of local and foreign wines. I think you'll like many of them."

Lauren smiled, "I'll drink the first bottle with you."

"I'd be honored." Bo smiled in return.

"Well, I'm going to grab Maverick and take him back to Kenbo. I'm sure he's ready for a good night's sleep in his own bed." Tamsin smiled, standing from the table.

"I'll take him back, Tamsin." Bo said, standing, but Tamsin shook her head,

"I'm staying at your place tonight anyway, so it's no problem."

Bo nodded, "Okay."

"Besides, I figured you would want to see the finished product. I think you're going to like how your stone fireplace turned out. The design was perfect, Bo. I hope you don't mind that Harry finished it, but Pops wanted to have the house ready..."

"It's fine." Bo said, cutting Tamsin off abruptly, "I understand... it was Pops project, after all... his project, his timeline. I was just another employee."

Pops knew that Bo was deflecting... she'd been doing it for the past month, trying to pretend that everything going on with her and Lauren wasn't hurting her. He wasn't going to let her make light of what she'd done... he wanted to be sure Lauren knew just how invested Bo had been in wanting to build her dream home.

"Well, I'd hardly say that, Bo. You should know that Bo was instrumental in the building of your dream home, Lauren. She was essentially my right hand on all things rock, slate, granite and wood. Tamsin handled the other fixtures and appliances. Bo searched high and low to find the utensils... they weren't exactly new but she called the company and found the pattern you had dreamed of when you started that book of yours."

Lauren's eyes brimmed with tears hearing of the effort Bo had put into her home. She lowered her head to close her eyes tightly for a moment, willing away the need to cry over the mistake she'd made. For months, she'd avoided Bo's calls and texts on the advice of a criminal. In contrast, Bo had spent the time focused on her dream... on a home she had not intended to return to... maybe ever.

"Bo..."

The brunette waved her hand, her eyes focused on the rim of the chair her finger was tracing,

"It's okay, Lauren. It was my job to..."

"Job schmob... she did it because she loves you, Lauren. Any fool can see the way this girl looks at you."

"Pops!" His wife reprimanded, but he shook his head,

"I love you, darlin' wife, but these girls have been prancing around each other for half a year now. They belong together like wine and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper..."

"We get it Pops..." Tamsin sighed.

"Right... well, if you all want to live in denial and pussy foot around the issue, you go right ahead, but if you two keep pushing each other away, you'll regret it the rest of your lives. We know way too many people our age who have lost their true loves... life is so much shorter than you expect... there is no time to waste on petty bullshit. Now you two girls are gonna do right by an old man..."

He dragged an untouched shoebox across the table and slid it in front of the two women,

"That's for the two of you. Do not even think of rejecting what's inside." He looked at Lauren, then Bo as he spoke, "I built you your dream home... at cost... and I gave you your dream job studying rocks and lava... although I still don't understand what the hell you're studying out there..."

Bo raised a finger as she went to explain, but Pops cut her off,

"...and I don't care... I really... really... don't care... but I've done for the two of you, so now I'm asking you to do for this old man..."

"... and this old woman... because if I hadn't gotten involved, you'd be in for a living hell over the holiday."

Bo and Lauren looked at each other before looking at Tamsin. The blonde raised her hands, "I had nothing to do with this... that said, I'm out before you open that box. I'm going to take Maverick with me because Kenzi misses him and wants bed duty tonight."

Right on cue, the young boy walked into the dining room, "I'm going to see Kenzi? Can I take Mittens? She'll miss me if I don't take her. I promise I'll take good care of her tonight, Lauren. She can sleep in my bed and I'll take her crate just in case something happens that I have to keep her safe."

Lauren looked at Bo who gave her a slight nod, letting her know it was okay with her. The blonde smiled at Maverick,

"Make sure you take her bag of food with her and remember to carry her to the sand away from where anyone would walk so she doesn't bury her business where someone could step in it."

Maverick nodded, "I know. I promise... I'll take good care of her."

Tamsin added, "I'll grab her litter box."

Lauren nodded, "Thanks."

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, I guess? Bo, Kenzi told me to tell you she'll meet you after lunch. She's going to handle rounds and has a couple meetings with Val about some pricing tweaks to the Kenbo merchandise she wants to sell this weekend."

"Did she want me there?"

"Honestly, yes but she figured you'd be pretty jet-lagged and she doesn't want to screw you up for the competition by taking away sleep you may need to get ready for Saturday."

Bo nodded, "Okay. Tell her I'll be there if I happen to wake up. Is Dyson coming to practice?"

"Yup... you guys have a new baby."

Bo frowned, "What happened to the old one?"

"Uh... don't be mad... Dyson and Ciara paid for the replacement but... well, they hit a sandbar earlier this week and totaled the old one."

"Shit! Are they okay?" Bo's eyes went wide, her face flush with panic.

"They're good... a little banged up. They both went to the emergency room... Ciara had a mild concussion but she's feeling better. Dyson broke a toe and his leg is pretty cut up, but he gets the bandages changed daily and whenever he's been in the water so he's okay."

Lauren stepped in, "Uh... can one of you explain how Ciara got a concussion from... a baby?"

Bo smiled, "Our baby is our wave runner... the one that Dyson uses to tow me and Kenzi into the big water. I can't compete without it."

"They were on a wave runner and hit a sandbar? Were they thrown off?"

Tamsin nodded, "Both of them... airborne... right over the handlebars. Vex has it on video. He happened to be filming the Finn class sailboats when it happened."

"Wait a minute! What the hell was Dyson doing riding the wave runner in the Back Bay while the kids were in the Finns?"

"He had just been tuning it up at the Back Bay Marina... had to take it out for a test run and Ciara asked if she could go for a little spin. Well, he was going pretty fast..."

"...No surprise there since Dyson only knows one speed..." Bo cut in,

"... and Kenzi said that the storm from a few months back has changed the bottom pretty significantly in the Back Bay, so I guess he wasn't expecting it to be..."

"...so shallow and so they crashed... I get it... I'll talk to Dyson tomorrow. Idiot." Bo said, shaking her head, "He's lucky he didn't get both of them killed."

Tamsin nodded, "Kenzi already gave him the lecture... not that she sounded much concerned for his life, but she was pretty pissed that he risked Ciara's and the kids in the Finn boats... and, of course, there was the issue of... well... the inspector was here at the time looking at the Emergency Medicine Training Center and..."

"Clusterfuck."

"Yup." Tamsin replied, popping her lips at the end of the word, "But, you know your sister... she talked the guy down with the help of our dear Professor."

Bo sighed, "I'm never going away again. I swear... I'm gone for..."

"Bo, it's okay. Kenzi handled it and... well... in my opinion, which I admit may be a tiny bit biased... she took care of it with as much strength, determination, skill and conviction as you would have. You taught your little sister well, Bo. You would have been proud of her."

The brunette sighed, reining in her emotions, "I am proud of her, Tamsin. Every day of the week and twice on Sundays. She's a great young woman who has really come into her own. It's everyone else taking advantage of my absence that I don't trust. Dyson never would have pulled that stunt with me here... he knows I would have fired his ass on the spot."

"Well, Kenzi sure as hell put him on notice. I don't think he'll be doing anything like that again... ever."

"But still, Tamsin... it shouldn't have happened once. Can you imagine what would have happened if..."

Bo felt a gentle, but firm hand on her wrist and turned to see Lauren smiling warmly at her,

"None of us want to imagine the what if's Bo, but for now, Kenzi has handled it. I would just like you to consider how it might undermine her authority if you were to go and yell at Dyson about the incident now. Isn't it good enough that it came from the second in command?"

Bo knew that Lauren was right. She laughed, "I never thought I would see the day when you were telling me to calm down over a potentially life-threatening incident."

Lauren smiled, "Well... I have changed in many ways... fear doesn't control me much anymore."

Bo's eyes were wide as she cocked her head and considered the doctor's statement, "Well, I'm sorry I hadn't noticed... good for you, Lauren."

The blonde smiled as the two shared a long glance before Tamsin cleared her throat, "Okay, Mav... you ready?"

The young boy looked up from his place on the floor where he was using the ribbon from Lauren's key box to tease Mittens into the chase,

"We're ready. Can I take this ribbon? She likes it."

Lauren smiled, "Absolutely."

Bo shook her head, "You spend twenty bucks on toys for the little lion and she prefers a fifty cent piece of ribbon."

Maverick stood up, bringing the kitten with him, "Fun doesn't have to cost a lot of money."

Tamsin smiled, "You're right kid. All you need is a surfboard and a wave, right?"

"Right!" he replied with a bright smile, "Let's go! I can't wait to see Kenzi and Emma!"

Tamsin frowned, turning to look at her Dad who waved her out the door, "You go. I'll tell them."

Bo and Lauren looked at each other before turning to the pair who were leaving. Once they were out of the house, they turned to Pops,

"Tell us what?" Bo asked.

"Well, while you were gone, something wonderful happened."

Bo shook her head, "Then why did Tamsin look like I just ate the last cookie from the jar?"

"It's brought with it many mixed emotions and will no doubt be difficult for Maverick."

Bo pulled out the chair and sat down, "Tell me."

"Emma's case worker called while you were away. She brought a very lovely couple to visit the young girl and they decided they'd like to adopt her."

Bo's breath hitched, her hand moving quickly to find Lauren's that had suddenly gripped her shoulder,

"I should go..."

Pops shook his head, "Kenzi is ready with Hale... they're going to tell him together before they put them down for bed. The adoption is not approved yet and Emma is not aware that they'd like to adopt her."

Bo didn't reply. She simply nodded and took a few deep breaths before standing and taking Lauren's hand again,

"We're going to head out now."

"I'm sorry, Bo. I know how much you love Emma, but..."

"It's okay, Pops. This is part of the territory. I'll have to get used to this sort of thing happening. Emma is young and having a family to adopt her is fantastic. Any idea about the timeline?"

The older man shook his head, "They're supposed to call on Wednesday with news about the preliminary paperwork."

Bo nodded, "Okay. Well, I'll see you tomorrow night then? I heard we're having dinner at the Kenbo School?"

Pops nodded, "Your sister arranged a little homecoming party for you, Lauren and Maverick as well as the small entourage I heard you brought with you for your competition?"

Bo smiled, "Some of Lauren's friends wanted to see how the sunny side lives."

Pops smiled, "Ah, I see... you've brought snowbirds to our fair island."

Bo laughed, "I did... I'm sure the neighbors are already gossiping."

"Good night, girls." Moms said as the two turned towards the front door.

"Good night, Moms... Pops." The girls said in unison with a wave.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo grinned as she pulled her car into the driveway of Lauren's new home. She and Kenzi had developed the security system for the home and as soon as her front bumper had crossed the threshold from the street, the house had lit up in all of the right places. There was no where anyone could hide if they were trying to make a surprise entrance and cutting the system would require access to a vault in the new full basement... a vault that was in an underground panic room. It was Bo's work on the volcano that had given her the idea for the secure location in another home they'd been building not far from a path of active lava flow, so she figured she might as well put it in Lauren's house as well.

"Sweet chemical compounds this place is..." Lauren opened the door of the car and stepped out, her hands not leaving the door frame as her eyes scanned the front of the property, "... it's..."

Bo smiled, knowing that was exactly the reaction Pops and Tamsin were going for from the blonde,

"Do you mean to say that it's exactly what you always dreamed it would be? I mean... Pops did duplicate everything in your magazines and scrapbook. Of course, we added some upgrades since you've clearly been putting those pieces together since..."

Bo turned to Lauren, "When did you start putting that together?"

Lauren smiled, "Some girls played with Barbies... I played with my biological Father's architectural magazines and my Mom's Better Homes & Garden."

"So... you were..."

"Five." Lauren turned to Bo before looking back at the house, tears filling her eyes, "All of this began as the dream of a five-year-old girl who used to go to construction sites with her father."

She chuckled, as her eyes roamed over the flowerbeds carefully planted to the exact specifications in the sketches she'd drawn a long, long time ago,

"I used to ride in the landscaping wheelbarrow while a man named Greg would push me back and forth from the mulch truck to the flower beds. I would dig holes with him and plant the smaller flowers before he'd finally let me use the hose to water everything."

She smiled, wiping away the tears that had escaped, "My Dad would take me home at the end of the day covered from head to toe in dirt and mud. My Mom told me how it would take her an hour to get the grime out of my nails and hair. I would just sit there while she bathed me and tell her all about what kind of flowers I was going to plant at my house one day."

Lauren reached into the car and grabbed her carry-on bag and purse. Throwing them over a shoulder, she closed the door to Bo's car and walked along the sidewalk gazing here and there, taking as much in as the light would allow,

"I wish it was daylight so we could see everything."

Bo smiled, "Well, there's always tomorrow morning. It looks great at sunrise."

Lauren stopped and looked up at Bo, "So you really were a part of this project. Why didn't you tell me?"

Bo shrugged, "How could I not be a part of this project? I mean... when you left, you had said that... well... it's late... I should get going."

Lauren shook her head, "Please don't go, Bo. I mean... I know that... well, I'm in no position to ask you to stay, but... well, I am. Something that Pops said... I mean... he said a lot, but what he said about us."

She took a few hesitant steps towards the brunette, and then stopped just out of her reach, "Do you think he's right? That we're meant to be together?"

Bo smiled, "I've thought that for quite some time, Lauren. It's just taken you a while to catch up, but I do remember a time where you thought the same thing."

Lauren nodded, "How did I get so... lost?"

"Give yourself a break, Lauren. You had a lot of crazy women messing with your head and yes at times, I was probably one of them. I just hope that..."

Bo didn't get a chance to finish as Lauren closed the gap between them and crashed their lips together. Bo's arms flew out to the side before she relaxed into the kiss, her hands going to Lauren's waist as the blonde's fingers threaded into her hair.

The doctor pulled back, her fingers on her lips, eyes absently staring at the perfectly manicured lawn,

"Sorry... I'm... I'm sorry... I just... I mean... you were blaming yourself... comparing yourself to those women and... I... I don't know what came over me... I just... I've wanted to kiss you for so long and... it felt like the right time but then you were stiff and..."

She looked up at Bo, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... invade your personal space." She turned away, "I'm so embarrassed."

She moved to take steps towards the house, but Bo rushed around in front of her, finally catching up to what was happening,

"No... Lauren... I'm sorry, I just... it... you just took me by surprise and... it's okay... I didn't mind at all... I mean... I didn't expect it but it most certainly wasn't... unwelcome. I mean... maybe it was at first... I mean... I've been so hurt and... well, I've been so mad at you for hurting me and hurting Maverick... our whole little make-shift family, but..."

Bo sighed, forcing her hands down by her side, "I just wish you and I could just... I don't know... just do us... without anyone else making decisions for us or advising us or counseling us. I just feel like there's been so much talk and so many recommendations about how we should be handling all of the things that are happening in our individual lives that we're not actually living those lives... and when we do, we're living them completely separately and... well, for two people who love each other and are attracted to each other, it just doesn't seem to make any sense to me."

Lauren didn't reply. She just stood there, taking in everything that Bo had just said. Sensing the blonde's reluctance, Bo continued,

"Please don't overthink this, Lauren. I know that right now, your big brain is trying to run through all of the pros and cons, the what-ifs and the oh-no's, but the bottom line is that you can think us to death if you want us to... we're not going to make any progress if we don't start taking action."

Lauren shook her head, "I'm afraid, Bo. What if I make another mistake? What if I hurt you again? What if... what if I'm not worthy of love?"

"What if I'm not worthy of your love?" Bo asked, stepping towards the blonde.

"You are much more worthy of my love than I am of yours."

Bo laughed, "Look, I know you're an Olympian and all, but does everything have to be a competition with you? Do you want to know what I think about us?"

Lauren nodded, as Bo took her hands in her own and spoke,

"I think that we are two people who have the best intentions to do the best we can for the people in our lives. I think we've been working through some things from our past... you probably more than me, but we're making progress... I truly believe that. We've had our setbacks, both individually and as friends or lovers, but here we are, Lauren. We're still standing in the same place and we can still tell each other 'I love you' at the end of the day."

She lifted Lauren's eyes to meet her own, "I think that many relationships come and go. We could have been one of those... I mean, come on... we've been tested beyond the limits of most couples, but here we are. I am just really starting to believe that if we can still love each other after all of the shit life has thrown at us, that must mean something... don't you think?"

Lauren smiled, "I guess you're right."

"I'm hurt, I'm mad at you and sometimes I just don't understand the choices you make, but I know that you have a good heart, you're funny, you're a great athlete, you're a caring and compassionate physician, you're kind, you're curious, you're working hard to become a better version of yourself and you're someone I admire and love. If someone had told me I would fall madly in love with a woman who could also drive me crazy half the time, I wouldn't have believed it, but here I am, Lauren Lewis. I'm standing here loving you despite your weaknesses, because I am weak too."

Lauren smiled, her head going to Bo's shoulder. The brunette wrapped her arms around the blonde, holding her closely,

"We're human, Lauren... we're all flawed, beautiful messes who are trying our best to navigate the turbulent seas that are our lives. I only know that I want you to ride with me."

The blonde pulled away and looked Bo in the eyes, "Human, huh?"

Bo nodded.

Lauren smiled, "I think I can do a perfectly flawed human quite easily. Are you sure you can handle all of my flaws? I mean... I have no idea where I'm going with my life, Bo... I don't know what's going to happen after this holiday and it terrifies me to be so far away from you and try to make this work."

She moved her fingers to tangle in the ends of Bo's hair, "I was thinking on the plane that... well, I think I push people away because I want to control that aspect of my relationships. If I push them away first, I don't have to feel the pain when they abandon me."

"Like your Mom and your Aunt did?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded.

"I'm going to be in your life for as long as you'll have me, Lauren. If we part ways, it will be because you made that choice. Like Pops said..."

Lauren smiled, "I know, I know... don't say it."

The pair laughed as Lauren wrapped her arms around Bo's neck, "So... what now?"

Bo smiled, "Well, I think that's enough with the heavy for now. What do you say we go inside where we can turn on lights and actually see if we achieved the dreams of a five-year-old girl?"

Lauren pulled back, "I'd like that."

The pair turned to walk away, but Lauren stopped, pulling Bo back to her, "Will you stay?"

Bo smiled, "As long as you don't get too handsy."

Lauren pulled her hands away from Bo, tucking them into her pockets, "I will be a perfect little lady and keep my handsy hands to myself."

Bo held her palm out, "Well, I could use at least one hand to remain innocently in my own if you don't mind."

The blonde smiled, "Hmmm... I don't know... that's a lot to ask..." Lauren shook her head, staring at the open palm as Bo pouted, "But I'll suffer if I must."

Bo slapped Lauren's arm playfully before the two hugged once again. Lauren leaned in and place a gentle kiss on Bo's lips, "Is that okay?"

The brunette smiled, "It's perfect." She gave the blonde's hand a squeeze, "Come on... I can't wait for you to see this."

"I'm so excited." She moved to the front door and gasped, "The wood... it's..."

"It's driftwood. You had a note in your scrapbook that you wanted items that had been recycled from the sea. I took the wood to the new workshop and made the door. The Professor made the small window. I'm not sure exactly how he did it... something about a glass-blowing technique. He took a huge basket of sea glass that the kids gathered from the shoreline, melted it down to this greenish-blue color that you see, added the compound I use on the exterior of surfboards and... well, you have one strong window there. It's purely decorative... I mean, you can see a shadow of a person, but there is a peep hole just below the window in the middle."

Lauren ran her fingers over the glass, "The security lights make it look like... I don't know... like precious gems. It's an incredibly creative door. I feel like I have a work of art for an entrance."

Bo nodded, "I think you're going to feel that way in most of the house."

Lauren turned to Bo, "You're proud of this, aren't you?"

Bo smiled, looking up at the light fixture over the porch, "I made that frame and the Professor made the glass globe."

"it's beautiful, Bo." Lauren replied.

The brunette nodded, "I'm not ashamed to say that I agree... for the first time in my life, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm truly proud of the work I contributed to this project. It's just even more special that the house is for the woman I love. I think that in many ways, I did such good work because there wasn't a moment that I was working on something for this property that I wasn't thinking of you."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I will treasure this home forever."

Bo's eyes went wide, "You mean... you won't sell it?"

Lauren shook her head, "Unless I'm flat broke and desperate for money, this house... this home... will remain in my possession."

Bo smiled brightly, "Thank you, Lauren. That means a lot."

The blonde nodded, "It must have been hard for you... I mean... working on a house for me knowing that I had been considering selling it."

Bo fell silent, shaking her head, but Lauren called her on it, "If we're starting over again, honesty is a must, Bo."

"Fine... it sucked when I thought of you selling the property... it sucked for all of us... Tamsin was especially... vocal... about it. In fact, she left you a little reminder of how she felt."

"Oh boy."

Bo laughed, "Okay, so this is a smart lock."

Lauren held out her key, "So where do I put the key?"

"You don't put that key anywhere. All of the locks are fingerprint locks. If it's not programmed in, you're not getting into the house."

Bo put her thumb on the keypad and waited for the tone and the click of the lock opening,

"See?"

Lauren put her hands on her hips, "I see that you have access to my house without my permission. That seems a bit forward of you, Ms. Dennis, don't you think?"

Bo folded her arms over her chest, "Well, I was going to ask you to cut off your thumb and mail it to me so we could set up your fingerprint, but then I remembered you telling me that opposable thumbs were the only thing that separated us from primates, so I thought you'd be opposed to doing so."

Lauren nodded, "I suppose I should be grateful then."

"I suppose so." Bo smiled, kissing Lauren's cheek, "We'll set up your fingerprints tomorrow when I have some light to see what I'm doing."

Lauren nodded, "It's fine, Bo."

"Well, thank goodness for that! Come on." Bo led Lauren into the house, stopping in the foyer so she could take it all in.

Lauren's eyes immediately traveled upward to the light Bo had turned on, "Albert Einstein. It's beautiful, Bo."

"It's an exact replica of the magazine clip you had in your scrapbook... and yes, the beams that lead up to the ceiling are from an old tall ship."

"Replica? Who made it?"

Bo blushed, "Uh... me and the Professor."

"Bo! I can't believe you're only making surfboards! Why are you limiting yourself?"

"Uh... I'm running a school and a business... I don't have much time left to make this type of thing... if it hadn't been needed for your home, I would never have put the time in to this."

Lauren smiled, "I feel so incredibly special that you took the time from your busy schedule to do all of this for me. Thank you so much, Bo. I'm going to have to take the Professor a fresh apple pie."

Bo nodded, "He actually likes your peach tart better... just so you know."

"Well, okay then. Peach tart it is."

"Okay... I'm super tired and I'm sure you are too... let's move this along so we can get some sleep. I hate to be a party pooper, but I have a workout tomorrow in big water, so I really need to get plenty of shut eye."

"We can sleep now and look at the rest tomorrow, Bo."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure, Lauren. Let's just do a quick walk-through the first floor so you know where you're going if you wake up during the night."

"Good idea." Lauren smiled, "Bo?"

"Yea?"

"Thank you... for not giving up on us."

"I've told you before... I'm in this for the long haul, Lauren."

The blonde smiled brightly, "And I... the human Lauren Lewis... want to be in this with you for the long haul too, human Bo Dennis."

The brunette kissed Lauren's cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too, Bo."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The pair had walked through the new two-story home with a full finished basement and a two-car garage before heading off to bed. Bo had tried to stop the tour several times, but the more Lauren saw, the more she wanted to keep going. Bo knew that she should have allowed the blonde to walk the house on her own so she could get some sleep, but seeing the excitement in Lauren's eyes with each new room she introduced was something she didn't want to miss.

As they walked, Bo had suggested that they sleep in separate rooms. She didn't want to rush things and Lauren understood. They now stood outside of Lauren's bedroom, Bo preparing to open the door,

"So... this is the last room... your bedroom. I hope you like it... I sort of used some creative license."

"Creative license?"

Bo shrugged, "Well, I saw what you had in your book, but also remembered a conversation we had one night about my bedroom when it was still the shack."

Lauren laughed, "Was that a night we were dodging raindrops while in bed or were we dry?"

"Ha. Ha. You loved the shack and you know it... you even said the breeze through the walls felt sexy on your ass."

Lauren blushed, "I said that in the heat of a very... specific... moment. Okay, I give... what did I say that made you get creative with the room I'm about to see?"

"You told me that I might as well just take the roof off because at least that way we would be able to see the stars at night."

The blonde's eyes went wide, "You didn't!"

Bo nodded and threw open the door, "I did."

Lauren entered the room and gasped. There, over her head was a skylight the size of her bed... her new four-poster bed with the red silk draperies.

Bo smiled, "You can use your smart home app to make the glass retract if you want a breeze. This is from a company called Rollamatic Roofs. They have a lot of styles, but I picked this dome in a rectangular roof so there's enough room for Tamsin's tree to grow."

"Tamsin's what?"

Bo pointed to the large indoor tree by the side window that arched up towards the retractable glass dome over Lauren's bed,

"Her tree. I forget what it's called, but it apparently grows towards light. She thought it would be cool that eventually you would feel like you were actually outside when you opened the roof and you were looking at the stars through the leaves of a tree."

"Uh... o...kay..." Lauren replied, taking in the full length and width of the tree. It really was big and now that she knew it would only get bigger, she just wasn't sure what would happen when it reached full size, "... but it won't like... break through the glass ceiling?"

"Nah... it will just shape itself to the dome, according to Tamsin. It'll be great... I guess... sort of..." She looked over at Lauren who was just shaking her head as she stared at the organic monstrosity. Bo shrugged, "...yea, that's what I thought to, so you can take or leave the tree... get it? Leave?"

"Good one."

"Yup... worked all night on that one. Thought I'd impress you with my comedic stylings as part of your homecoming gift."

"I'm totally impressed. Didn't know you had it in ya."

"I got skills."

"I see... Bo... all of this... it's truly amazing... you have incredible skills."

"Thanks. Look... the tree is your call but just remember that the tree wasn't my idea, so I won't be offended if you choose to ditch it... like... over the cliff out back."

Lauren smiled, "Well, if you won't be offended, that's a good thing."

Bo shook her head, "Good for me, but still not good for you since Tamsin might be completely offended if you tossed her tree."

Lauren shook her head and laughed, running her fingers through her hair until her hand came to rest over her mouth as she looked at the giant piece of foliage.

"It's definitely... big."

"Yea... too big... but again, just my personal opinion. You can choose to agree or disagree. Maybe it will look cool when it's approaching the dome. I just thought you would rather have an unobstructed view of the stars."

"We have done a lot of star-gazing, you and me."

Bo smiled, "We have... and I miss it."

Lauren extended her hand and pulled Bo towards the bed, "No reason to miss it... we can star gaze here for as long as you'd like."

Bo lay back on the bed, tucking her hand beneath her head while Lauren did the same.

"So... what do you see tonight?" Bo asked, looking up at the sky.

"I see a massive glass dome over my bed!" Lauren sat up, looking back at Bo, "This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my life! Do you see this thing? There is a glass dome in my bedroom... over my bed! It looks like something meant for royalty!"

Bo smiled, shyly, "You are royalty... to me."

Lauren smiled down at the brunette, lying back down beside her. She held her palm out next to her waiting for Bo to join hands with her. She never moved her eyes from Bo's until their fingers were entwined and secured between them.

"How big is it?"

"Well, the dome is about sixteen feet and the glass and iron rectangular frame that supports it is... well, almost as big as your bedroom."

"You said it opens?" Lauren asked.

"Right!" Bo reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone, "So... you open the app, go to bedroom, then retractable, then you drag this and..."

The two watched with broad smiles stretched across their lips as the dome retracted, fully exposing the night sky in all of its glory while allowing a soft cool breeze to fill the room, bringing with it the scent of the seas below the cliff.

"I don't care how it works... just that it does work. It's amazing, Bo... you're amazing." Lauren smiled, giving her hand a squeeze.

Bo leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Lauren's cheek, "Well, I'm glad you think so, but there was an actual construction crew involved and Tamsin helped. By the way, the side windows... the top parts are made of sea glass as well. You'll have to send the Kenbo kids one hell of a thank you card for all of the sea glass they collected."

Lauren smiled, "I'll be sure to do that."

The blonde watched as Bo's eyes grew heavy, "I've kept you awake too long. You really need to go to sleep, Bo. I'm being selfish. You have a long workout tomorrow followed by the most important competition of your life."

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I wish I could stay up with you all night, but I really am tired."

Bo sat up, "I'll be right next door in the guest room if you need me. Are you going to come with me tomorrow? I mean... I can just drop you off to pick up your car or you can come down to the pipe with me... I mean... I know you're not crazy about watching, but..."

"I'll be there." Lauren said quickly.

"Are you sure? I mean..."

"I'm sure. I want this for you, Bo... I want you to go hard out there... win... win for your parents, win for Kenzi, win for all of the bad breaks that life has given you... go out there and take the sea by the balls and tell Poseidon to shove it up his ass if he thinks he can drown you. Win, Bo... win because you're a good person who has worked hard all of her life for other people... win because you deserve to take something for yourself."

Bo's eyes brimmed with tears at the sound of Lauren's words. She spoke, her words muffled,

"Why the change of heart?"

Lauren smiled, "Truth? I looked up the number of surfers in the world versus the number of actual drownings due to surfing and it's actually a very low percentage. Then, I got on a snowboard and went top speed down a mountain side... the whole way down, I thought of you and the rush you must feel. Of course, that was after I'd realized I was going to die so I might as well enjoy my last moment on earth."

"Die?"

Lauren nodded, "I had no idea how to stop... and I was going really... really fast."

"Oh gawd, Lauren! How did you stop?"

The blonde laughed, "Corey. He caught up to me when he heard me screaming. He used a climbing harness to basically rope me like a calf in a rodeo and slow me down."

"Wow... that's..."

"Yea... it was kind of amazing." Lauren smiled, "Are you sure you don't want to stay in here? The view is great."

Bo smiled down at Lauren, "The view is great... beautiful, as a matter of fact... but I really do need to sleep and right now, looking at you lying there... I really want to take things slow, Lauren. I don't want to overthink this, but I do want to take things slowly. I meant what I said about everyone else, though. Where you and I are concerned, they're out... no advice, no concerns, no recommendations and no restraints. We are no one else's business."

Lauren smiled, "Agreed."

She sat up and pulled Bo into a hug, whispering in her ear, "I'll miss you tonight."

Bo smiled as she gave her a squeeze, "I'll miss you too. Goodnight, Lauren."

"Goodnight, Bo."

With one last glance back at Lauren lying on the bed, Bo smiled,

"I slept in that very spot two nights before I went to Colorado. That was just a big open hole in the roof at the time, but the view was just as spectacular. I hope it helps you sleep... I know it helped me."

"I'm sure it will. If nothing else, it will make me think of you." Lauren smiled.

Bo turned to walk away, but stopped when Lauren called to her, "Yea?"

"I feel... I feel like I'm throwing a complete 180 at you... I mean... I'm not, but in Colorado... with Tess and... well, with not calling you and how I treated you the night you went to the hotel... I mean... I was so confused and..."

Bo shook her head, "Do you love me? Is all you've said true? You're in this with me... no matter what the miles, the problems or the doubts?"

Lauren nodded, "I am... I don't want you to think..."

"Stop at 'I am', Lauren... because I am too. That's all that matters, okay? Put the past in the past... we don't need a therapist to tell us we've both made mistakes. We do need each other to move forward... and forward is where our future is, right?"

Lauren nodded, "Right."

"Okay, I'm heading to bed now... no more doubts, okay?"

Lauren smiled, "Okay."

"I love you... sweet dreams."

"You too, Bo."

The blonde watched as Bo left the room. As the door closed, she heard the door next to her room open and close, then the faint sound of water running. She looked back up at the sky, laughing to herself how she hoped it wouldn't rain since Bo was the one who had the app for the roof.

She settled back on the bed and curled her arms behind her head, eyes gazing at the star-filled abyss before her and smiled. She knew she had a lot of decisions to make over the next month, but for now, she would settle for the fact that at the very least, she was grateful... grateful for the home she now owned, grateful for the family who loved her enough to build it... and from the looks of it, well beyond the price she had paid. She was grateful for the new friends she'd made who traveled all of this way to support Bo and she was grateful for the love of a good woman. Yes, it had taken a long time, but Lauren Lewis finally felt grateful for her life.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo awoke to the smell of coffee and something else incredible. Her stomach instantly began to growl as she struggled to remember when she'd last eaten a meal in the past twenty-four hours. Rolling over, she smiled up at the bright blue sky above her head, happiness filling her very soul as she watched the sun peeking through the skylight that was installed over the guestroom bed. It was good to be home... to feel the warmth of the sun and the deep blue of the Hawaiian sky she'd become so familiar with over the years.

She rolled over and looked across the room, hoping that the pattern she had selected to install the four other ceiling-mounted windows would provide the desired effect she had planned for when she'd designed the roof.

Sitting up, she saw that her plan had been a success. With the glow of the morning sun, a pathway of light illuminated the room, meaning there was no need to use electricity to brighten the space. Every effort had been made to build a green home and Bo felt satisfied that this room had been a successful part of that plan.

She stood and stretched her arms over her head before dropping to the floor to begin her usual morning workout routine. She began with slow stretching, breathing into each pose until she had the desired range of motion. Once fully stretched, she rolled over onto her stomach and pressed up into a plank, holding it for a count of sixty before performing one side plank on each side. Next up, she moved into one hundred push-ups followed by one hundred pop-ups, and then one hundred squats. Finally, she cranked out three hundred crunches before heading into the shower.

She smiled as she stepped onto the cobblestone shower floor. Standing on the flat, round rocks made it feel like she had a personal masseuse who was working on her feet. She traced the slate walls with her hands before gripping the water faucets and turning them on, adjusting them to the perfect water temperature. Pulling a lever, four jets began to produce pulsating spouts of water that targeted her upper neck, her back between her shoulder blades, her low back and finally her hamstrings. She moaned with satisfaction as she felt the tightness ease out of her recently strained muscles. She chuckled to herself, thinking that childhood Lauren really knew what she was doing with regards to home innovation.

Closing her eyes, she settled into the rhythm of the massaging jets and allowed her mind to move forward, making plans for the day.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren loaded the food onto the platters, taking a moment to admire the pattern. Bo was right, they had found the exact flatware and dishes she had always wanted. Considering how many years ago she'd picked them, she knew that Pops must have done some serious wheeling and dealing to get them.

With everything loaded onto plates, she began loading the dishwasher. She smiled to herself, thinking about how much her kitchen skills had improved in the last few months since she began watching YouTube videos and cooking shows to learn how to do the things that 'normal' people did every day. She found that she felt relaxed and confident in all she had prepared.

She moved to the morning breakfast nook. This was one of the spaces that made her happiest. She never understood why some people ate their first meal of the day on the run or in a dining room. She liked to start the day in the sun and the breakfast nook Pops had put in the plans was a perfect place to start your day.

She set the table and picked up the newspaper, before sitting down to open it up and find out what had been going on in her home state. Feeling the paper between her fingers, she was reminded of Cody and how he had tried to get her to get her news through the Internet or apps like everyone else did these days. She had explained that she enjoyed the tactile feel of reading from a newspaper and, oddly enough, she liked the smell of the freshly printed ink.

Outside the glass doors, something caught her eye, so she turned in her chair to face the scenery outside of her nook. Her smile broadened as she realized what it was.

"Oh, goody!" she giggled, clapping her hands together rapidly in front of her face as she moved to the door. Stepping outside, she ran up to the large lemon tree. It was just like the one that she had drawn in the picture of her home. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be in Hawaii, but she didn't care. Yellow dots were everywhere and she couldn't help but wonder how much this tree had cost Pops. It was in bloom and almost full grown... she just couldn't imagine.

She turned around and searched the ground for the movement she had seen. It didn't take long for her to spot the culprit. She ran to the spot and picked up the cherished piece of fruit, holding it like it was a precious baby.

"You're my first lemon! You know what they say about when life gives you lemons?" Lauren asked, staring at the yellow fruit in her palm.

"Make lemonade!"

Lauren spun quickly to see Bo standing there laughing, "Are you seriously talking to your fruit, Doctor Lewis? Should I be worried?"

"That I've gone over the deep end? Yes, you should be very worried! I am absolutely bowled over by everything I see this morning. This place is more than I could have ever imagined, Bo. It's like you, Tamsin and Pops ran my scrapbook through a 3D printer and dropped the model here on this property."

"Uh... we would have a little trouble fitting in a 3D printed model." Bo smiled.

Lauren shrugged, "Okay, so you went down to Diagon Alley, picked up the perfect wand from Ollivander's wand shop before coming back here and zapping said model to make it full size."

Bo smiled, "Actually, we did it the old fashioned way... hammers and nails."

Lauren laughed, "This is much more than that, Bo. This is creativity run amuck... it's the stars in the sky and the planets in the solar system. It's truly a work of art."

"So... I noticed some food in there on the table at the breakfast nook. Is that just more art or is that actually for starving surfers who have to endure a grueling workout today?"

"Oh! I almost forgot! I cooked!" Lauren ran back to the tree and shook a branch, then another and then another. She quickly picked up the lemons that fell before turning back to Bo, "What? I've got to make lemonade! It's symbolic!"

"Symbolic?"

"Bo, I don't know what happened today... I just... I woke up in that beautiful room surrounded by sunlight. I walked the property and then walked the interior again. I cooked breakfast and then sat down to read the paper after I set the table. While I was reading, something caught my eye. It was this..." She held up a lemon, "... I know it sounds silly, but I felt like it was life apologizing to me... it had given me lemons in the form of my Mom's death, my step dad, my aunt taking off, Nadia, Evony, Kristy and then Tess. It gave me all of these lemons as a peace offering... it told me something good was going to come out of all of what I'd been through... sweet, refreshing, tasty, cool lemonade!"

Lauren ran past a shocked Bo into the house. She stood trying to figure out what had gotten into the blonde, but turned to the voice that called her name,

"Come on! Breakfast is getting cold! I promise you that I am better than I have ever been in my life. Trust me, Bo... trust the message life is sending me. Life gave me lemons, but I've learned how to make lemonade! Come on!"

Bo laughed. Giddy, philosophical, happy Lauren was adorable and it was time for breakfast. She slipped inside, taking a glance back at the lemon tree. She smiled thinking of her friend at the orchard and quietly whispered,

"You were right... lemons may be sour, but the sight of a lemon tree always makes a woman feel bright. She smiled and laughed, just like you said she would. Thanks."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The pair shared a nice breakfast before sharing a gentle kiss and a farewell for the day. Lauren was off to visit Trick at the hospital and Bo was off to the beach to meet up with Kenzi and the gang for a workout.

Bo had texted her sister to make sure that her boards had arrived and Kenzi had told her Vex had all of her gear in the van and would meet them at the beach. They were surfing big waves today in preparation for Saturday since Bo had been only in a wave pool since last week. She also wanted to try out her new moves. Kenzi had informed her that she had gone to breakfast in the school cafeteria and met Bo's new friends. Maverick was glued to Kenzi's side and little Emma was glued to Maverick's... with her stuffed animal in tow.

When Bo arrived home, she unpacked her bags and threw in a load of laundry before changing into her rash guard and bikini bottoms to head out the door. Kenzi was ready and waiting with a cooler of water, fruit and protein bars for the day as Bo got into the car. The sisters made their way to the local point, catching up on Colorado and Kenbo while away from each other. Eventually, as expected, the conversation turned to Lauren, but Bo was quick to put her foot down,

"Kenzi, we have an agreement and I won't betray it... not because I don't love you and care about you... not because I want to keep secrets and not because I don't understand why you might be upset with Lauren. I won't betray our agreement because I happen to think we're right. Lauren and I were fine before all of the counseling, therapy and group therapy. We've been through some really rough shit... well, Lauren has and by default, all of us have. She didn't ask for any of it and I don't think any of us could have handled it any better were we in her shoes."

"Well..."

"Stop... just don't say it... no joking, no advice, no comments... nothing, Kenzi. I mean it... the topic of Lauren, your opinion of her, your advice on our relationship, your judgments, your feelings... all of it... it's off the table. I will not entertain any discussion about my life with Lauren. I will not stand by and listen to anyone judge, insult or otherwise chastise her. We have no idea whatsoever what it's like to have been through all she's been through in her life... our life was charmed compared to hers. So just drop it... I mean it, Kenzi... I love you, but do not cross me on this topic because I will go ballistic on you, I swear. If you care anything about our relationship as sisters, you will not go there."

Kenzi sighed, "Fine."

"No, Kenzi... not fine as if you're just going to tolerate her. I want acceptance from you... tolerance means you're going to put up with it and that means you'll treat her like something on the bottom of your shoe. I need you to accept the fact that I love Lauren and she is going to be in my life for as long as she wants me. I have no idea what is going to happen... the distance... the relationship... I don't know how it will all work, but I do know that we are done involving everyone and his brother in our business."

Kenzi nodded, "Well, look at you... all grown up."

"Yea and I'm taking charge of my life again... and so is Lauren."

They pulled into the parking lot where the other vehicles were parked. Jumping out of the car, Bo reached for her impact vest, but Kenzi stopped her,

"Here ya go, BoBo. Val wants you in this. It's specially designed to fit your body. Manny is here with the gang and he'll show you how it works."

Bo looked down at the garment, "Ohmagosh! This is one of those new prototypes!"

"Not anymore! All of the XXL surfers are wearing them now. The dream is real. It inflates and deflates as needed. You can still paddle when it inflates. All of the padding is in the right places... ribs, lungs and more. People are still getting hurt, but not one person has died, Bo."

The older sister smiled, "This is great." She looked up at Kenzi, "I've got new tricks, Kenz... and this vest gives me just what I need to take the edge off of my fear of trying them."

Kenzi nodded, "Cody and Corey told me they taught the old dog new tricks. Those guys are a real hoot."

"Yea, I thought you guys would hit it off."

Kenzi nodded, "Well, let's just get you warmed up before you go throwing any big air."

Bo watched as her sister quietly turned and walked away, "Okay, what is it?"

Kenzi turned around, "I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you."

"Well, with a lead in like that, why would I feel pressured?" Bo laughed, "What is it, Kenzi?"

"The Olympics, Bo. I thought about it... I really did... and I really, really want you there. I don't care if I get gold, silver, bronze or no medal at all... it's the first Olympics and... well... you and me... we should be there together. I talked to some peeps down at the WSL and they said we wouldn't be in Colorado full time... there's no ocean there and they are all very much aware of the fact that we need oceans to train in... the wave pools are great, but we need the unpredictability that will come with competition... sort of like that out there."

She pointed to the punishing waves of Waimea Bay where they were now walking across the lawn of the park to the point where Bo would work out.

"They look like twenty footers."

Kenzi nodded, "Too much for the first day back?"

"Nah... as long as they're not peaking over twenty."

"Max swells are twenty. Most are running ten to fifteen."

Bo nodded, acknowledging she was comfortable with the conditions, "How's it looking for the weekend?"

"Well, this time of year, the pipe always throws big shit at us, so we can expect the usual... lots of pipes, barrels, tubes and big faces."

"Great... go big or go home, right?"

"You nervous?" Kenzi asked as they approached the group gathered near the water's edge not far from a field of rocks being hammered by big water.

Bo scanned the water, "Nice even sets... I like... and of course I'm nervous. It's not every day you win or lose a championship."

"Well, if you don't win it tomorrow, you should definitely go for gold."

Bo nodded, "I'm going to make a decision after the New Year, okay?"

Kenzi smiled, "Awesome! I'll start making plans for new boards!"

"You stopped making my boards?" Bo asked.

"Well, you weren't going to be surfing after today, so why would we keep making a product we don't sell?"

"Uh... because people will want to buy the board I rode to the championship."

"Did I just hear Bo Dennis sound like she feels confident?" Kenzi asked.

Bo shrugged, "I feel... good."

"Good? That's all I get is good?"

"I don't know, Kenz. Things just feel... right. I feel ready... like things could finally go my way."

"That's much better, but nothing's going to go your way if you don't practice so enough of standing here watching the waves. Let's get you out there." Kenzi walked away from her sister as Bo watched her call out to their team, "Hey Hey! How are my boys? Look who I found!"

Bo just shook her head as all of the guys gathered around Kenzi before looking back at her. One at a time, they all started to shout her name and wave.

"Damn it's good to be home." Bo smiled and walked towards her gear.

This morning, waking up in Lauren's guesthouse in a sun-drenched room, she had realized how much she missed her island home. Now as she stood there looking out at the churning waves of one of her favorite surf spots, she realized how much she had missed the water. Now, as she ran her fingers over one of her new boards, she closed her eyes and imagined the ride she would have on the perfect wave... every turn, every cutback, every trick, every move was imagined, felt and heard amidst the sounds of the crashing waves around her...

"Cody, you're going to go with Manny and Corey, you'll be with Dyson. They'll show you how those vests work. We'd hate you snow boys to drown out here and miss your shot at the big show next winter."

Cody nodded, but his eyes were glued to Bo as she stood in the sand, eyes closed, fingers moving over the surface of her board. Kenzi walked up behind him and snapped her fingers,

"Hello? Snow boy! Did you hear me? I don't want you drowning on me if Manny's wave runner clips the edge of some whitewater and flips."

Cody looked at Kenzi, "Yea... right. Uh, Kenz? What's she doing?"

Kenzi looked at where he nodded and smiled, "BoBo? That's her ritual. She does it every single time she's getting ready to go out into big water."

"What does it mean?"

"Mean? It means she's ready to give you all she's got."

"But what is she actually doing?"

"Planning, learning, listening, feeling, talking, imagining, creating, praying... you name it, she's doing it."

"Praying?"

"To our God Poseidon... to be merciful if she falls, and to give her the gift of the perfect wave and the perfect ride before she does."

"Poseidon, huh?"

"Don't knock it till you tried it, bro. Come on... she'll be along in a bit."

Cody watched as Kenzi pulled off her sweatshirt, revealing her rash guard top and bikini bottoms,

"You're going out in that?" Cody asked.

"Hell yea!" Kenzi replied, pulling on her vest, "I'll be with Vex beyond the breakers. It's where I go at the start of Bo's practice... you know, talk to her in-between waves and keep her focused and confident. Then I'll go on shore and watch what the judges will see, then we chat afterwards."

Cody was now looking out at the water, "Do you worry?"

"Huh?" Kenzi asked, turning back towards the snowboarder.

"Do you worry? I mean..."

"Hey! Just stop right there! Do you talk about the possibility of breaking your neck right before you go down a mountain?"

"No, of course not. You just do it. You know the risks... no need to discuss it." Cody replied.

"Yea, well remember that." Kenzi said, "Sheesh! Snowboarders!"

Kenzi walked away, mumbling expletives as she hopped onto the back of Vex's wave runner, "We're waiting, snowman!"

"Right." Cody replied, taking one last glance at Bo before heading towards the water.

He got on the back of Manny's ride and was given instructions how to inflate and deflate his vest. The older surfer noticed the younger man kept looking towards Bo,

"She's cool, dude. Don't sweat it."

Cody nodded, "It's just... strange to me."

"What's that?" Manny asked.

"Well, before I go down a hill, I always get advice from people and get a lot of comments like 'stay safe' and 'take care out there'... It's weird to just drive off and not have a chance to say something like that to her. I mean, what if..."

"No what if's man... that's not our flow. Out here, you're all in. There can be no doubt... no playing it safe because safe will make you hesitate and hesitating will get you killed, dude. For you, the surface is usually stable and if it's not, there's signs that something bad is about to happen, so you might be able to avoid it."

He turned and pointed to the waves, "Look at that, man... our girl's about to go into a washing machine on super high speed. She's gonna pick a line and follow it because changing your mind is just not an option out here. The wave it gonna do what it's gonna do... you can't predict it... you just have to react to it. But Bo... she's one of the best I've ever seen... and I do mean ever. My people in Brazil call her 'um poderoso'."

"What does that mean?" Cody asked.

"Powerful one." Manny replied before turning out towards the open water, "It's time. She's ready to go."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Meanwhile, at the Kenbo School...**_

"I'm just sayin' you should be there, Lauren. Not just because you're her friend, but because if something did happen to her, you're the only doctor that would be there. I just don't get why you don't go. I thought you guys were good again."

Lauren nodded her understanding, "We are good again, Maverick, but I was just gonna go have a visit with my colleagues from the hospital. You know, Trick helped me a lot over the past few years."

"Yea, well they're work people. They're not your friends and they're not your family. Bo is both so you should be with her first and them second."

"But I'm with you right now." Lauren argued.

"I don't think I want to talk to you anymore right now. Come on, Emma. Let's go play on the beach."

"Sand castle?" the little girl asked, looking up at Maverick as he stood up from the rocks they were sitting on.

"Sure. We can build a big sand castle."

Emma lifted her arms up, allowing Maverick to lift her off of the rock and on to the sand below, "Big enough fir my pet wock?"

Maverick laughed, "Did you bring your pet rock with you?"

Emma dug in her pocket, working hard to get her hand into the tight space. She finally pulled out her treasure with a smile on her face,

"See? 'Fessor painted his face on!"

Maverick smiled, kneeling down in front of the tiny blonde, "I see. Did you name him?"

Emma nodded, "His name is Jeffwee."

"Jeffrey, huh? Well, I think that's a great name." Maverick smiled, handing the pet rock back to the young girl.

Emma giggled, "I'm gwad you wike it, Mavwick!"

"Say goodbye to Lauren." Maverick stood and took Emma's hand.

"Bubye, Wauwen!"

Lauren smiled, "Bye Emma."

Maverick turned to Lauren and shook his head. Sighing, he turned and led Emma towards the lifeguard stand to play with his little friend in the swimming area. Lauren watched as the two walked away.

"He's right, you know."

The sound of Tamsin's voice grabbed Lauren's attention, "What?"

"Don't say what, Lauren. You heard what I said. Asking me what is just your way of trying to buy more time to come up with some lame excuse in response to my suggestion that Maverick was right about you going to watch Bo's practice." She waved her hand at Lauren, "I know the new rules. No interference in your second chance with Bo, but I just wanted to remind you that a second chance doesn't come around a third time. You said you were all in... so you either are, or you aren't. You told me you left your fears behind... just sayin'. I'll be in the car waiting to drive you wherever it is you want to go."

Lauren's eyes had moved back to the two small children at some point during Tamsin's little speech. The blonde made eye contact with Maverick who shook his head before turning and throwing a seashell as hard as he could out into the water. Lauren knew he was frustrated with her again. She was mad at herself. Tamsin was right... she had come home and her old fears had been waiting for her. She thought for a moment about what Maverick said about her being the only doctor... what was she doing? If something did happen to Bo, they would have at least a twenty-minute drive to the hospital. She was an emergency room doctor... she was more qualified than most of the doctors at the hospital and definitely more qualified than the EMT's that would arrive to treat her.

She spoke aloud, "If you really love her, you don't want to lose her. Sitting here while she's out there is not the actions of a woman in love. You love her you big dummy. You were miserable without her in Colorado and you'll be miserable for the rest of your life if anything happens to her and you're not there to keep her alive. Get up, Lauren."

She slapped her hands on her thighs and turned back to Maverick, giving him a whistle. The young boy turned towards her,

"Take care of Emma. Tamsin and I are going to the bay."

Maverick threw a fist pump from his waist before throwing Lauren a big smile and a nod. Lauren smiled back, mouthing a 'thank you' to the young boy before running off to the car.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaa!" Cody called out as Manny launched them off of a wave into the air, landing the watercraft and gunning the engine into a 360 turn, then hitting another wave.

The older man laughed before turning back towards the group, "She's lining up for another one. Let's watch."

The pair made quick work of the distance to Bo's team before floating to a halt. Manny watched as she picked the wave from the set she'd been watching and smiled,

"That's a fucking beauty."

"Huh?" Cody asked, suddenly aware of the massive wave Bo was paddling into, "Whoa! She's not really going to..."

"Oh yea, baby!"

The sounds of approval from the group left Cody's eyes shifting to all of the faces that were screaming in support of Bo as she rose up out of the water atop a wave that was easily twenty feet high. He tightened his grip on the strap he was holding, watching helplessly as Bo sped down the face of the watery mountain, cutting across the base as a perfect barrel formed, around her.

He was thrown back as Manny sped down the side of the wave, trying to stay in front of it. On the other side, he could see Dyson and Corey mirroring their image, pulling away from the wave that was breaking towards them. He suddenly realized they were surrounded by whitewater,

"Uh... Manny..."

He got no response, as he watched the wave move closer to their port side, "Manny... the wave, dude..."

Manny shook his head, "We're here for Bo... eyes on Bo... ignore the wave."

"Ignore the? What the hell is wrong with you! You're gonna get us killed!"

"We've got full life vests on... Bo doesn't."

"She has a vest! I saw it myself!"

"It's not the same as what we're wearing! We stay with Bo or she dies if she goes down!"

The harsh words instantly rocked Cody, his body paralyzed as he watched Bo go down in a massive wall of whitewater. Manny sped ahead of the breakers, signaling to Dyson that he had Bo, then pointed to her board.

Cody watched as Dyson expertly pulled along the board, allowing Corey to snatch it from the water and tuck it into the sled behind him. The pair pulled away from the wave into clear water while Cody's attention was pulled to Bo by Manny's voice,

"Put a hand out! She'll grab on! Don't let go! Pull her up and onto the sled behind you. Don't let go of that strap with your other hand!"

Cody watched as Manny pulled up next to Bo who was barely above water. Reaching down, he felt her grab his hand and pulled with all he had, dragging her onto the sled as Manny sped out, following Dyson's trail towards clear water.

The group gathered around a small boat that held the rest of the snowboarding group. As they pulled together, Bo grabbed her board and jumped into the water.

"What are you doing?" Cody asked.

"Heading back out." Bo said as she paddled away.

"Are you guys just gonna let her go back out there?" Cody asked.

Corey shook his head, "Girl's got balls of steel."

Manny looked over his shoulder, "Dude... do you want to get on the boat and wait?"

Cody frowned, "No... I mean... shit... this is crazy! I had no idea this is what she did. Snowboarders think they go so hard, but this shit is legit insanity."

"Dude, did you see her face?"

"What?"

"Her face! Did you see Bo's face?"

"No, I was too busy praying to God she didn't die."

"First off, wrong God. Secondly, she loves this shit. She doesn't need our prayers, she needs our support. If you can't be that for her, then you really need to get on that boat, man."

Dyson nodded, "He's right. She got a big enough dose of fear from Lauren. Now that the blonde bitch is out of the picture, we don't need a new fear monger taking her place."

"Hey!" Manny said, turning on Dyson, "Don't shit on Lauren. Bo won't have it."

"Yea, whatever." Dyson replied.

Manny turned on him, "I mean it, Dyson. You are replaceable. I've told you once, I'll tell you again... lay off of Lauren or you're gonna find yourself gone."

"Yea? And who's gonna do it? You, Manny? You're not part of the team anymore. You're in the outer friend zone, dude." Dyson replied.

Vex and Kenzi had gone unnoticed by the grumpy blonde driver, but they'd heard the entire conversation as they floated nearby, Kenzi watching Bo intently as she pushed back out to the clear water behind the sets. The younger Dennis sister was beyond furious, but she kept her words and tone even as she spoke,

"Hey Dyson, I think that wave runner is leaking oil. Do me a favor and take it back to the marina. We've got the rest of this practice. I don't want to have any issues with it tomorrow during the championship."

The driver looked behind him, "What? I don't see any oil."

"Well, I do and it's my machine. I say marina, you go to the marina."

"What is this?" Dyson asked.

"This is someone who writes the paychecks for the team reassigning you to the friend zone... if you're lucky."

"You can't do that! The competition is tomorrow and I'm Bo's driver! I've always been Bo's driver!"

Kenzi laughed, "You see, that's where you're wrong, Dy. Bo's first driver was me. Her second driver was Vex. Her third driver, which was on the international circuit, was Manny here... he was always her best and favorite driver. She considers him a brother... something she never considered you..."

"That's because I was more than a mere brother to her!" Dyson began, but Kenzi cut him off...

"You were a friend with benefits for a time, Dyson but you were always her driver first... an employee... and as a driver, you were and still are her fourth choice."

"I am not..."

"Yes, you are. If I wasn't surfing myself, I would be driving for her. If Vex wasn't handling the business side of things now, he would be driving for her. If Manny didn't live in Brazil with his wife and business, he would be driving for her. Right now, I trust Tamsin to drive for you more than I trust you and your damned ego. Regardless, there are at least three other people who are more than qualified to drive for her tomorrow, Dyson. Now take the wave runner back... in one piece... to the marina."

"No. I'm gonna stay right here until Bo decides what should happen."

Lauren and Tamsin pulled up on a wave runner, hearing just enough of the conversation to know that Dyson was causing trouble again.

"Dyson, you claim to be in love with Ciara, right?" Lauren asked.

"That's none of your business. You have no place here. You left... remember?"

"True, but think about my question while you answer this one... if you're in love with Ciara and are seeking just friendship from Bo, why are you trying to start shit on her team the day before the biggest competition of her life?"

"I'm not trying to start shit! I'm trying to be there for Bo on the biggest day of her life! I've always been there! We're a team out there! We're going for the championship!"

Tamsin chuckled, "Dude, you aren't going for anything. Bo is going for the championship while you remain tucked tightly into the background. I think your perception is slightly... skewed."

Without warning, Manny headed off towards the whitewater. Cody was able to grip the leather strap and avoid falling off the watercraft before noticing Bo was nowhere to be seen. His eyes were filled with worry as he scanned the horizon until he finally spotted Bo's board. Cody quickly reached down, grabbing the board before tucking it in next to him as he had seen Corey do earlier.

"There!" Cody yelled when he saw Bo's hand.

Manny nodded and headed for the brunette. Sliding in beside her, Cody hoisted her onto the sled, noticing a small cut on her right thigh. He called back to her,

"You're cut!"

"Yea! Hit a rock! Sucker hurt, but this new vest works great... got spun into a rock bed and my ribs are fine."

"Do you want to go in to shore?" Cody asked, his words laced with concern.

"Nah! It's okay. I want to get two or three more runs in first."

Cody looked at Manny who nodded. He handed Bo her board as they approached clear water. The brunette jumped off and smiled,

"Thanks for the lift! You wanna come with?" Bo laughed.

Cody smiled, seeing how happy his new friend looked, "I'd love to, but I left my board in my other life jacket!"

Bo shrugged, "Maybe next time."

Cody nodded, "Definitely. Go get 'em, champ!"

"Thanks." Bo beamed as she paddled away.

Manny looked over his shoulder, "Well done. She had no idea how terrified you are for her safety. As long as you can keep up that act, you're more than welcome to be here. Your fear will give her doubt and doubt is a killer out here."

"I get it, Manny... I really do." He looked at the brunette as she sat waiting for her next wave, "She's so happy out here. I've never seen her so relaxed and happy. In Colorado she was... I don't know... it was like she was tied up in knots."

Manny nodded, "That's Lauren stuff."

"What's the story with them?"

"They were together, then Lauren went through some shit, then they weren't. I guess now they're trying to get together again."

"I figured. They're good together. They just need to relax."

Manny nodded, "Do yourself a favor and don't give them any relationship advice."

"Noted, but can I just ask... does Bo really love her?"

Manny laughed, "Love her? That's an understatement. Lauren is Bo's kryptonite."

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh yea." Manny smiled as they moved back towards the team.

When they arrived, Dyson was gone and Corey was now on Vex's wave runner. Kenzi had moved onto the boat. Manny looked up at Kenzi,

"You trust him to get the runner to the marina in one piece?"

"Nope, but that's what we have lawyers for, Manny. We have the new baby down at Kenbo, so if he hurts old faithful, we'll pull out the new pup."

Corey laughed, "You guys talk about your wave runners like they're your kids."

Kenzi nodded, "They're more than that... they're our lifeline when we ditch. They have to be running in top condition because failure is not an option when we're in the washing machine."

Cody was wondering if he should tell Lauren about Bo's cut, but decided against it, letting Manny take the lead on that topic. Regardless, the rest of the training came off without a hitch. Bo was clearly at the top of her game, her family and friends cheering her on the last few waves she caught. The Bay was beginning to erupt with waves close to twenty-five feet or more, so Vex blew the air horn, signaling Bo that her team was recommending that this session be brought to an end.

She came in without argument, knowing better than to argue with them. They never steered her wrong and never reined her in, even on her most reckless of days. She trusted their judgment without question ever since they had all come together. Of course, with Dyson she had her moments where she wasn't sure how to feel about him and his motives.

As she paddled towards the gathering of watercraft, she thought about how she had always felt like he was holding her back somehow... maybe due to his overprotective nature. She felt... suffocated... when she was with him. With Lauren, things were different in many ways. While she didn't feel like she was suffocating, the blonde sure did take her breath away in all the right ways.

"Speaking of breathless..." Bo mumbled as she grew close enough to make out the faces of those in the group, "...does she have to look so damn good in the sunlight? I mean... she could have at least pulled her hair up so it wasn't blowing in the wind, making her look like a friggin' goddess."

She put her head down and continued to paddle, her eyes focused only on the water rippling over the front of her board. Finally, she arrived at the boats, noticing that several did not belong to her team at all. She sat up on the board and looked at Manny,

"Is there a party that I didn't know about?" She smirked.

Kenzi shook her head, "Apparently, the word got out that you would be here today. Richie Rich on the yacht over there is the guy who holds most of the corporate advertising contracts with the WSL. He's no doubt here to try to coax you into the Olympics."

Bo looked up and made eye contact with Lauren who gave her a small smile before she turned back to look at the yacht,

"Yea, well I can't be bought. What about the rest?"

"Uh... let's see... itsy bitsy bikini over there is a photographer, no doubt of the paparazzi variety. Not-so-stud-muffin over there is just trying to catch a nice sized fish and the boatload of partiers on the pontoon boat over there is your fan club from California."

Bo laughed, "So they're still following me, huh?"

Kenzi smiled, "Most dedicated group of young 'uns I've ever met. Oh, and tat-man actually did tattoo your digits over his heart."

"You mean my old digits. I had that number changed as soon as he started texting me."

"We never did find out how he got your number." Kenzi said, "I'm not sure he has any skin visible anymore."

Bo laughed, "His body is his canvas, remember? And Dyson is the reason he got the number. Tat-man overheard him giving it to one of our sponsors."

"Speaking of the protector, Manny will be your lead driver tomorrow."

Bo's brow furrowed, "Did something happen to Dyson?"

Kenzi shook her head, "He got fired."

"You fired him?"

"Long story." Kenzi said, taking a bite of a sandwich before mumbling out the rest, "He... well... he decided to become one of those 'worst of Dyson' episodes and I sent him to take the wave runner to the marina for 'maintenance'... and I may or may not have told him that Manny would be driving for you tomorrow."

Bo sighed, "So he's angry and will probably destroy old faithful in retaliation, but I get my number one driver back for the biggest day of my life?"

The brunette grinned towards her old friend earning her a slap from Kenzi, "Hey! I'm your number one driver, but yes the old man is driving because I must work the beach for our business. I'm a very important marketing director, dontcha know."

Bo laughed at Kenzi's attempt at a sophisticated accent, "Well, I'm starving... got anymore sandwiches?"

Kenzi shook her head, "Sorry... I just ate the last one. How 'bout we go to Sammi's Bar and Grill down on the beach?"

"Works for me!" Bo replied, "Everyone's invited! If you're going, hit one of the boats." She was careful to direct the invitation only to those in the immediate vicinity, hoping to leave the onlookers behind.

As everyone began boarding the largest of the boats and hoisting the wave runners into their slips on the back, Bo pulled Kenzi aside,

"When did Lauren get here?"

"She came with Tamsin about thirty minutes into your practice. You told me to stay out of it so I let her stay."

"No, I'm not saying I didn't want her here... I just... well, I didn't think she would come out here... I mean... Banzai is one thing, but this is big wave and... well, she's never seen me do this and..."

"She's been cool as a cucumber the whole time from what I could see. I mean... we were a bit busy, but she seems fine. You shoulda seen her take on Dyson."

Bo's head snapped towards her sister, "Did he..."

"He didn't get a chance. She shut him down quick... which is another reason I sent him on his way."

"You had her back."

Kenzi shrugged, "I have your back and you have hers... it sort of works that way."

Bo nodded, "Anything works as long as she keeps smiling."

"Yea, we don't need mopey Lauren... she sucks."

"Be nice."

"I am being nice. Smiling Lauren is nice and she's smiling... it's all nice."

Bo handed her board up to Vex who stowed it while Manny gave her a hand on to the boat. She sat down across from Lauren and Tamsin, giving the two blonde a smile,

"So... this is a surprise."

Lauren nodded, "Well, Tamsin was coming so I hitched a ride. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'm just surprised you would come... here. I know you get a little nervous around the waves I usually surf, so I sort of thought you would bow out of this session. It's why I didn't invite you in the first place."

"I'm sorry you didn't feel you could invite me. Really, it's okay. I'd rather be here so I could help if anything did happen. I must admit... these waves are... well... I didn't think people could surf something this big."

Kenzi sat down beside Bo, "Not everyone can and our girl here is one of the only women in the world who would dare surf here."

Bo nodded, "It's why I have three teams of wave runners out here with me as well as the emergency boat to get me to shore as fast as possible if need be. I don't leave anything to chance when I'm out here."

Lauren watched as the droplets of water, drifted down Bo's neck and over her shoulders, landing beside her on the seat cushion. Her eyes drifted to the light pink tinge in the water that had already accumulated next to her leg. Following the coloring up, she noticed a gash in the side of the brunette's leg,

"Well, I guess it's convenient that you have a doctor onboard the equipment boat since you seem to have cut your leg pretty badly. I'll take a look at that if you'd like."

Bo glanced down, having forgotten all about the cut, "Oh, man... I forgot all about it. The adrenaline got pumping and I just... sorry... uh... if you wouldn't mind."

Lauren stood and grabbed her medical bag from beneath the bench cushion, then moved to Bo. Opening it up, she pulled on a pair of gloves,

"Can you wipes all of that up with a towel so I can get a better look?" Lauren asked.

"Of course." Bo replied, wiping the bench, water and her leg.

Lauren opened a gauze pack and used a few pieces to dry and examine the cut. Shaking her head, she looked up at Bo,

"You could definitely use a few stitches, but with the competition tomorrow, I'd be afraid you would just tear your skin or rip the stitches when you got them wet. Would you be okay with wearing a pair of compression-style shorts tomorrow so that I could use another method to close the gap? I can do the stitches after you finish up."

Bo nodded, "You're the doc, Doc. I'll do whatever you recommend."

"A cooperative Bo Dennis? Wow. Things really have changed around here since I've been gone."

Bo smiled, "Well, things feel a little more normal now that you're here."

Lauren looked up and gave Bo a warm smile, "It's good to be here, Bo."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Bo replied, as Lauren got to work on her leg, "So, what did you think of big wave surfing?"

"I didn't know waves could actually get that big." Lauren replied, pulling the surgical glue she planned to use from her bag."

"Well, if you look back now, you'll see that they're even bigger as we approach the shore. A storm is brewing." Bo said, her eyes focused on the horizon.

Lauren nodded, "Yea, that's what the forecast said before we left."

Bo looked up to be sure that everyone was busy with other things before she asked, "Is that why you came out? Were you worried?"

"Honestly? I'm always going to worry when you're surfing, Bo. I've learned by now that you go all out and that means committing to the wave no matter how big it may be. I've also learned that is how you got to be the best in your sport."

Lauren lifted her eyes to meet Bo's, "I want you to win more than anything... I want you to experience what I got to experience at the Olympics. I'm trying to stay focused on that instead of my fears about something happening to you, because if something does happen, I'm going to make sure I'm write there to save your damn life."

Lauren looked away quickly as tears welled in her eyes, but Bo pulled her back, holding her chin gently as she spoke,

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo... I won't lose you again... I don't ever want to lose you again. Last night, I felt like I was home... not just here on the island but home with you... a home that I felt like I belonged in for the first time in my life."

"Lauren..."

The blonde shook her head, "I'm going to be there, Bo. I doubt very much that anything will happen since you're so incredibly amazing out there on that board, but if something goes wrong, I'll be there. You can count on me, Bo... just like I'm counting on you to go all in out there. You're at your best when you're putting it all on the line."

Bo smiled, "You're really okay with all of this?" Bo asked, pointing towards where everyone was now unloading the boats from the dock and heading back across the sand through the park to the cars.

Lauren nodded, "This is your life... this is a part of your very soul. I want a part of your life... whatever part you're willing to give me, so yes I'm okay with this... with all of it."

Bo threw her arms around Lauren's neck, and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lauren replied in an equally low voice, "I love you, Bo and I think that giving up what we've had all along would be the biggest mistake I've ever made. I will work through my life as I live it... one day at a time... but I want you there for my journey... and I want to be there for yours if you'll have me."

Bo nodded, unable to speak beyond a moan.

"I'll take that as a yes." Lauren replied with a light laugh, "I'd better finish dressing your leg wound."

Bo released Lauren, "So, will it be okay tomorrow?"

"Yup. I'll wrap it tomorrow in some cellophane, and then you can put your compression shorts over it. That should keep the water out and the wound relatively dry."

Bo stilled Lauren's hand, "I can't tell you how much it means to me that you came. I mean... it was quite a surprise." She took a breath, "Thank you... really... thank you."

Lauren smiled and continued her work while Bo watched her, allowing her heart to open just a little bit more. It didn't take long before the doctor was packing up her bag before double-checking her work.

"It's fine, Lauren. You did a great job, as usual."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty. I haven't had to treat a wound like that since... well... for months, actually."

The blonde sat down beside Bo and looked out to the horizon. They were almost back to the shore where they would all disembark, head back to their cars and go to the bar for an early dinner. Bo noticed how quiet Lauren had become,

"Do you miss it? I mean... emergency medicine?"

Lauren shrugged, "I don't miss watching people wheeled in who I know I can't help, but I do miss the pace of it... I never really realized it until I went to Colorado. The pace is so laid back there... there's an awful lot of time to sit and think."

"Too much time for your overactive brain, I take it?"

Lauren smiled, "You know me all too well, Bo Dennis."

"I'm glad... to know you... to be able to understand you."

The blonde nodded, "Because it makes forgiving me easier?"

"Maybe, but I was thinking more along the lines of the fact that I love you _because_ I understand you. All of your little quirks and obsessions... well, they were the things that first attracted me to you... that and your willingness to stand up to Kenzi without even knowing her. You came across as fearless and it was... refreshing."

"Until you found out I was anything but fearless." Lauren lowered her eyes, "I wish I'd been stronger for you all of those months ago."

"You're stronger now, Lauren." Bo reached over and gripped Lauren's hand on her thigh, "That's all that matters going forward."

The boat pulled into the shallows and one-by-one, everyone began to jump off. Bo stood and got into the line of people heading towards shore, but Lauren stopped her,

"Bo... you can't jump in... your wound can't get wet just yet. I need you to give it some time for the glue to create a stronger seal to keep the bleeding at bay."

"Shit. Sorry, Lauren... I forgot."

"It doesn't hurt at all?" Lauren asked.

Bo chuckled, "Everything hurts. What's one more ache?"

"I know that feeling. Are you really that sore?" Lauren asked.

"My legs feel a little shaky and stiff, but that's been pretty much the status quo since I started surfing again. It's a little worse today, but I haven't been on a board for a week."

Bo looked down at her leg and frowned.

"You're worried about tomorrow." Lauren said, flatly. She was all too familiar with the look on Bo's face.

The brunette didn't want Lauren to feel bad, but taking a week away from the water this close to her competition was not going to help her tomorrow. She should have been going hard all week in the big water, not doing three-a-days in the wave pool. It just didn't provide her the ride intensity she needed. Yes, she was worried about how she would feel tomorrow. If her legs were stiff now, they would feel worse tomorrow morning, but she would go to the tent and get a stretch and massage first thing in the morning. It would get her through the day.

"Were you nervous before the gold medal match?" Bo asked.

Lauren shrugged, "I don't really remember to tell you the truth. I was sort of on auto-pilot with everything else that was trying to flood my brain. I was hyped up, for sure but I don't remember nerves... anger, fear and a need to lash out at the world."

"So you lashed out at the ball instead?"

"Something like that." Lauren replied.

Vex walked up behind the two women, "You ladies going ashore or are you gonna stand 'ere all day having eye sex?"

Bo sighed, "Vex, don't be an ass. I can't get my leg wet so we're trying to figure out how to get me to sure."

"Right. That's easy." Vex said as he whistled towards shore, "Manny! Pick up!"

"Vex, what are you doing?" Bo asked.

"Getting you a ride to the beach... might as well make use of the beast of a man while he's here. You step off the boat and onto his shoulders. Viola! You're dry, on shore and our sexy blonde doctor is happy."

Vex explained to Manny what he needed and he happily complied. Vex jumped in behind them, taking the medical bag from Lauren, holding it above the water as directed while the doctor jumped in and walked to shore behind him.

Once on land, Vex let Bo and Lauren know that Tamsin and Kenzi were riding to the bar together.

"Kenzi left you the car keys, Bo." Vex tossed the brunette the keys, "See you there."

Now that Bo was on land, her quad was flexing as she walked through the sand, making her more aware of the wound on her leg. Lauren noticed her limp,

"Bo?"

"It hurts... it hurts like a bitch."

Lauren shook her head, "There's nothing else I can do for it but manage the pain with some ibuprofen. I can't give you anything stronger or you won't pass your drug test."

Bo nodded, "I know. I just... shit... am I going to be able to surf tomorrow?"

"Only you can answer that question, Bo. I can keep the wound together, but the pain is up to you to handle. Tamsin explained the standings to me... you don't have to win tomorrow to win the championship. You can still win next week if you place second in both competitions."

Bo sighed, sitting on the park bench, "I don't want to have to win next week. I want this over with, Lauren. Why does everything have to be so hard!"

"Because if it was hard, everyone would be doing it. You're Bo Dennis. Hard is what you do and you do it better than anyone I know. You'll figure this out, Bo... you'll see."

"Can we just sit here for a bit?"

"Sure."

Bo pulled out her phone and sent Kenzi a text, letting her know what was happening. Her sister responded with concern, as expected, but Bo assured her she was just taking a break and that she would be there.

"What is this place?" Lauren asked, looking around, "I've never been here."

Bo smiled, "It's a memorial park. There was this surfer... well, big wave rider, actually... his name was Eddie Aikau. He paddled into dangerous surf to save people stranded on a capsized vessel and was never seen again. All of this is to show respect for what he did and how he lived."

"Wow... that's... really brave."

Bo nodded, "Absolutely. I've often wondered what went through his mind when he made the decision to go in after them. I've also wondered what took him down."

The brunette grew silent as her eyes panned across the grounds of the park.

"Would you have done the same?" Lauren asked.

"I honestly don't know." Bo replied.

Lauren shrugged, "I think you would have... no questions asked. It's your instinct to protect and to save... I think it's the only reason that you still love me. Most women would have run the moment they knew that a Nadia existed in my world."

Bo smiled, "Well, I'm not most women."

"You certainly aren't. You are a woman of conviction who is unique, intelligent, beautiful, courageous and talented."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Doctor."

"Hmmm... let's see then... what else can I flatter you with?"

The two shared a laugh before Bo's growling stomach interrupted them, making them laugh harder,

"Do you think you can walk or do you want me to move your car closer?" Lauren asked.

"I can walk. We're almost past the sand. That's the hard part."

"Your quadriceps muscle has to work harder on sand than on flat ground." Lauren offered her arm to Bo, "Use me for support and we'll make it to the car together."

Bo smiled, "Together."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Come on, Lauren... you won't know until you try!" Tamsin encouraged while Vex and Manny egged her on as well.

Lauren shook her head, "I am not getting on that thing."

Bo laughed, "Why not? You're flexible, strong and you've got great rhythm. You can handle it."

"It's not handling it that I'm worried about. It's looking like an idiot." Lauren pouted.

"It's a mechanical bull, Lauren. Everyone looks like an idiot, but that's what makes it fun! Look at Hale... did you ever think you'd see him trying to ride that thing? He's on his third try and he can't stay on for more than thirty seconds!"

"True... I should go on right after him. He'll make me look good." Lauren laughed.

"Come on... face your fears?" Bo encouraged.

"Fine." Lauren replied, pulling off her sweatshirt to reveal a white tank top.

Bo's mouth dropped to the floor as the blonde strolled past her, pulling her hair up off of her neck and wrapping it in the hair tie she had around her wrist. She patted Hale on the back and told him to take a break before hopping up onto the mechanical bull as if she were an old pro who rode bulls for a living.

Kenzi slid in next to Bo who had come to the fence to sit on the bench beside the padded arena, "Uh... are we getting scammed here? She looks like she's done this before."

"I'm not sure yet, but she did look awfully comfortable getting on, didn't she?"

"She did." Kenzi nodded as the ride began.

Lauren's hand automatically flew into the air as she moved smoothly with the bucking mechanical animal. The bar filled with the sounds of people hooting and hollering as the host called out the time. When they reached the one minute mark, the technician behind the control panel smiled as he began to push the speed lever forward a bit. The crowd cheered louder as Lauren remained on board, her eyes the picture of concentration.

"She's good." Tamsin said, "All these years and I've never seen her do this."

"She's been holding out on us." Bo replied, her eyes glued to the body of the blonde. Her thoughts betrayed her as she began thinking of the things she'd like to do with that body. Her mind then ventured back in time to how it felt to have the blonde writhing beneath her in bed, or the look on her face as she looked down at her when she was pressed up above her.

"Hey! Bozo!"

Bo was pulled from her daydream by her sister's hand slapping her on the shoulder, her voice loud in her ear as she pulled her focus up to the arena where Lauren was standing up from the padded floor.

"Sorry... I drifted off. How long was she on?"

"A minute forty eight... new woman's record for the bar. Your girl's a winner all right."

Bo nodded, "Yea, let's just hope this girl's a winner tomorrow."

It was said low enough that no one heard her, but Bo's mind had been consumed with the competition for most of the night. The bull riding was a distraction for a while, but now her mind was right back where it had been. She looked down at her leg, wishing she hadn't been cut today. She had wanted to go to the pipe after dinner just to have another go at some of her new tricks, but now that seemed impossible. The truth was, she was starting to feel like tomorrow was impossible.

"You okay?" Lauren asked, coming to sit beside Bo who looked up at Lauren,

"Nice ride."

"Thanks, but you didn't answer my question."

Bo looked down at her leg, "I'm worried about tomorrow. I'm so pissed I got cut."

Lauren nodded, "Come on... I want to try something."

"Amputation?" Bo snarked.

"We're not there yet. Come on... be the cooperative patient I know you can be."

Lauren stood and offered Bo her hand. The brunette was moving slower now than she was two hours ago when they'd first arrived. The blonde turned to Kenzi,

"I'm taking Bo back to the E.R., but don't worry... I just don't have what I need at the new house. Once I get all of the supplies I need, we'll be back at my place because I need some things that are in my bags. What time does she need to be there in the morning?"

"That depends on if she wants to warm up and have a massage and stretch." Kenzi replied.

"She does... I don't even need to ask to know she'll need both." Lauren replied.

"Okay then, she'll need to be there by eight." Kenzi replied, "She may want to be there by seven though. She's usually prefers to be there much earlier than most. She'll want to see the sets and how the current and surface is moving."

Lauren nodded, "I'll have her there at seven then... eight at the latest. You'll have all of her gear there?"

Kenzi nodded, "What's your plan, Doc?"

"She'll need her legs covered. I need to compress that wound tightly or she'll feel it every minute of the competition."

"I'll have everything she needs plus options." Kenzi replied.

"Thanks." Lauren nodded, "And Kenzi?"

"Yea, Doc?"

"I'm sure you're not particularly happy with me, so thank you... for not treating me like shit and giving me a chance. I won't let her down this time."

Kenzi simply nodded, her face showing some skepticism, which the doctor understood. Lauren gave Tamsin a nod before turning towards where Bo was standing, having a conversation with Vex,

"You ready?" Lauren asked the brunette.

"Yea... just getting the report from the marina."

"Did Dyson make it back?"

Vex shook his head, "The wanker took off... the coast guard is searching for him. Ciara is quite upset."

"At Bo?" Lauren asked.

"Oh, no... at Dyson."

Hale shook his head, "I don't know what got into that man's head but Ciara is the wrong woman to mess with. She'll chew up his man parts and spit 'em out."

"Well, his man parts are his problem. Right now, I've got problems of my own to deal with. We're heading out. See you guys after dawn?"

"You headin' down at seven or eight?" Vex asked.

"That depends on the old nerves... I have a feeling I'll be watching the waves at sunrise. It would help to calm me. Of course, if this thing hurts like it does right now, I'll probably take longer to get there."

"Doc will get you fixed up." Vex said, looking up at Lauren who raised her eyebrows.

"I'll do what I can to make her more comfortable for tomorrow." Lauren smiled, offering an arm to Bo.

The brunette slipped her hand through the crook of Lauren's elbow and headed out of the bar. Vex watched them walk away,

"That's quite a limp there."

Hale replied, "Yea, well Bo isn't gonna let a little limp stop her tomorrow. Our girl is gonna throw it down out there!"

Vex nodded, "Let's hope so."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

After a quick visit to Trick and a million apologies for just showing up to get supplies for Bo's leg instead of giving him a proper visit, Lauren drove back to her house where she had left Bo to shower.

When she walked in the door, she found Bo lying on the couch, watching the weather report.

"How does it feel?" Lauren called across the room.

"I'm starting to wonder if there's something in the cut. It hurts like a bitch." She kept her eyes on the screen as the tide times were reported.

Lauren scowled and moved quickly to Bo's side with a tray of supplies, "I didn't have a very good angle on the boat, but it looked clean. Let me check it again."

The doctor knelt down so she was eye level with the wound and pulled out the magnifier on her cell phone. Using a pair of forceps, she gently parted the wound as far as she dare without opening it up again. As she ran the edge through small gap, Bo flinched and that was when she saw it,

"Shit."

"What?" Bo asked.

"You jumped because the tip of my forceps brushed against a small piece of what looks like a hard crystalline substance."

"Translation?"

Lauren looked up at Bo, "It looks like you have a small piece of rock in your leg."

"I knew there was something in there. Now what?"

"Now I perform a small surgery. I'm not going to lie, Bo... I would much rather be doing this at the hospital."

Bo groaned, "Really? I mean, can't you just grab it like a splinter and pull it out?"

Lauren shook her head, "I'm going to have to..."

"I don't care what you have to do! I know you know what you're doing! Just do it, please! Make it stop!"

Lauren nodded, "Are you sure you won't let me take you to the hospital, Bo? I don't want this to get infected and I have minimal tools here."

"Fine. Whatever. Can we please just go and get this over with?"

The blonde picked up her phone, "I'm going to call the Chief. This really is his area of expertise. I usually handle the train wrecks. He's the one that's got the finesse for these delicate matters."

"I know there's a one-liner in there somewhere but I can't think of it because I'm too busy trying to convince myself there isn't something slicing through my leg right now."

After a quick call and discussion of their plan of action, Lauren was off the phone and helping Bo out to the car once again. Once she got Bo seated and buckled in, she ran around to the driver's seat and headed towards the medical center.

"I'm so sorry I didn't notice it on the boat, Bo. if I had, I never would have closed the cut. I would have taken you straight to the hospital."

"It's not your fault, Lauren. It was bleeding a good bit, I was on a wave runner, then on a boat being rocked by waves. You did what you could under the circumstances."

"Still, if you can't surf tomorrow, I'll never forgive myself!" Lauren slammed her palm against the steering wheel as she continued, "I shouldn't have..."

"Hey..." Bo placed a hand on Lauren's thigh, "No blaming. Besides, I will definitely be surfing tomorrow, so you and Trick can just forget about any ideas you might have about suggesting otherwise. The weather is going to be perfect. I'll be fine."

They pulled into the hospital to see a nurse and Trick standing by the emergency room entrance with a wheelchair.

"No wheelchairs." Bo said emphatically.

Lauren was unable to stifle her laughter, leading Bo to turn and glare at her, "What? I mean it. I can walk. I'm not an invalid."

Lauren continued to laugh, shaking her head as she opened Bo's door to a brunette wearing a deep scowl,

"What are you laughing at?"

She chuckled, "Oh, Bo... don't you remember the day you tried to discharge yourself? I forced you to exit the hospital in a wheelchair and you stubbornly stood against my orders, refusing the chair for pretty much the same reason."

Bo went to argue, but then remembered what an ass she had been to Lauren. She shook her head, "I was quite an idiot, huh?"

"Just a little bit. Now get into the chair and don't argue. We have no way of knowing how deep or big that piece is in your leg. The last thing you need is a severed blood vessel, nerve or muscle. Sit."

Lauren pointed firmly at the chair while Trick and the nurse watched with raised eyebrows. Bo huffed, but stood and walked uncomfortably to the chair.

"This won't take long, Bo. Thanks for coming in. After Lauren explained the situation, I felt it best that you be here rather than in a non-sterile environment."

Bo nodded, "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Chief."

"We're going to a small procedure room. I have everything set up there."

"Okay."

"So... big event tomorrow, eh?"

"The biggest." Bo smiled.

"Well, I'll be there along with most of the nurses and therapists from your old floor. You developed quite the following while you were here."

"Please thank them for me, Trick. They don't have to come, so the fact that they are means so much to me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the team that put me back together again."

"That's what's going to make the victory that much sweeter for all of us."

Bo smiled, "I'm glad. It will be nice to know you're all there cheering me on. It's been a long road and I will forever be grateful to this hospital for all they did for me. If that championship is mine tomorrow, you each hold a piece of it."

Bo climbed onto the low examination table specifically made for the Chief of Staff before turning onto her side as the doctor asked.

"Okay then. Let's see what we have here."

He moved a magnifying light over the wound area and used a forceps as Lauren had to probe the wound.

"You were right, Dr. Lewis. There's definitely something in there that is at least partially quartz."

He looked up at Bo, "You said you fell in rocks, not a reef, correct?"

Bo nodded, "I'm pretty certain."

"Okay then. Bo, I'm going to numb the area to perform this procedure, but it will have no effect on your ability to surf tomorrow. You may have some discomfort tomorrow, but from what I've experienced with you, that will certainly not stop you. I'm sure that Lauren can rig something for you to wear to keep the wound as clean and dry as possible. I agree with her assessment that surgical glue was the best course of action considering your activity level tomorrow."

"So, surfing won't be a problem?"

"It will only be a problem in so much as your ability to tolerate the pain."

"Nothing will stop me tomorrow." Bo replied, her eyes cast firmly on her wound.

"Well, let's get started then. Doctor Lewis, if you would, please?"

Lauren pulled on a pair of gloves and sat in the stood beside Trick, "Ready, doctor."

"Swab."

The blonde turned to Bo, "This is just alcohol to clean the site where Dr. Fitzpatrick is going to inject you."

Bo nodded, giving Lauren a small smile. She decided this wasn't so bad. She would get to stare at the blonde for the next little while and then probably sleep at her house where she was only a room away. It wasn't the perfect night before a championship, but it was certainly a night she would always remember.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It took only about two hours for the injection to wear off from the short procedure and Bo was feeling the pain. Knowing that there wasn't much she could do for her, Lauren applied ice and gave the brunette ibuprofen.

"I guess I should count my blessings that this happened relatively early in the day." Bo commented as she watched Lauren pack her wound with ice.

"It's funny that you're counting blessings, while I'm wondering why there is still a dark cloud floating over our heads."

"Nah... just a little scrape. I'll be right as rain tomorrow." Bo smiled, "Now come over here and sit with me. Doctor Lewis is off duty."

The blonde smiled, "Can I get you some tea, water, a snack? You haven't eaten anything since that three o'clock super early dinner."

"Do you have any fruit?"

Lauren shrugged, "I have no idea. Let me check what they put in the kitchen."

Bo watched as Lauren walked to the kitchen. She knew that the blonde felt responsible for her leg, but it really wasn't her fault...

"Lauren, I know you're blaming yourself, but you didn't do this to me... a rock did and as they say in surfing, 'rock happens'." Bo chuckled.

"They say that, do they?"

"Well, not really, but look... this isn't the first time I've hit one and it definitely wouldn't be the last."

Lauren's head snapped up, "It won't?"

"Won't what?" Bo asked.

"Be the last time."

Bo sat for a moment, realizing what she'd said, "Wow... I really don't know why I said that."

"Maybe because you aren't ready to get out of the sport yet?"

Bo just shrugged, but Lauren continued, "Look... I'm just saying that maybe you've already set a new goal in your subconscious mind... a gold medal goal?"

"I really don't know, Lauren. I mean... I know you probably want me to..."

"Wait a minute... don't say it. I just want you happy, Bo. It's all I've ever wanted even though my actions may have told you I was more focused on myself. I will support whatever you decide."

"Are you sure you can really do that?" Bo asked, "Be honest, Lauren."

"Would it be easier if we were both in the same state? Of course, but I will put no less or more effort into working on us because of where each of us lives."

Bo sighed, "How are we really going to be able make this work living in separate states?"

"I really don't know, Bo. All we can do is take one day at a time."

"One day at a time, huh?"

Lauren nodded, walking from the living room to the kitchen and back again carrying two plates, "How's this?"

Bo looked down to see a sandwich with some apple slices and salad, "This is perfect. Honestly, right now I would eat that table if it's all you had."

Lauren laughed, "Well, please don't. It's my dream coffee table and this very special woman searched high and low to find it for my dream house. I'd prefer it not be eaten just yet."

"Got it... I'll stick to the sandwich then."

The two sat in silence, eating the food from their plates. Lauren's eyes drifted around the immediate area of her new home, her thoughts drifting to estimates of how much time and effort the brunette must have put into finding the precise items for the house from her journal and magazine notes.

Meanwhile, Bo's mind wandered to thoughts of how they used to eat side by side like this before the Olympics. The conversation flowed easily, light touches were shared and they never stopped looking at each other. Now, they struggled for words, sat an acceptable distance apart and kept their eyes to their plates. She wondered if Lauren noticed or if she was thinking about something completely different.

Lauren offered the first bits of conversation, "I'm truly amazed by the effort you and the company went to in creating the closest thing to an exact replica of my childhood dream home that was possible."

Bo smiled and nodded, thinking about the fact that Lauren had, indeed, been thinking of something completely different than she had.

"I'm a highly motivated worker, haven't you heard?"

Lauren smiled, "I have. One of Pops best, as a matter of fact."

"Well, he's amazed at my geological science experiments, as he calls them."

"What do you do around those volcanoes all day?"

Bo shrugged, "Study them and try to predict what they're going to do."

"What does that mean?" Lauren asked.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Sure. It sounds fascinating." Lauren replied.

"Well, I actually chose my engineering concentrations after learning about Thomas A. Jaggar. He used to be the Head of the Geology Department at M.I.T. back in the early 1900's. I found his work fascinating and, well... I read everything I could find on him and his research. He founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory or HVO that sits on the rim of Kilauea's caldera which now monitors the lava flow of the current eruptions."

Bo laid back on the sofa and continued,

"The HVO started out as a private group that did round-the-clock monitoring of seismic activity before, during and after eruptions. They also did a bunch of other geological, geochemical and geophysical studies. Since 1948, it's been operated from a federal level... the Geological Survey... it's part of the Volcano Hazards Program. Anyway, they spend most of their time on Kilauea and Mauna Loa since they're two of the most active volcanoes in the world. It's amazing that two of the biggest volcanoes in the world are right here on our little islands!"

Lauren could see the excitement on Bo's face as she spoke of her geological research. She remembered a time when she spoke of medicine that way... how had she traveled so far from all that she had once loved. She sat back and focused her eyes on Bo's smile. The pace of her words equaled their enthusiasm,

"... so basically, when you monitor volcanic activity, you keep a detailed journal of every change whether you can see them or not. That's what all of my equipment is for up there. If you can't see it, my instruments will pick it up. Things like steam from the vents we know about as well as the new ones that form are visible. Cracks in the earth's surface, changes in color of mineral deposits encrusting fumaroles..."

Lauren's eyes glazed over at the content of Bo's explanation, but the brunette's smile held her attention regardless. This was the first time in a very long time she'd seen Bo truly happy. The last time was the day they walked the fields of the orchard. She remembered the look on her face as she pulled an apple from a tree, wiped it with her shirt and took a bite. She closed her eyes as she allowed the sweet taste of the fruit to flood her mouth. Her lips were moist, her head thrown slightly back and her smile... it was such a short moment, but that moment was pure bliss... pure beauty.

"Lauren?"

"What?" Lauren shook her head, "Um... sorry... I... well... you were talking and... something you said made me think of... well... something else and I got... a little distracted. Sorry. Continue... please..."

Bo laughed, "It's okay. Fumaroles, gas compositions, modern isotopic dating methods, deviations in electromagnetic fields and subterranean magma movement aren't for everyone."

Lauren smiled, "Clearly... to whatever it is you just said."

Bo's laughed filled the room, her smile was bright and all Lauren could do was watch the brunette's moment of joy unfold. The moment was gone two quickly as the two sat in silence, smiling at one another for a long moment before the blonde spoke again,

"I really loved seeing you talking about your research."

"You mean hearing, right?"

Lauren shook her head, "Actually, no... I did mean seeing. I mean... your voice just exudes enthusiasm, but your face shows the true passion you feel for your field. Watching you made me realize I used to feel that way about medicine."

"You don't love medicine anymore?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "Sure... I mean, of course I do. I just... I mean..." The blonde sighed, "Honestly, I don't know what I mean. It's frustrating, actually. I used to have trouble sleeping at night when I was in the early stages of my career. When I was an intern, I used to get so excited when I was assigned to a surgical rotation... neuro, gastro, ortho, cardio... it really didn't matter what specialty as long as I got to get an inside view of the human body. It was so cool!"

Bo laughed, "What happened?"

Lauren took a minute and thought about Bo's question. It was just one big black cloud of memories... she really didn't know what had happened.

Bo could see the blonde struggle to answer her question, so she thought she would make the question a little easier,

"What did you do at the hospital when you first got to Hawaii?"

Lauren looked up at Bo and then back at the glass in her hand, "Ortho was my specialty so that's where I started, but then one day this case came into the ER. Trick and Evony were both there. It was this little five-year-old girl who had fallen off of the brand new swing set she had gotten for her birthday. It was so sad. She braced herself with her arms when she fell and broke both of them. After they were reset and casted, the ER was packed with incoming cases."

She looked up at Bo with a smile, "Chief grabbed me as I went to leave and asked me to apply direct pressure on a wound as they carted him down the hall. Running alongside the gurney was... well... I had a small flashback from Afghanistan and sort of zoned out for a bit..."

She held out her hands, re-enacting the scene for Bo,

"... when Chief finally got me refocused, I looked down to see my hands were inside the guys' chest, massaging his heart. Then... there was this moment... it was amazing... one minute I was watching Chief cauterize an artery, the next I felt one beat, then two beats... I looked down at my hands and... well, I was holding a beating heart."

She looked back up at Bo, "I was inside a man's chest holding his beating heart... his life force... in my hands. One minute it was stopped and the next, it was beating again. That was it... that was the moment I knew that I wanted to do Emergency Medicine. Luckily, it was one of my three specialties, so... well... a doctor retired and they hired me."

"Was Evony the ER Chief back then?"

"She got the job when I got mine. The man who retired was in her position. When they promoted her, I got her job."

"Oh, I see." Bo replied, "When did things get bad between the two of you?"

Lauren chuckled, "When weren't they bad is the better question. She rode me like a first year intern, only backing off when Chief was in earshot. One of the nurses actually reported her when she slapped a suture tray out of my hand about six months after I was hired. Apparently, suturing patients was beneath me even though we had no other incoming cases at the time."

"I guess you'd call that a no-win situation."

The blonde nodded, "... From the start, as a matter of fact."

"Did you love it anyway?"

Lauren smiled, "Being in the ER was... well... it was a way of feeling normal after... not."

"How's that?"

"Well, when I was in Afghanistan, things were... unexpected, intense and fast paced. When I came home, nothing felt... right. To top it off, Nadia came back around and... well... come to think of it, that's when I stopped loving medicine. The pace was all wrong... hell, my whole life was wrong. My focus moved to everything other than science. I mean... it wasn't that I didn't care about my patients... I just... well, I guess I didn't really care about anything."

Bo nodded, "Do you know what you really want to do now? I mean... professionally?"

Lauren shrugged, "I guess for now, I'll finish this ortho job and then... well... I guess we'll see, right?"

Bo frowned, "You would take a job somewhere other than here or Colorado?"

"My job won't determine where I am once I'm finished this contract."

"What will?"

"Us. I'm surprised you had to ask that question."

Bo lowered her eyes, "Sorry... I just... I guess I'm not to the point where I fully trust this just yet." She motioned between the two of them, "I sort of feel like I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Your little sister is the one who is a fan of dropping shoes, Bo." Lauren smiled.

"Sorry... I don't mean to mistrust..."

Lauren waved off the remainder of her statement, "Don't, Bo... please don't apologize. I blew the trust between us and I have to earn that back. It's okay. We'll get there. If we both want this... want us... and we're both willing to see it through and work to the time where there can be an 'us' again... then it will happen. Let's face it... we both hate to lose."

Bo laughed, "That's very true."

"How's the leg?"

"It feels okay right now. I'm not sure what will happen when I try to walk again, but right now it's good."

Lauren nodded, "Good. So... do you want to turn in early tonight or what?"

"That's probably a good idea." Bo replied.

"Well, why don't you wait here and I'll get the guest room ready."

Lauren stood to walk back to the guest room, but was stopped by the voice of her guest,

"Lauren?"

The blonde turned back, "Yea?"

"Would it be alright if I slept with you tonight?"

Lauren smiled wide, "I would like that."

Bo sat up and turned so that her legs were off of the couch. Lauren walked over and helped her up, recognizing the discomfort the brunette was feeling.

Rising to her feet, Bo exhaled through the pain, "Thanks."

"No problem. Let's get you comfortable."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The pair laid side-by-side, staring up at the starry sky through the glass dome. It was a bit chilly, so Lauren had elected to keep it closed, unwilling to risk a chilly room to leave Bo waking up stiff in the morning.

The brunette noticed Lauren fidgeting, "You seem nervous. Are you okay with me being in your bed? I mean... I know we agreed to take this slow... separate rooms, separate houses or whatever, but... well... I can stay in the guest room again..."

Bo began to sit up, but Lauren placed a hand on her abdomen, "I am nervous, but not about you being in my bed. I just... geez, Bo... how do you do it? I mean... all I can think about is how things will go tomorrow. You seem so calm! You're about to go into the biggest competition of your life and... I'm sorry... I shouldn't say anything. You're calm and you should stay that way. You don't need my nervousness changing that."

Bo laughed, "You are adorable, Lauren Lewis."

"Well, thank you. But rather than compliments, I really would like to know the secret of how you are not freaking out right now. I swear before the gold medal match, I paced the floor until I forced myself into bed. Then I tossed and turned all night, until I thought I was going to puke. I'm actually surprised I didn't throw up when they announced my name before the start of the match."

Bo laughed again. The look of terror on Lauren's face causing her to laugh even harder as tears came to her eyes,

"The mighty Lauren Lewis of Team Slamsin puking on the sideline would have been a sight for sure."

"Yea, yea... yuck it up just because you are the picture of composure."

Bo quieted her laughter, "I'm sorry, sweetie. I don't mean to make fun of the struggle you had with your nerves, but you did win so I guess it was worth it."

"I guess, but I'd love to know how to win AND get a good night's sleep."

Bo looked back up at the stars, "I can't remember a time where I've ever been so nervous the night before a competition that I didn't sleep. I mean... my parents taught me from a very young age that what the ocean does is out of our control. All we can do is hold the hand of the wave and let it guide us to shore."

"Hold its hand?"

Bo rolled her eyes, "It's an analogy, sweetie."

Lauren shook her head and smiled.

"What?"

"I like it when you call me sweetie." Lauren lowered her eyes, "It feels like old times again."

Bo smiled in return, "This... laying here together... talking... is comfortable... I mean... for me... is it comfortable for you?"

Lauren looked down, realizing that her hand was still on Bo's abdomen. Tracing her index finger over the sliver of exposed skin, she smiled,

"It's comfortable for me, too. It's nice... it feels... almost... normal."

"This feels normal to you?" Bo asked, watching as Lauren added two more fingers to her bare skin as her shirttail slid up slightly.

"It feels new... but normal... maybe familiar is a better word."

"Are you relaxed or is this making you tense?"

Lauren smiled, "I'm relaxed... I guess a little nervous about... well... how can I not be a little nervous about us. I'm not bringing up the past... I know you want to move forward, but it's hard not to carry my mistakes with me. I'm well aware of the damage I've inflicted on us."

"It's not like you hold all of the blame, Lauren. I am well aware that I have said and done things that did not help our relationship."

"Maybe." Lauren shrugged.

"Don't do that, Lauren. Please don't blame yourself for everything that's happened between us."

"I think it's just how I am, Bo. I'm conditioned to place and take the blame."

Bo shook her head, "I don't accept that Lauren and you shouldn't either. We can't move forward if you don't believe that you can change... that we can change. I mean... look at us... after everything... here we are... together... talking, learning more about each other and enjoying spending time doing those things."

The brunette opened her arm, offering Lauren a shoulder to lie on. The blonde looked at the offered space for a moment before smiling and turning onto her side. She nestled her head into the crook of Bo's neck, coming to rest on the soft spot of her shoulder. Her other hand slid across the now two-inch gap her other hand had created between Bo's panties and shirt before sliding beneath to settle on her rib cage.

The pair released a simultaneous sigh as Bo wrapped her hand over Lauren's shoulder, her free hand coming to rest on Lauren's hip, her fingers sliding beneath her shirt so she could feel the warmth of the blonde's skin.

They lay there together for a long while, Bo's eyes watching the evening sky grow into darkness, while Lauren's eyes watched her hand move beneath Bo's shirt, occasionally wandering to watch the brunette's chest rise and fall with relaxed breaths. It was quiet and relaxed until Bo heard a sniffle come from the blonde. She looked down, pulling her head back to see several tears trail down Lauren's cheek. Thumbing them away, she spoke, her voice laced with concern,

"Hey... are you okay? Is this too much?"

Lauren looked up, "Yes... it's too much in that I feel like my heart might explode at how happy I am to be lying here in your arms again, Bo... just the two of us with no one else around... knowing that you are comfortable like this... that maybe there's a chance for us... that maybe it could be like this... that this could be my life. I'm so damn sorry for running. I'm so damn sorry I took this from us. We could have..."

Bo placed a finger across the blonde's pouting lips, "Shhh... it's not about what we could have had, Lauren. It's about what we will have if we choose it. We've talked about this over and over again for the last seventy-two hours or more... I'm going to ask you one last time... please... trust me... trust yourself... trust us. We may have a harder path to a life where we are fully together in the same place, but that life is out there for us, Lauren."

"Laying with you... here and now... I know that's what I want, Bo. But when the sun rises and we leave this room... when the outside world steps in..."

"Sweetie... the outside world may wake up with us, but it will only step in between us if we allow it to." Bo slid out from beneath Lauren and rolled onto her side, careful to lift the sheet so the cloth wouldn't irritate the cut on her leg, "Tomorrow, when we wake up, I want you to understand that every moment of the day, you are with me, Lauren. I may be talking strategy with Kenzi, reviewing tide charts with Manny, doing interviews with whomever Val shoves in my face or giving fans photo ops, but while all of those things are happening... you are always with me."

She leaned in and placed a soft, lingering kiss on Lauren's lips, "I'm all in, as always. This is our last shot. I won't allow you to pull away again, Lauren. You know where I stand on this. We said no one else calls the shots in our relationship, so you need to understand that for me, this relationship, is the going to be a big part of the foundation that is my life. I won't allow you to rip away part of that foundation and leave me sinking again, Lauren. You said you're in... are you? Really?"

Lauren's eyes teared up, "I am."

She lowered her eyes, her gaze going to some random patch of skin between Bo's chest and neck.

"What is it, Lauren?"

"Before I left for Colorado, I said we should see other people. I don't want to do that. I don't need sex or dates with other people to fix what was done to me in my past. I just need to know that you are there to hold my hand or kick me in the ass if I start to regress."

"I will stand by your side, Lauren Lewis. As long as you stand by mine."

"I will stand by your side, Bo Dennis. I will support you in whatever you choose to do with your professional life."

"And I will do the same, starting with taking you back to that plane to Colorado if it's what you want. It'll suck, but I'll do it so you can find your love of medicine again. I know how it feels to have that hollow gut that comes from not knowing what your purpose is in life, Lauren. You need more than just me... you need to find your passion... the reason you were put on this earth. If that's to heal, then I will support it. If you find that it's something else, then I will support that as well."

Lauren nodded, "I can't believe I ever even considered walking away from you. I am so lucky... so grateful that you came into my life. You are the polar opposite of everyone who has ever been a part of me."

Bo shook her head, "That's not true, Lauren. Tamsin, Trick, Hale, Ciara... and even Kenzi... they've each come into your life at some point and offered something more than what you once had."

"I don't know that they're all going to be as forgiving as you."

"They're good people, Lauren... and good people know how to forgive. It will take a while for them to forget, but they will all forgive."

Lauren nodded as she watched Bo turn away with a groan, "Bo! What are you doing? You shouldn't lean on that leg..."

"Yea... forgot about that." She pushed back the covers as she sat up, pushing back the covers, "I'll be right back. I want to show you something special that you probably haven't seen just yet..."

Lauren watched, as the brunette stood and walked from the bedroom. She stood and decided to take the opportunity to empty her bladder one last time.

Bo walked back into the room carrying a book just as Lauren stepped out of the bathroom. The brunette smiled,

"Good idea. I'll be right back. Take a look at this." She handed Lauren the book and walked past her into the bathroom.

Lauren settled back into the bed, turning on the nightlight and adjusting the pillow so that she could sit back against the headboard. The book was old... very, very old. As she ran her finger gently over the bindings, she noticed that the cover and back of the book was hand-sewn. She'd never seen a book like it. She knew it wasn't an item from her journal or any of her magazines. She turned it over and righted it in her hands so she could read the cover. Bo emerged from the bathroom,

"What is this?" Lauren asked.

"It's a one-of-a-kind book." Bo smiled, settling into bed beside Lauren.

"Tusitala – The Teller of Tales." Lauren read the title aloud.

"Do you know who that is?"

Lauren shook her head, "I don't." She looked up at Bo, "Are you going to tell me?"

Bo smiled, "This book was passed down through the Dennis family line, always given to the eldest son until Kenzi and I... there is no son, so my Dad gave it to his eldest daughter. It's one of a kind in that the author only created one copy... this one... hand sewn by him and hand printed using the old printing press of his day."

Lauren watched the smile spread across the brunette's face as her eyes settled on the book. The blonde knew the woman was reliving a personal memory of a time with her father, so she waited patiently, allowing her the chance to savor the moment.

The brunette looked up, "Sorry."

"You were remembering a moment with your father. I know how special that relationship was to you, Bo. Don't ever apologize for thinking of a time you shared with him. I do it often with memories of my Mom before my step-father."

"I'm glad you have pleasant memories that you can still recall, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "Me too."

"Well, Tusitala was the name Samoans gave to Robert Louis Stevenson. He lived in Samoa in his final years. Do you know of him?"

"Only what I learned in high school a very long time ago." Lauren smiled.

"Well, he is some distant uncle or cousin or something to us. Anyway, he was born in Edinburgh in 1850. He was the son of a lighthouse engineer, so the sea was in his blood like it is every generation after him. Apparently he was a sickly child and a life-long invalid, but that didn't stop him from traveling the world. Even though the ships of his adult life started to become more advanced, he still wrote of stormy seas and sailing ships. He was in tune with the wind and sea just like I've been taught to be, so his writing has always sort of... I don't know... it sound corny, but... it speaks to me."

Lauren smiled, "I can understand that. So... why is this book here?"

"Well, I wanted you to have it here... I mean... obviously, Kenzi and I intend to pass it to my son... I mean... if I ever have kids... sons... or her... or maybe if we don't... the kids at the school... maybe Maverick... I don't know..."

Bo was having trouble finding her words... she didn't want Lauren to feel pressured about children. It was way to soon for that.

"I've always wanted children."

"You have?"

"Sure. I even picked out baby names."

Bo suddenly realized, "The names at the back of the book... where you put a big cut-out question mark over a page depicting a nursery."

Lauren nodded.

"One toy chest had the name Ethan painted on it and the other had the name Charlotte painted on it."

Lauren nodded again, "No pressure, Bo."

"Why the question mark?"

"I knew I was gay... I didn't know if I would meet a woman willing..."

"I'm willing... just to clear the air on the topic."

"Oh thank God." Lauren said before quickly turning to Bo, "I mean... not that I'm assuming that you and I would... it's just... well, it's a relief to know that we have the idea of children in common."

"I know, right?" Bo smiled.

"So... did you want me to read this?"

Bo nodded, "Yes and I also wanted you to read this..."

The brunette turned to the last page of the book where there was a newer, crisp piece of paper folded neatly and placed between the pages of the book,

"Kenzi and I used to have movie night together with my Mom every night. We would pick out lines from movies and write them down. They were all hanging on the wall in my Mom's den. This was the last movie line... well... dialogue, really... that my Mom ever wrote. She told us she hoped we would find love one day that would make us feel this way. When she died, we each kept a stack of the quote from our nights together. Kenzi insisted I keep this one, so I put it in this book... sort of a piece of my Dad and a piece of my Mom together with a quote that sort of summed up their love for each other."

Lauren smiled, "That's beautiful, Bo."

The brunette shrugged, "I guess... anyway, I wanted you to read it... it speaks to how I feel about you, Lauren... and maybe one day... if you haven't seen it... we can watch the movie together? It's a story of a woman who was abused and betrayed, only to make sacrifices for her abuser until she finally gets the life she deserves. I just thought... well... with you and I meeting... maybe this is the reason... maybe whoever is pulling the puppet strings of our lives had my Mom write this quote... had Kenzi have me be the one to keep it... have me put it in this book of quotes from a man born to the sea... maybe it was meant to be... ya know?"

"Maybe this is just what I need to hear?" Lauren said, waving the folded paper towards Bo.

"Maybe this is my Mom sending a message to the woman she believes could love her daughter the way she always hoped."

Bo's eyes filled with tears at the idea that her Mom had sent this to Lauren. Maybe she could help her to heal the damage that had been done to her in her past. Bo knew she'd done everything in her power to try to get Lauren to let go of her past and move forward. She wished her Mom was here so many times in the past months... she just couldn't get past the feeling that her Mother would have known exactly what to say to the blonde to help her.

She watched as Lauren opened the paper, her eyes welling with tears, "This is your Mom's handwriting?"

Bo nodded as a tear trailed down her cheek.

"It's almost like she's here with us right now. Is that creepy for you to hear me say?" Lauren asked.

"Not at all. I hoped you would feel that way."

Lauren smiled as Bo took her hand, lacing their fingers together she looked more closely at the page,

"There's more than one." Lauren said, but it was more of a question.

Bo nodded, "It's a great movie. It was hard for her to pick just one quote."

Lauren smiled as Bo settled her head on the blonde's chest so she could read along with her

"I always loved her handwriting. I tried to make mine just like her as a kid. It's like a work of art in and of itself."

"It is beautiful... I'm sure it's as beautiful as she was inside and out."

"You would have liked her."

"Well, if she was anything like her daughter, I'm sure you're right."

"Okay... read it to me."

Lauren smiled, placing a kiss on Bo's forehead before she began reading the quotes...

" _I'm a woman of substance. I might look fragile in appearance, but don't try to break my heart. I believe in the magic of love but don't try and play pranks on me. I love your soul deeply but don't try to rip my soul apart by cheating on me. Always remember that if I love you without limitations, I am also strong enough to let you go if you betray me. I will never be a victim but a survivor because I will emerge to be stronger than my suffering."_

Bo looked up at Lauren, "That's how I want you to be with me... with us. I want you to be able to stand up for yourself in this relationship... I don't want you to ever tolerate any of the behaviors in me that you tolerated from Nadia or anyone else. You deserve more, Lauren... and I do too. We have to be accountable for our own behaviors in this relationship... and hold each other accountable as well."

Lauren nodded, "I really like this one... especially the last line."

Bo reread the line, _"I will never be a victim, but a survivor because I will emerge to be stronger than my suffering."_

"Next one?" Lauren asked.

Bo looked down, taking a quick look, "Yea... this one is good too. She revised it a bit so Kenzi and I could read this to ourselves as a sort of affirmation each day."

" _When somebody hurts you, they take power over you. If you don't forgive them, then they keep the power. Forgive them... and after you forgive them, forgive yourself."_

Lauren smiled, "Hmmm... a wise woman said that one."

"Actually, Tyler Perry wrote the script... or maybe a writing team? So I think a wise man said that one." Bo smiled, "Read this one... I love this moment in the movie. I mean... both of the main characters say the line, but when the woman says it... it's so powerful. You'll see what I mean when we rent the movie."

"What movie is this from?" Lauren asked.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

"Mad as insane?" Lauren asked, a bit taken back by the title.

"Mad as in angry and... well, yes... a little bit of temporary insanity ensues." Bo admitted with a smirk, "Go on... read it."

" _Real men don't love the most beautiful woman in the world, they love the girl who can make their world the most beautiful."_

Lauren nodded, "Well, I doubt I have been pegged as the girl who makes Bo Dennis' world the most beautiful."

Bo looked up, "You may have ugly bits to your life and we may have had ugly bits to us, but the potential you have to bring beauty to this world is endless, Lauren. The way you helped Maverick come out of his shell, the way you made the Professor feel welcome by visiting him at his campsite every day after he arrived, the way you took care of your patients and the way you volunteered your time to help us get the emergency education program off of the ground... that was all beauty in action, Lauren."

"Maybe." Lauren said in reply.

"The next one is my all-time favorite from this movie." Bo smiled.

" _I carry you in my spirit. When I'm away from you for more than an hour, I can't stop thinking of you. I pray for you more than I pray for myself and when you smile... my world is all right. I am in love with you."_

Bo spoke quietly, "That's how I used to feel before... everything... it's how I'm starting to feel again."

"It's beautiful, Bo." Lauren smiled, kissing the top of the brunette's head. Bo closed her eyes and relaxed into the blonde, knowing that was the last quote from the movie.

"You should get some sleep." Lauren said, watching a small smile spread across the brunette's face.

"Mmmm... when we're done talking. It's still early."

Lauren looked at the clock, "True, but a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast would be a great way to start the big day."

"I don't think I've ever gone to bed before eleven the night before a competition."

"Ah... so you do get nervous! The truth comes out!" Lauren laughed.

"No, I'm just usually on my own and waxing my boards until late at night. I just happen to have a certain Professor who wants to do it himself. He's making sure the lines are perfect and Pia is supervising... not that she knows a thing about waxing surfboards, but she's interested in having me help her develop a new snowboard. She thinks the whole process is cool... well, she actually said 'rad', but that's a word I would never use."

Lauren laughed, "You've really enjoyed building your new boards with your Professor, haven't you."

Bo nodded, "You're right, I have. He just reminds me of my Dad in some ways. He's a good man and he really loves what he's doing. I can't believe he resigned and retired to do this... and now that I have my degree..."

"Holy Einstein! Your degree! Your graduation! I missed it!" Lauren replied.

"It's okay. I didn't go to graduation. They mailed my diploma to me and we had a small ceremony at the campground with the Professor handing over the certificate to his 'favorite pupil'... his words, not mine."

"Well, that's pretty obvious." Lauren smiled, "I'm still sorry that I didn't remember. I could have at least sent you a card." The blonde frowned, "A card... geez, that is such a lame thing to say to someone I'm in love with." She looked up at Bo, "Sometimes I'm so stuck in what's proper that I forget to speak with my feelings instead of facts. I'm sorry, Bo. It must have been another thing that made you feel I didn't care."

"Well, it definitely didn't help, but... moving forward, right? I'm now in possession of a Master's Degree in Engineering with twenty-four credits that carry towards my Doctorate if I want it. The Professor said he would come out of retirement to be my advisor if I decided to go for it." Bo laughed,

"I told him I wouldn't want to put him through the stress of my doctorate while he's working so hard at his new job."

"Yes, because he's working so hard in his retirement years living life on the shores of Hawaii? It's truly terrible that our beloved Professor is destined for a retirement filled with pain and suffering." Lauren replied, sarcastically causing Bo to laugh.

Lauren took one last look at Mrs. Dennis' handwriting, tracing a finger over the old ink before folding the piece of paper, to re-insert it into the page in the book. As she did, a half sheet of stationary fell out of another page. On the outside of the fold, it read,

"To Bo, for the one."

She turned to Bo, "What's this?"

She waved the folded paper at the brunette who opened her eyes, "I don't know... what does it say?"

"Well, on the outside it says, 'To Bo – for The One'..." Lauren unfolded the page, "It looks like there's another quote inside... uh... a message from your Mom."

Bo sat up, taking the page from Lauren. She looked at the outside before opening the paper, "I've never seen this before."

She read aloud so Lauren could hear,

" _Dear Ysabeau, since your Father's death, I've feared that I might not be here for some of the milestones in your life. I guess the death of your one true love makes you rethink your own mortality. Anyway, just in case I'm not around for when you meet 'the one'... this is how I hope you'll feel. I hope that their feelings will match or exceed your own. I hope that you will feel as though there is nothing you must hide, nothing you must be and nothing you must forgive in order to love them. If you read this without me, I am so very sorry I wasn't there to read this with you... but maybe I'll be the angel on your shoulder that my mother always said she would be to me. Maybe this would make a great beginning, middle and/or end to a proposal if they ever get their heads out of their asses long enough to make marriage legal for everyone. I love you my darling daughter... forever and always, to the moon, the stars and beyond until we meet again. Love, Mom."_

The tears flowed down Bo's cheeks as she spoke the last several lines of the note. She handed it to Lauren,

"Can you read the quote? I..." She laughed through her tears, "I can't see the page anymore."

Lauren smiled, wiping her own tears, "Of course, sweetie."

" _If I'm away from you or more than an hour, I can't stop thinking about you. I carry you in my spirit. I pray for you more than I pray for myself. When you smile, my world is all right. I know you don't believe in fairy tales... but if you did I'd want to be your knight in shining armor. You've been through so much. I don't want to see you hurt anymore. Now, I may not be able to give you all that you're used to, but I do know I can love you past your pain. I don't want you to worry about anything. You just wake up in the morning... that's all you have to do and I'll take it from there... there's one condition... you have to be my wife."_

Bo was frozen... why had she not read it before she had Lauren read it aloud. They were in no position to speak of marriage. Sure, it was something she dreamed of, but was it something Lauren would ever want? They hadn't really talked about it.

"Bo? Are you okay?" Lauren asked.

"Sure. I just... I'm sorry, Lauren... I should have read it myself first. I don't want you to feel pressured..."

"Pressured?"

"Yea... I mean... we never talked about marriage and..."

"Bo, we may not have talked about it, but... well... I don't want you to feel pressured, but... when I fell in love with you, I dreamed of a life together and that life always included marriage... a home... and... well, you already saw the nursery." Lauren laughed.

"That is true." Bo smiled, "So... down the road then?"

"I hope so." Lauren replied, handing Bo the stationary.

Bo folded it and placed it back in the book, "I'll save this for later then."

Lauren smiled, "I'll look forward to the day you read it to me again... for real."

The blonde fell quiet for a long moment before she added, "And Bo... if you ever want to read it to someone else... I mean if things don't work out for us... I hope she's deserving of your love."

Bo nodded before Lauren added, "Thank you for showing me this book and sharing your Mom's favorite movie quotes with me."

"You're welcome."

The pair settled back, relaxing into each other's embrace, their eyes focused on the stars cast against the dark backdrop of the night sky,

"You know, she would have loved you... she would have approved of us."

Lauren smiled, brushing a stray hair from Bo's cheek, "You think so?"

"I'm sure of it. She would have wanted to help you... it was my Mom's way."

"Like Mother like daughter, right?"

Bo laughed, smiling as she spoke, "If I'm half the woman my Mother was, I'm doing all right."

"Well, I didn't know your Mother, but I'm sure she's proud of you. And if she is the angel sitting on your shoulder, I'm sure she'll be there for you tomorrow, keeping you safe and helping you ride the waves to the shore."

"I love you, Lauren."

"I love you, Bo. Now... get some sleep."

Bo relaxed into Lauren's embrace with a deep sigh. The blonde watched as heavy eyes slowly closed and her breathing slowed and deepened. Looking back up at the stars, Lauren smiled before giving a sigh of relief. Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. Maybe things were going to come together after all. For the first time in a very long time, Lauren Lewis fell asleep with one prominent feeling in her heart... no matter where the road to the future may lead, she would now have... hope.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	15. Chapter 15: Going the Distance

_**A/N:**_ _First, I want to say thank you so much for the reviews and your continued support, especially Margo, DinahWas, KZ and Theresa, Cheeky and MPackett... you are my constants! To all of those who I haven't replied to yet, I'm getting there! So sorry! Keldi... a special note... you definitely 'get it'... thank you for your comments._

 _I know the topics in this story are hard – Lauren's journey probably the toughest - and some have abandoned the story because of it... too much angst, some have said... but in my mind, 14 chapters of angst is nothing compared to the 10-25 years or longer that some women have had to suffer from an abuser. Those of you still with me on this, seem to get that – some of you because this is, in part, the story of your own life. It is with that knowledge that I have continued to write this because this story is all I have to offer those women and the ones who no longer walk this earth. The more I've heard from the survivors of domestic violence while writing this story, the more I felt compelled to take Lauren full-on into their world and remind them that it doesn't have to end in tragedy._

 _It would be inappropriate for me to share the heartfelt confessions and thank you's I have received from domestic violence survivors via email, fanfic PM and Twitter DM while writing this story. I can only say, that once I knew the reality of their lives and what this story was doing for them, I couldn't stop... no matter how negative the reviews, no matter how many people stopped reading and no matter how many people thought it was too much of a "burden" to carry. The survivors I heard from are stronger than I will ever be – I owe them an ending... a happy ending that some of them may never achieve. If I can't give them one in reality, I at least owe them the hope that is spoken of in this story._

 _I feel that this is a story that has to be told for all of the women out there who have been left to suffer in this world – alone and broken – because no one wanted to deal with their "baggage"... no one would give them the patience, time and love they needed and deserved all along. I hope this story gives them a voice... a voice that says they have worth, they can persevere and they deserve happiness just like any other soul on earth._

 _I thank anyone who has stood by this story and continued to read. You and these survivors who are part of the Lost Girl Faemily are the reason I will finish this story. I don't write for reviews – of course, they're nice to have – but I started writing more to keep readers thinking outside the box... outside the box of what our role models showed us, of what social norms imposed on us and of any other expectations for who and how we should be... we should all "live the life we choose"... which hopefully is a life of kindness._

 _Maybe after we finish this story, the next time you meet a Lauren out there in this big old world, you'll look a little closer, give her your ear, or... if she won't talk... you'll give her your time and patience... because in doing so, you'll give her hope._

 _So, on to the new chapter... thank you all again for your support! Here's to hope!_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 15: Going the Distance**_

"Bo! Bo!" Maverick ran down the beach dodging the surfers, reporters, spectators and sponsors, bumping into one or two of them in his desperate need to get to his mentor.

"Maverick! Get back here! You can't..." Kenzi stopped running after the young boy and sighed, "... cross into the competitors area... like you just did."

Tamsin gripped her raven-haired girlfriend by the shoulders from behind, "I don't think he heard you Shortstack."

"Yea well, he did go a whole, what... almost twelve hours without her... withdrawal is a terrible thing."

"Agreed... he cannot be held responsible for his actions."

They both watched as Lauren emerged from a medical tent, throwing her backpack over a shoulder, tossing her hair to the side and pulling her aviator sunglasses down to shield her eyes.

Tamsin waved the blonde over, an action which caused Kenzi to groan, "Do we have to?"

"Stop it. She's my best friend and your big sister's... sort of girlfriend... so don't even go there, Kenzi."

"Sorry, but I'm still mad at her."

"Fine. No one's asking you not to be, just be respectful of the fact that both Bo and I want her here and are happy she's here and trying to make amends."

Kenzi flipped her hand up with little enthusiasm, "Hey Lauren."

"Hi Kenzi." Lauren replied, sensing the younger Dennis sisters' disapproval at her presence, "Sorry if I'm invading your territory."

"It's fine, Lauren." Tamsin said stepping past her girlfriend to wrap an arm over her friend's shoulder, "How's the leg?"

Kenzi was suddenly very interested in the conversation and stepped forward to hear Lauren's reply. The blonde took a moment to look at her, smiling and shaking her head a bit,

"It's good. The compression wrap is helping her and Val picked up that new prototype suit. It's super tight, so I think it's going to hold together nicely. It hurt at first, but the officials cleared me to give her an injection that will essentially numb the soft tissue without effecting her ability to ride."

"Sounds like you've got it all under control, Doc."

Lauren shrugged, "I did what I can do. Now it's up to Bo."

"She'll be fine." Kenzi said, though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

"She will be. She woke up very optimistic and... well... we found a note from your Mom last night, so she feels like she's here watching out for her today."

"A note? What did it say?" Kenzi pressed.

Lauren scowled, "I'm sorry, Kenzi but I think that would be something you should hear from Bo, not me. I'm going to head back to the lower med tent. It's where Bo asked me to be in case she has any problems. I guess I'll see you guys afterwards."

Tamsin nodded, "Maverick ran off to find Bo. Can you get him back here?"

Lauren laughed, "You bet. See ya."

The blonde headed back down the beach, "Thank you for being civil."

Kenzi shrugged, "I'm nothing if not mature."

"Yea, right... says the girl who drew moustache's on all of the kids sleeping innocently in their tents."

"What? It came off!"

"You used black permanent marker! It came off after a week of scrubbing and being in the ocean!"

Kenzi shrugged, "Let's go check the heats. I want to see who Bo has."

"You promised her you were going to sit with the Bo Dennis Fan Club and just be a spectator today. She wants to do this alone, Kenzi... it means something to her. Respect that, please?"

"Well, why does Lauren get to be there?"

"She's the doctor Bo has requested. She's injured and Lauren is an ER doctor and an orthopedic surgeon. There's no one more qualified."

"Fine. Let's go sit with the normal folk."

"I thought you liked the Colorado Kids, as you've nicknamed them."

"I do... I just like my sister more."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Lauren! Look! Bo put my name on her board!" Maverick smiled and pointed, his eyes wide as he called excitedly to the approaching blonde.

Lauren was confused as she looked at Bo, "Well, I'm not actually the one who put it on there. The professor and Pia did it last night in the workshop."

"I can't wait to ride it! Am I big enough yet, Bo?"

"Sure. You can ride it long board style." She squatted down next to him and wrapped one arm around his small waist, "You know, there's a reason your name is on that board."

"There is? Why? Is it because you like me and wanted me with you in the water? I mean... I don't mean atually in the water, but my name in the water... I mean..."

Bo laughed, "I know what you mean and that is a cool reason."

"But it's not THE reason?"

"Nope."

"Then why?"

"Because when I'm done winning this competition today, this board is all yours."

Maverick's eyes went wide, "Mine? You mean... I get my own surfboard? It's mine and I don't have to share it?"

"Well, sharing is sort of what we do at Kenbo, but yes, the board is all yours. I hope that when she's old enough, you'll take Emma on the front of the board like Kenzi and I have done for you."

"I promise!" He replied quickly, "Thank you, Bo! This is the best thing EVER!" He dove into Bo's arms, wrapping himself around her neck.

Lauren watched as Bo's eyes closed, a single tear escaping, which she quickly wiped away. The brunette pulled back, gripping the boy by the shoulders gently,

"Okay. I've got to get myself ready for my first heat. Do you know where Val and the Professor set up the surfboards this morning?"

"Uh-huh. They're down there." He pointed down the beach.

"Good. Can you take Lauren down there and show her the surfboards? We have some new models that I think you'll really like. Cody and Corey were in the shop last night with the Professor and Pia. They made three new boards that I want you to see. They're not for sale, but they are prototypes that we're going to take orders for starting this weekend. I think you'll really like them."

"What do Cody, Corey and Pia know about surfboards, Bo?"

"Not much, but they gave the professor some ideas as they talked about snowboards, so... well... go check them out... you'll see." She looked up at Lauren and gave her a wink, "I've gotta go now or I'm gonna miss my heat!"

"Good luck, Bo! You're gonna be great! I know things!" Maverick said as he hugged Bo's leg and took off running down the beach.

"MAVERICK!" Bo yelled, causing the young boy to slam on the brakes and turn to face the brunette.

"Yea?" He asked.

"Wait for Lauren!"

"Oh yea! Right! Come on, Doc!"

Lauren laughed and looked at Bo, "Did he just call me Doc?"

Bo shrugged, "What can I say... he's been hanging around the snowboarders, surfboarders and all of the adults who call you that... I guess they're rubbing off."

Lauren stepped up to Bo, "Good luck, Babe."

"Thanks... and thanks for helping out at the med tent. I owe you one." Bo smiled.

"You owe me nothing... of course... I did get you a gold medal, so a championship would be sort of nice." Lauren smirked.

Bo leaned in and placed a kiss on the blonde's lips, "For luck."

"Whatever it takes... of course... if you need more luck..."

Bo kissed Lauren again, her lips leaning a little longer before she pulled back, "Thanks. Stay close... I may need more luck later."

Lauren smiled, "Have fun, Bo... savor this moment. If it really is your last competition, you're gonna want to make it memorable. Surf like it's your last day on a board."

Bo smiled, "Thank you for supporting me. I love you."

"I love you. Now go kick some ass." Lauren smiled.

Bo picked up her board, kissed Lauren's cheek and headed down towards the water. The blonde sighed, watching the brunette go,

"Stay safe." She whispered before heading off towards Maverick who was digging in the sand. She stood over him, "You ready?"

"What's this?" Maverick asked.

Lauren looked at the bottle the young boy pulled out of the sand. Inside was a rolled up piece of paper,

"Oh my gosh... it's a message in a bottle!" Lauren's smile was broad, her eyes wide.

"What's a message doing in a bottle?"

"Well, people started the ritual back in 310 BC to study ocean currents, but eventually they started doing it to send distress signals, messages to lost loves or messages to their one true love believed to be somewhere out there."

Lauren pointed out to the ocean as she spoke, handing the bottle back to Maverick,

"Do we open it?"

"We can if you want, but I think we should take it to the professor. You have to remove the cork and message properly or you could harm the message."

"Let's go!" Maverick was off and running down the beach while Lauren laughed, rising to her feet and wiping off her legs.

"Oh, Maverick, I really wish I could bottle your energy."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren picked up the bottle that was now discarded in the sand and watched as Maverick's fingers ran over a row of boards, all with his name in printed script across the three prototype boards,

"Professor?"

"Yes, my boy?"

"Why is my name on all of these?"

"Well, this is the Mav 1, this one is the Mav 2 and this one is the Mav 3. They're all very much the same, yet they all bring something different on the water."

"They do? How do you know?"

"Because Kenzi rode them all and said so."

"But why my name?"

"Bo insisted the next line be named after you."

Maverick looked away from the board and up at the Professor, squinting as the sun shone down on his face,

"Why?"

The Professor knelt down next to Maverick, "Because these boards were developed from concepts derived from both surfboards and snowboards... just like you."

"Oh. Well... I..." He ran to Lauren and wrapped his arms around her legs. Lauren stooped down and pulled him in, holding him as she felt him gasp a few times.

She pulled back, "Hey, hey... are you crying, Mav?"

"I... no one ever did anything like this for me before. Even when I was moved up to the juniors, they didn't get my name on anything. They said I wasn't big enough. I thought I did really well in my competition. Why should my height have anything to do with it?"

Corey and Cody busted out laughing, earning them simultaneous slaps from Pia and the Professor,

"It's not funny! You guys were little once too! I can't help being short!" Maverick scowled, leaning back into Lauren.

Cody walked over to the youngster, "I'm sorry, Mav. I wasn't laughing at your height. I was laughing about the fact that you thought your height had anything to do with why your name wasn't on anything."

"Huh?" Maverick asked, confused.

"Mav, they meant that your name wasn't well known enough to sell merchandise. It would have been expensive to make things with your name and then not have them sell."

He was quite for a moment before he looked up at the Professor, frowning as he spoke, "You shouldn't have let Bo do it. I'm gonna cost her money. No one knows who I am! She has to take my name off the boards!"

The professor smiled and shook his head, "Bo's name is on all three of the boards, Maverick. It's her product... see?"

He pointed to the Kenbo logo settled just below the long, wavy stripes painted just beneath Maverick's name.

"But my name is so big! Won't they ask who I am?"

"They'll know you some day, Maverick... they'll just know your name first."

"Well... I guess that's okay. I just don't want Bo to lose money on them."

Corey shook his head, "She won't. She had us build the prototypes so she could do pre-orders. She only intends to make about fifty of each board. If the company takes off the way she hopes, these boards will be worth bank some day, Speedy!"

Maverick looked at Lauren, "They will?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, "Now... do you want to show the Professor the bottle you found while I head down to the med tent? Bo's about to start her heat."

"Oh yea! I forgot!"

And just like that, Maverick turned towards the Professor, "Wait... where's the bottle, Lauren?"

He turned to see Lauren wagging the bottle by its cork back and forth in her fingers. He giggled and took it from her,

"Thanks, Lauren." He gave her a hug, "I love you."

Pulling back he looked up at her big brown eyes, "And I'm not mad at you anymore. Just keep being nice to all of us, okay?"

Lauren forced back her tears at the young boy's message of forgiveness and smiled, "I will, Maverick. I promise."

He wiggled a finger at her, "Don't break promises."

She crossed her heart, "Cross my heart. I know I was wrong and I don't ever want to hurt my family and friends ever again."

Maverick lowered his eyes, "Am I family... or friend."

Lauren placed two fingers below his chin, "You'll always be family to me, Maverick... always."

"Good. Cause you're family to me too."

"See you later, okay? Stay with the Professor so we know where you are."

"Okay." Maverick said raising the bottle up to his elderly friend, "Look! It was in the sand!"

"Wow. Look what we have here!"

"It's a message in a bottle!" Maverick said, "They used them in British Columbia!"

"They did?"

Lauren laughed, "I told him 310 BC."

Maverick looked between the two adults, "Yea! British Columbia! I snowboarded there ever year! But I don't know where 310 is unless I got a street name."

"I've got this, Lauren. You go be a doctor."

"Thank you, Professor. Can you text Kenzi and Tamsin to let them know he's with you so they don't worry?"

"I'll do that right away."

Lauren took one last look at the young boy now examining the bottle and smiled as the realization that Tamsin, Bo and Maverick had all forgiven her. In that moment, she felt just a little bit... lighter.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Welcome, Fans, Friends and Family to the 9th of 10 events in this year's WSL Championship Tour!"

Lauren's head turned as the announcer's voice streamed along the beach, the sound eventually getting lost at sea. She stepped out of the tent and took a seat among the other workers at the South Medical Tent, her eyes searching anxiously for Bo.

"They bumped her heat." A familiar voice hit Lauren like nails on a chalkboard. She looked up shielding her eyes from the sun, her eyes rolling at the sight of the bikini-clad body of the sexy siren, Sonjay. Swallowing her pride, Lauren asked the question now nagging at her,

"Why move her heat?"

"Two women dropped out... one from injury and the other... well, the other was me. My ranking is solid at number six this year as long as I surf the final event of the year next weekend."

"But don't you lose money?"

"Oh, honey, you really don't know much about surfing do you? I'm surprised Bo keeps you around."

"Yea, well there's more to Bo's life than surfing."

Sonjay smirked, crossing her arms just beneath her breasts and pushing up her cleavage up so it strained to stay in the sparse top,

"Have you seen the line-up of women around here? I would have gotten crushed today. If Bo wins today, she's out for the last event... I mean... that's everyone's hope who is in the last event. If she sits it out, we can all bump up in the prize money."

"That still doesn't explain why you would give up money today... you still make money both weekends."

"True, but I've been nursing a pulled hamstring, so doctor's advised me to rest if I didn't need the money. You know... come back full strength next week."

Lauren only nodded, turning her head back to the competition where the surfers had now entered the water.

"So did you injure your hamstring in competition or while practicing?" Lauren had no idea why she was engaging in discussion with this woman. She was a first class bitch and had treated her with nothing but disrespect.

"Neither." Sonjay chuckled, flicking her hair back over her shoulders.

"Some other form of training?" Lauren asked.

Sonjay laughed out loud, "Oh, you could definitely say that. Getting your leg up over your head while a woman fucks you senseless is very difficult to do."

Lauren stood from her seat and shook her head, "Classy, Sonjay. Real classy."

"Oh and you're so much better Doctor Lewis?" She spat the title at the blonde, gripping her arm as she moved to enter the medical tent.

"Anything wrong here, Lauren?"

Both blondes turned to see an older gentleman, darkly tanned in nothing but swimming trunks and a puka shell necklace smiling at Lauren expectantly.

"Sup? Oh my God! I didn't know you would be here!"

The man held out his arms and pulled Lauren into a strong embrace, whispering in her ear, "I recognize that woman... nothing but trouble, that one. Need any help?"

Lauren pulled back and smiled, placing a friendly kiss on his cheek and whispering her reply, "You sure can judge a book, can't you?"

He pulled away and smiled at her, "Years of practice."

Lauren laughed as Sonjay inserted her hand between the two, effectively pushing the doctor back from Sup,

"I'm Sonjay... Bo's friend."

Sup crossed his arms over his chest, "I believe friend is being used loosely in your introduction. No friend of Bo's would speak with Lauren the way you dared. Now, why don't you be a good girl and move along to irritate other attendees not of our island."

"Clearly, you are not one for the friendliness this island is famous for around the world."

"Well, it is also clear that you are not among the Australians that I have become familiar with in my long life. I have never met a one who is spiteful, rude, condescending or has such an ugly soul."

Sonjay was paralyzed at Sup's words and Lauren was completely taken aback. His words had finality and honesty to them that she had never experienced.

"Uh... right... see you later, Lauren."

"Sonjay?"

She stopped and turned to meet Lauren's eyes, "You don't have to be... I mean... you could have friends... if you would live the real you."

"What?"

"The last time I saw you... you were less... like this to me. Just... please... it's not too late. Think about it. You can reinvent yourself... your life... every minute of the day."

Sonjay turned to walk away, but then turned back to Lauren, "Is that what you did?"

Lauren lowered her eyes, her mouth stretching into a tight smile as she shook her head, "I'm still a work in progress, but yes... reinvention is my journey... and my daily goal."

The three stood very still before Sonjay looked up at Sup, "Thank you, sir... for calling me out. No one has ever done that before."

She looked at Lauren before turning back to the sound of Sup's voice, "I am too old for dishonest pleasantries, young one. You've lost your purpose and your soul, yet you ride the waves as a native born to these islands. Get in touch with that person... the one you are when you are amidst the turbulence of the seas... it is there that you live... it is there that you will find the real you. Find her... bring her to shore and keep her with you."

Sonjay's eyes filled with tears, "I'll try. Thank you."

The blonde moved to step away, wandering almost in circles within a five feet perimeter for several minutes while Lauren and Sup sat back down. While Sup's eyes searched out Bo, Lauren's were glued to the woman who now appeared lost.

"I'll be right back, Sup."

He nodded, smiling as he watched the blonde walk towards Sonjay, "Such a beautiful soul... she will offer the olive branch... all that remains to be seen is if it will be accepted."

He watched as the two women exchanged quiet words, then allowed a smile to stretch across his face as Sonjay fell into Lauren's embrace and wept.

"Honesty may sometimes be cruel, but sometimes cruelty brings about honest change."

"You're wise, old man."

Sup turned to the sound of Bo's voice, "Ysabeau!"

The two embraced, Sup's arm remaining over Bo's shoulder as they turned to watch the two blondes,

"I only caught part of that whole exchange. Care to enlighten me?"

"It would only be a distraction from your true purpose today. Allow Lauren to serve as she chooses and trust her to do what's right for her. You just focus on serving our God Poseidon. Are you prepared?"

Bo smiled, "My heart is full, my soul is not alone and my body... well, honestly, beneath this suit, my leg is cut, glued and pretty angry but the rest of me is fine."

Sup nodded, "Would you like me to..."

Bo shook her head, knowing what he was asking, "Not without Lauren's approval."

"Of course. Shall I ask her consent?"

Lauren and Sonjay walked back towards the tent,

"Hey." Lauren smiled, her arm hooked in Sonjay's, "I've invited Sonjay to sit with us while you surf."

"Really?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, looking at Sup who smiled.

"Hi Bo. I just... I'm sorry for being such an ass... but happy that you get to witness the early moments of my rebirth." Sonjay gave a half-hearted smile, "I'm not going to be any trouble for you anymore. I promise."

Bo looked utterly confused as Lauren placed a soft kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Long story... just go with it and focus on your surfing."

Pulling back, Lauren turned to Sup as he spoke, "Lauren, I would like to perform a treatment on Bo's leg that I believe can help her wound. If you would allow it?"

"That's up to Bo." Lauren said, her face laced with concern.

"I told Sup it was up to you. You're the doctor." Bo replied, brushing some hair from Lauren's face as the wind kicked up at bit.

The blonde nodded, "What would you like to do?"

"A little witch doctor magic." Sup chuckled, "I understand your team used a technique called Cupping at the Olympics?"

"They did."

"That is what I wish to do with Bo." Sup replied.

"But there's a little twist. When I saw it done on Tamsin's shoulder in Rio, they didn't use any flame. Sup has done this on me before and he uses flame."

"I am aware of that option, but never on an open wound."

Sup shook his head, "Not on the wound, but around it. It will stimulate healing and aid in pain management."

Lauren nodded, "I see no harm in giving it a try as long as the wound itself is not disturbed."

Sup nodded, "Very well. Shall we?"

Bo nodded, making her way into the med tent.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Last heat before the finals...**_

"So, explain again how all of this point stuff works?" Helen asked.

Trick had arrived with two of the nurses from the hospital. Helen was usually working the Nurses' Station when Lauren worked prior to the Olympics and Violet usually worked night shift with Lauren. Both had been closely involved with Bo's case and couldn't stop talking about how it was a miracle that the woman was here vying for a championship less than a year after almost dying.

Since their arrival, they had fallen into the surfing culture, shopping at every tent for T-shirts, shorts, bumper stickers and anything else they could get their hands on. Kenzi could only lead them around, laughing at how touristy they were behaving for women who had spent most of their lives on the island.

"Okay, so our league is called the World Surf League or WSL."

"Got that." Helen smiled.

"Okay, so the WSL has the CT or Championship Tour, the QS or Qualifying Series..."

"That's the one you're on?"

Kenzi nodded, "I've qualified through the QS to move to the CT next year which in turn qualifies me for Olympic Trials in 2020 as long as I'm still in the CT in 2018."

"Okay, so what else is there?" Violet asked.

Kenzi continued, "There's the Long board Championships, the Junior Championships, the Big Wave Tour and the XXL Big Wave Awards."

"And Bo does the Big Wave Tour too?"

Kenzi nodded, "She has qualified for it, so she does go, but she is not vying for the championship anymore. She does about half of the season, but missed most of it this year due to her drowning incident."

The two nurses nodded before Helen asked, "Okay, so how does Bo win today? The announcer said this isn't the last event."

"Well, at each event on the CT, first place gets 10,000 points, second place gets 8,000 points and so on. They add them all together to get the rankings and at the end of the year, the person with the highest score wins the crown. If Bo wins today, no amount of points will beat her next week. When she went out for three competitions, so did all of the other top competitors either with injuries or just bad events. A lot of newcomers were picking up wins and the cash and points that go with them. She was in third place going into her injury, fifth place coming out. With wins in the last four events, she's landed solidly in first with none of the top names challenging her much. The closest person is a nobody named Tanya who is not expected to get better than fourth today."

"How do they decide who wins? Whoever doesn't fall?" Violet asked.

Kenzi laughed, "Well, the elements are commitment and degree of difficulty, innovative and progressive maneuvers, combination moves, variety of your moves, speed, power and flow."

"Flow?" Helen asked.

"Yea... like how smooth you are and how your moves sort of mold together. It's like someone who can dance versus someone who can't, ya know?"

"Oh, I've seen plenty of people who can't dance." Violet laughed, busting a really bad move, "And I'm one of them!"

Helen and Violet burst out laughing as Kenzi shook her head. She had no idea that Lauren's friends were so outgoing and wild. They were the complete opposite of the Doctor,

"I never would have guess that any friend of Lauren's would be so... extroverted." Kenzi smiled.

"Well, we're not really friends outside of work. We're here co-workers... I mean... we're really her subordinates, but we've been trying to get that girl to lighten up for years. We're not giving up yet." Violet smiled.

Helen's eyes were focused on the water as the announcer spoke, "So... that girl just got a 7.5 score. How do they know?"

Kenzi sighed, "It's pretty complicated if you don't know the sport, but all of those criteria are scored and then averaged poor, fair, average, good or excellent. A 7.5 means they had a good score because that classification goes with a score of 6.0 to 7.9, got it?"

Helen and Violet looked at each other then back at Kenzi, declaring in unison, "No."

"Well..."

Helen waved Kenzi off as she began, "It's okay, Kenzi. We'll figure it out by our own system."

Violet nodded, "Like that girl should get a higher score because that color she's wearing looks fabulous on her."

Kenzi shook her head as Tamsin laughed and whispered, "They're having fun watching surfing, Kenz. That's all that matters."

"I guess so."

"But speaking of scoring, do you agree with it?" Tamsin asked.

"What?" Kenzi asked, confused.

"I just... well, I just never thought it could be completely fair. I mean, it's up to each individual judge's interpretation and what if they know one of the surfers or they're so old and respected that judge's feel obligated, ya know?"

"Are you saying you think the judge's are giving Bo preferential scores?"

Tamsin frowned, "No, no... not at all. I'm talking about... well... when we were watching tape of 'old' Bo pre-accident versus 'new' Bo post-accident a couple of months ago, I thought they were scoring her low on her first competition back."

Kenzi nodded, "They were."

"But I thought she was surfing better than ever."

"She was, but I think they liked her old aggressive style."

"Yea, but her old aggressive style never got her beyond third place. Her knew style has her in first place. If she'd never gotten hurt... I mean... don't you wonder if they would have ever given her the scores she really deserved? Old or new Bo aside... she was better than all of those surfers no matter which Bo was on the board and you know it."

Kenzi nodded, "Yea, but she pissed some people off and missed a couple of competitions because she was... well... there was so much shit in her life with Kate. Anyway, I don't think she had their respect even though she was pulling out tricks no one else could do."

"You see? It IS biased!" Tamsin concluded.

Kenzi shrugged, "I guess in some ways it might be at times. I think it's more the experience of the judges. If they're all from Bo's era, they can appreciate the art of Bo's riding. If they're younger, I think they look more for tricks, but I really don't know. I mean, who am I to say that an easy aerial should be better than a decent tube ride if a particular judge likes air tricks more?"

"Whoa... that girl just did a massive gouge!"

"Yea, she's known for that stuff, but this girl coming up... wait for it... wait for it... aerial and... bam! Perfect re-entry into the wave... oh... she's gonna get a big score for that."

Violet looked over at Kenzi, "How do you know?"

"That combination she just threw was a high degree of difficulty, she was smooth, there were no hitches between tricks and she showed real style."

Tamsin nudged Kenzi with her shoulder, "You're still better than her."

Kenzi smiled, "You're biased."

"My problem is that we're using the scoring system we're using. Today's surfers are all really good and they're pretty much in a dead heat with a two-wave total score. We can all lay down massive aerials, whenever we turn, we all turn right on the rail and the conditions just don't really matter unless it's not generating waves that have the speed to help us do what we're actually capable of doing."

"What do you mean?" Tamsin asked.

"Well, what if that girl spends six seconds in the barrel and then the wave closes out while the next girl spends twelve seconds in the barrel because the wave was slower, higher and... well, better. Depending on the wave you get, it's all a big crapshoot. You can only do what the sea gives you a chance to do."

Tamsin nodded, "So you don't agree with the judging."

"I've got no problem with the judges. They're just doing what the system says they have to do. I think the WSL needs to give each wave a score and factor that in to fix it."

"Well, that would make sense." Tamsin replied.

"So all of these competitions earn the surfers points and the ones with the most points win the championship?" Violet asked.

"Right. That horn means the heat is over and Cara wins it. That means our BoBo is in the finals! Whoop! Whoop!"

Kenzi looked at her phone and frowned, "Sup said Bo was melting down after the last heat... thought she blew it and that Megan was gonna win."

Tamsin shook her head, "Well, text her back and tell her to get her ass down to the water! She's in!"

Kenzi sent off a quick text, then clapped her hands rapidly together as Val came to sit beside her.

"I can't believe it... we're really here watching Bo in the finals!" Val pushed her arm through Kenzi's elbow and the two giggled together, "Things are about to get real out there!"

"Yea, because Cara isn't just gonna roll over and die. She's got know chance at the championship, but she loves to play the spoiler. Add to that her girlfriend is number three right behind Bo and she has all kinds of reasons to win this final." Kenzi replied.

"Shit. I forgot about this."

Helen laughed, "Damn I should come here more often! There's more drama here than in my soap operas!"

The women all laughed as Violet stood up suddenly, "That's it! The horn for Bo's final to start. Only a few minutes now, Ladies!"

"Okay girls. It's time to cross all of your fingers and toes that Doctor Hotpants worked some serious Mojo with our BoBo." Kenzi said with a big sigh, moving to the edge of her seat.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Twenty minutes ago...**_

" _Dammit!" Bo yelled, jamming her board into the sand before yanking down the top of her garment and storming down the beach away from the competition. She needed some space and time to think._

 _She looked up, from her solitary spot in the dune down the beach from where the competition was happening. She shook her head as her eyes traveled over to where Cara was being congratulated for her high score in the last heat._

" _She topped you, Bo. Now what? If Megan scores a ten in this heat, you're out of the final and you have to surf next weekend."_

 _She pushed her hands into the sand and leaned back, closing her eyes, "Shit. You've always got to do things the hard way, don't you?"_

 _She was startled by a voice next to her, "Well, you definitely don't usually go for the easy road first. Take your current relationship. You could have gone for someone with less baggage and no... 'fans', but you chose me."_

 _Bo had to chuckled, "Fans? Are you really calling Nadia, Evony, Kristy and she-who-must-not-be-named 'Fans'?"_

" _I thought it was a good code word for the whole crew. I'm tired of using their names... using their names reminds us of them and that dredges up old emotions... negative emotions. It gives them power over us and I don't want to give them that anymore. We're moving forward... they're in our past, so yea... fans."_

" _How about former fans?"_

 _Lauren smiled, "That works too."_

" _I blew it Lauren."_

" _That's not what everyone in the med tent said. Sup said your board needs... well... something... and your leg is bothering you."_

 _Bo shook her head, "It's nothing. I'm fine."_

" _It's not and you know it." Lauren argued, watching as the Professor took Bo's board and gave her a wave._

" _Where's he taking it?" Bo asked._

" _To get it ready for the final."_

" _Yea, well Megan is surfing great and the waves are perfect right now. There may not be a need for Bo's board in fifteen minutes."_

" _You don't know that." Lauren shook her head._

" _I've been around surfing competitions for a really long time, Lauren. I blew this. It was my heat to win on that last wave and I blew it."_

 _Lauren nodded, taking her small backpack from her back and pulling out the old book Bo had given her,_

" _So... I went through this book to see if there was anything else from your Mom that we may have missed and... well... it turns out, on the back of the letter you read, she listed page numbers of quotes and poems that she'd wanted you to remember."_

 _Bo's eyes glistened, "She did?"_

 _Lauren smiled and nodded, "Would you like to read one?"_

 _Bo looked out over the sea, her eyes traveling far away from the competition as she looked down the beach,_

" _You know, that spot over there where the mountain and rocks meet the coast... it reminds me of Mavericks a bit."_

" _Maverick?"_

" _No... Mavericks... the place I grew up... the surf spot."_

" _Oh... why's that?"_

 _Bo shrugged, "I don't know. I never could put my finger on it, but I used to come here a lot after we first came here... after... you know... she died."_

 _Lauren watched as Bo closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Her head fell back and she smiled a genuine smile._

" _I can't explain it, but I've always felt like they were here somehow... my Mom and Dad."_

 _Lauren smiled, "That must feel nice."_

 _Bo nodded, "It does. Will you read one of the poems she marked for me?"_

" _I'm not very good at reading proper poetry." Lauren chuckled, "My English teacher in high school told me I sounded like a robot."_

 _Bo smiled, turning her eyes towards the blonde, "Well, I'll take my chances. I happen to like the sound of your voice. It soothes me."_

" _Really?"_

 _Bo nodded, "It's why I called you when you were in Colorado. I just... I wanted... needed... to hear your voice. I needed to hear it to know you were okay and... well... to know I was okay."_

" _I'm sorry I never picked up... I wish I could have helped you with what you needed."_

" _I should have gotten on a plane and come to you sooner. I should have put you first... before everything..." Bo laughed, "... why am I so worried about this competition?"_

" _Because you've worked your whole life for this, Bo."_

" _You forget... I never wanted to be a surfer after my parents died. I wanted to be a geothermal engineer."_

 _Bo leaned over and laid her head down in Lauren's lap. The blonde smoothed back the brunette's wet hair, watching as she closed her eyes,_

" _I only want you, Lauren. You and those kids at that school... the house on the hill... it would be a good life, wouldn't it?"_

 _Lauren smiled, "It would, Bo... but... what if... what if it's not enough?"_

 _Bo rolled onto her back and shielded her eyes from the sun, "Enough for what?"_

" _For you. What if ten or twenty years down the road you regret not going for the championship... or the Olympics? What if you blame me and... what if I'm not enough to make up for what you didn't do?"_

 _Bo sat up, "Is that what you're worried about? That you think I'm choosing you over surfing?"_

 _Lauren nodded, her eyes downcast at the book in her hand._

 _Bo gently placed a hand on the side of the blonde's cheek and turned her head to face her, "Lauren, you and those kids are the most important things in my life... and Kenzi, of course... you have to know that, don't you?"_

 _Lauren shrugged, her eyes veering away from Bo's, though the brunette kept her face in her hand. She heard the sound of the horn and glanced up for a moment,_

" _What's that?" Lauren asked._

" _One minute warning." Bo shook her head._

" _You're going to have to go soon."_

" _Maybe not." Bo replied._

" _Don't think that way. You need to be ready to go, Bo... in the right head space."_

 _A text came through Lauren's phone, "It's Kenzi... she said you have about ten minutes to be at the ready station. Then there's a picture of flames... what does that mean?"_

 _Bo's eyes went wide, "Ohmagosh! Megan crashed and burned!"_

 _She looked up at Lauren, "I'm in the finals of the fucking WSL Championship!"_

 _Lauren smiled brightly back at Bo whose eyes were sparkling in the sunlight, "Are you ready?"_

" _Read it... please? Read it... what my Mom marked."_

 _Lauren pointed to the book, "She marked a lot of them."_

" _Did she draw anything next to any of them?" Bo asked, looking down at the list on the back of the folded letter, "That one... that one! That's our family surfing symbol!"_

" _Okay, okay... here we go..." Lauren anxiously looked for the page, opening the delicate pages carefully, "Shit... I shouldn't have this book out here in the sea air. It's so fragile."_

" _You can stick it in a museum after this, Lauren... just read something... I need... I need to hear her voice... I mean... your voice... reading her words... just..."_

" _Shhhh... calm down, baby... relax."_

 _Bo sighed, laying her head down on Lauren's lap again. The blonde leaned forward, one arm across Bo's chest and began,_

" _There's a small note... 'never surrender'... in your Mom's writing."_

 _Bo smiled, "Her motto whenever things got tough."_

" _I like it. It's next to a poem called Consolation..."_

" _Ohmagosh! Just... she underlined a passage, right? Just read that!" Bo said excitedly, a brilliant smile on her face, "She loved this passage." She said in anticipation of Lauren's voice,_

" _Okay, I'll do my best..." Lauren smiled as she began reading,_

' _Push gaily on, strong heart! The while you travel forward mile by mile,_

 _He loiters with a backwards smile till you can overtake,_

 _And strains his eyes to search his wake,_

 _Or whistling, as he sees you through the brake,_

 _Waits on a stile.'_

" _Isn't that the best?" Bo smiled, closing her eyes again before stretching her arms out to the sky before calling out, "Thanks Mom!"_

 _Lauren laughed as the brunette sat up. The blonde really didn't understand the passage, but she surely understood Bo's reaction. It was from her Mom and the two had obviously shared it before. It was just what the brunette needed to finish out this competition._

" _So, just what the Doctor ordered, huh?" Lauren laughed._

" _You're the best, Doctor Lewis. It was the perfect medicine."_

" _Get out there and rip, Bo Dennis. Show me the champion you are."_

" _Your champion. I love you, Lauren. I wish we could keep talking, but... well... I gotta go do my thing, but please know that I'm just prioritizing my life... I'm gonna go win this thing, then you and I are going to figure out how we're going to make things work... one day at a time... because I have no intention of letting you down or letting you go ever again."_

 _Lauren smiled, "Don't hold back, Bo... for me... for yourself... for your fans... for your sister... for your friends... for your parents... don't hold back. Do what you do and love what you do out there. Show me how beautiful surfing can be."_

 _Bo smiled wide, planting a soft kiss on Lauren's lips just as she heard the click of a camera. She ignored it,_

" _I love you, Lauren Lewis... don't you forget that."_

 _Lauren smiled and gave Bo another kiss, again hearing the camera click, "I love you too, Bo Dennis... don't you forget that."_

 _The pair stood and turned towards the camera. Bo shrugged, "Her name is Doctor Lauren Lewis and she is the love of my life."_

" _Bo! Bo!" Maverick came running at Bo, full tilt, jumping into her arms, "You're in the finals!"_

" _I know! It's so exciting, right?"_

" _Uh-huh! You can do this, Bo! I know you can! Right, Lauren? She's gonna win this!"_

 _Bo smiled, "I'm gonna give it everything I've got, Mav."_

 _The woman behind the camera clicked off several more pictures. Maverick turned, giving her a scowl,_

" _This is a private moment, lady."_

 _Bo smiled, "It's okay, Maverick. I want the whole world to know that you are my main man." She turned and looked up at the woman, "And this is Maverick. You'll be seeing him some day... maybe in the water... maybe in snow... but you'll be seeing this guy."_

" _Yes ma'am." The camerawoman said, taking a close up of the three together, "Is he your son?"_

 _Bo looked at Maverick and smiled, "Maybe one day."_

 _Maverick's eyes went wide as Bo whispered, "We'll talk later. You stay with Lauren. I've gotta go do my best for you."_

 _She stood, smiled at Lauren and headed down to where the Professor was waiting with Pia, Corey and Cody._

" _Boards are ready, Bo." The Professor said, "Which one?"_

" _I'm going to stick with the same board for now. If things aren't going well, I'll switch. Give this one to Manny in case I need it." Corey nodded and grabbed the board and ran it out to the driver who was patiently waiting for Bo._

 _Handshakes and hugs were exchanged before Bo headed off behind him, just behind her remaining competitor who called over to her,_

" _Good luck, Bo."_

" _You too, Cara."_

" _You know I'll come hard, but if you win this... congratulations. Everyone is cheering for you – it's been an amazing comeback against so much adversity. The whole gang is behind you if you win... you deserve it... truly."_

" _Thanks." Bo said shyly, "Uh... that means... a lot."_

 _Cara nodded, "I know you don't think so, but we all respect and admire you, Bo. What you've done for yourself since your parents... all you've done for that crazy little rebel of a sister of yours... coming back from death... hell, you're my idol, girl!"_

 _Bo smiled, "Well, I hope I can give you a final deserving of all of that praise."_

" _I'm sure you will. No holding back now, Dennis."_

 _Bo nodded, "Not a chance. Be safe out there, Cara."_

" _Courtney would kill me if I died out here."_

 _Bo laughed, her eyes looking out at the coast as she paused, allowing the woman to put some distance between them before she finished the walk to Manny,_

" _I love you Mom and Dad. Ride with me... please... one last ride... just the three of us." She smiled, thinking of the poem Lauren had read, "Keep me safe, Poseidon, you bastard."_

 _Bo moved to the wave runner and climbed on behind Manny who looked over his broad shoulder,_

" _You ready, sis?"_

" _Born ready, bra... let's give your family a show since they came here all the way from Rio to see this."_

" _Yea... the flights cost me a fortune, so don't you dare miss a wave out there."_

" _Go hard or go home."_

" _Damn straight, sis."_

 _He gunned the engine and headed out beyond the breakers._

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The competition had been stiff for the first fifteen minutes between the two women. After many front side arcs, barrel rides, front side carves, hooks and rail rides, it was almost a dead heat.

Bo was retrieved by a heavy wave by Manny and came up onto the wave runner with blood running down her leg,

"Bo... you're bleeding." Manny said, his face showing his concern.

"Guaranteed Lauren has her binoculars out right now and sees that. Shit! I opened up my cut again."

"What do you want to do?" Manny asked.

"Short board."

"You don't want to get that packed?"

"I don't have time, Manny. If I go in, Cara will have a shot at multiple waves before I get back out here and with the time under fifteen minutes, I might get a shot at one more wave."

"Your best two are still ahead of her best two, Bo."

"I know, but not by much. I need some cushion just in case she gets a massive wave at the end and I don't. Top two scores are all that matter, Manny. I've got to see this through to the very end, but I'll be damned if I'm going to wait until the very end to go for my ten run."

"You thinking that backside 360 thing that Cody taught you?"

Bo nodded, "I'm thinking it's a little chilly out here since the sun went down... feels a little like snow, dontcha think?"

Manny laughed, "I like the way you think, Dennis. Go for it, Sis... just wipe that thing down and wrap it quick. I don't need to pull you out of the jaws of a shark because you chummed the water with your blood."

Bo rolled her eyes, "Fine."

She opened the hatch between her legs and opened the plastic bag. She pulled up the tight cloth, cringing at the pain she felt as it rubbed against the angry wound. Taking a thick wad of gauze pads from the bag, she smashed them against the bloody opening and groaned before wrapping plastic wrap quickly and tightly around her leg, being sure to cover the gauze to keep it as dry as possible.

"Okay, I'm covered." She yelled to Manny as she pulled the stretchy garment over the plastic wrap, "Later, dude."

"Go for it all, Bo." Manny said, "Bo!"

She stopped paddling and looked up, "I mean it, Bo... just like we're at the point. Feel the seas... ride with the wave, Bo... don't fight it. Dance, girl... dance."

Bo nodded, knowing exactly what her coach and friend meant. Head down, she paddled hard to Cara as she looked at the beach for the score cards, "So... gained another point, eh, surfer girl? Let's see if you know how to have fun like Maverick."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Unable to stay with the spectators, Kenzi had dragged her little group down the beach to the area by the med tent where Sup, Lauren, the Professor, Pia, Cody and Corey were waiting. The group had been watching as Bo struggled to stay ahead of her final competitor.

"Come on, BoBo! You've got more in the tank than this!" Kenzi said, biting her nails.

"Shit... her leg's bleeding." Lauren said, gazing at a blood-soaked leg.

"What now?" The Professor asked.

"I put a first aid bag on board. Manny will fix... uh... nope... Bo is fixing it herself. Good girl!"

"Cara has another wave... and... whoa..." Kenzi swayed and moved with the blonde on the surfboard, mimicking her actions.

Violet slapped Kenzi's shoulder, "Tell us! Is she doing good!"

Kenzi nodded, "She just gained another point on her... wait... Bo switched boards!"

"How do you know that?" Helen asked.

"It's the short board! Bring on the cold, Mav!" Cody yelled excitedly, high-fiving Maverick.

All eyes turned to the water as Bo popped up, having just beat Cara to the wave. She drove down the face of the giant wave, squatting low before performing a perfect cutback up the wave, launching into the air and gripping the surfboard as she flipped forward ahead of the whitewater, landing just below the rail with tremendous speed.

"OH! MISTY FLIP, MAV!" Cody wrapped an arm over Maverick's shoulder who was cheering and clapping for her friend.

Kenzi's arms were over her head, "WhatEVER that was, she landed it right in front of a massive barrel! Come on, Bo!"

They all watched, hands linked together as they waited for the brunette to emerge from the tube and when she did, cheers rained out along the beach as Bo raised her arms over her head before sinking into the water.

Manny picked her up and behind the whitewater that was headed her way and dropped her off behind the next wave that Cara was already riding in.

"Time for one more... you going for it?"

Bo smiled, "Time for an encore, don't you think?"

"Give the people what they want, Champ." He pointed towards the judge's tent where the score was posted.

Bo's eyes filled with tears, as she looked towards the shore at the tallies, "I... oh my..."

"Go on... have some fun on this last wave. The pressure is off." Manny smiled.

Bo nodded and headed into the next set as she watched Cara emerge not far away on the back of her driver's wave runner.

"Dennis! I don't know where the hell you learned that move, but it was fucking epic!"

Bo laughed, her smile wide and bright as she waved at Cara.

"You've gotta give 'em another one, Bo! I surrender to the mighty one!" She raised her arms over her head and bowed, laughing, "Ten seconds, Bo... here's your ride."

She pointed behind Bo who gave a quick nod and paddled hard for shore, catching the wave and hearing the crowd roar.

She dropped in to a perfect tube, her fingers caressing the perfect arc of water over her head before she crouched down, gaining speed to come out of the tube. She saw the arc ahead... it was a perfect launch pad for one final trick... Cody style...

"She's going for it, Cody... look..." Maverick pointed at Bo as she came out of the tube positioned low on the board.

Corey called out, "This is gonna be big!"

They watched as Bo launched herself into the air...

"Massive air, dude!"

"Fucking amazing!"

"Language!" Lauren scolded Corey.

"Sorry!"

"Unreal!"

They all watched as Bo twirled through the air, holding onto the edge of her board and landed perfectly just like she had the last one before turning towards the beach, riding ahead of the whitewater and picking up speed, she cut back and hurled herself into the air once more, doing a back flip before landing again.

She waved with both hands over her head towards the beach before cutting back and over the rail to a waiting Manny who was grinning ear to ear. Getting them clear of the waves, he turned as far as he could and threw his arms around Bo.

They were joined by Cara and her driver, the blonde surfer jumping into the water and pulling Bo off the wave runner, the two laughing as they embraced,

"Congratulations, Bo. You're the champ... a most deserving champ!"

"Thanks, Cara." Bo said, her eyes filled with tears, "I can't believe this... I just... I can't believe it!"

Reporters gathered, everyone wanting to talk to Bo while on the shore, a tall blonde doctor, smiled as she watched the scene play out through her binoculars. Around her, all of their friends, family and fans celebrated.

Lauren pulled the binoculars from her eyes and sighed, watching the celebration around her for a long moment. She laughed as Maverick was hoisted atop Corey's shoulders, his arms raised over his head as he yelled out to Bo.

Lauren was pretty sure Bo couldn't hear him and Maverick didn't seem to care. He yelled anyway, elated by his mentor's victory. Lauren looked out across the ocean, knowing how sweet victory was after decades of working towards a goal. This may not have been Bo's goal when she started surfing, but after today, she hoped the brunette would realize that she had just broken a barrier in surfing. Unlike any champion before her, today Bo Dennis had flown and Lauren had no doubt that others would be trying her tricks in the near future. It was game on and Lauren knew that Bo's surfing career was far from over.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Once Bo had come back to the beach, the frenzy had begun. There were autographs, interviews, photo ops, more autographs, more interviews, more photos until finally, Maverick had gotten frustrated and busted through the crowd of people to get to Bo.

She held the young boy tight, excusing herself politely from the crowd to say hello to her family and friends. A few reporters kept their microphones in Bo's face, but Maverick stopped them quickly, pushing the devices away from them.

The WSL Surfers surrounded and congratulated Bo as they walked her to the medical tent where her family and friends were waiting.

"Your leg is bleeding."

Bo looked down and rolled her eyes, "Yea, I cut it open yesterday on a rock. It's glued and bandaged and packed and covered with plastic rap but it's still bleeding."

"Well, I heard you're dating that blonde doctor who dragged your sorry ass out of the water the day you died. I'm sure she'll fix it up."

Bo blushed, "She will."

"And who's this guy?" Cara asked with a smile as her girlfriend shook Bo's hand and said congratulations,

"This is Maverick, Ladies. Mav, this is the other surfer from the final, Cara and her girlfriend Courtney."

"Hi." Maverick said with a small wave, "Sorry you lost." He said to Cara.

"You're not though, are you?"

He smiled shyly, resting his head on Bo's shoulder, "Not really... I mean... I'm sad for you, but I'm glad for Bo." He looked at Bo, "I rhymed... did you hear that?"

"I did! English class is working!"

Maverick slapped his face with both hands and dragged his hands down his face, stretching his skin, "Boooo."

"I'm sorry." She looked at the two women, "We have a rule that we don't talk about school when it's fun time."

"Well, school's out for the holiday, right?" Courtney asked.

"Yea. Hey... are you from New Zealand? I studied it. It's really tiny."

"Nope. I'm from Australia. We're neighbors, though."

"Oh! Cool!" Maverick said, "Hey! We're talking about school stuff again!"

Cara laughed, "So, how do you know Bo?"

"Well, my parents died and she got me at her school. She's my guardian and mentor... and she taught me how to surf. I'm a snowboarder, but I like surfing a lot."

"I see." Cara said looking at Bo, "I'd heard something about you opening a school."

Bo smiled brightly, "It's the best thing I've ever done."

"We'd love to stop by sometime if it would help. We could teach some surfing lessons if you'd want some extra coaches."

"That would be fantastic. Hey – when does your flight go back? The kids are all off right now, so they have free time twenty-four seven. There's a lot going on and I'm short teachers and counselors because some have gone home for the holidays. If you'd like..."

"Say no more, Bo. We'll be there. Just give us directions from our hotel and..."

Bo shook her head, "No hotel. You can take my room at my house. I'll stay with Lauren."

"We don't want to impose..."

"Well, if you're help is free, we'll provide the room and board... even trade in our book!" Kenzi smiled, shaking Cara and Courtney's hands,

"This is my girlfriend Tamsin." Kenzi smiled as the pair's eyes went wide.

"Oh. My. God! Gold Medalist in Beach Volleyball!" Courtney said, her hands on her face.

Lauren moved to Bo's side and brushed some hair from Maverick's face before placing a light kiss on Bo's lips. She turned towards the two blonde surfers only to be greeted with shocked faced,

"Oh. My. God! You're... her... partner! Lauren Lewis! The slam doctor!"

Kenzi mouthed the nickname to Lauren who shrugged and nodded before extending her hand to the two women,

"Hi, I'm Lauren Lewis."

The two shook her hand before doing the same with Tamsin, clearly a little star struck.

Bo smiled, "She's the doctor who saved my life... and my girlfriend."

Tamsin raised her arms over her head, "Finally!"

The blonde turned to the two women who were speaking animatedly about the gold medal match that they had viewed in a bar back home. While Bo and Lauren slipped away unnoticed, Cara informed Tamsin that she had gone to school in Canada with Nadia's partner and thought she was a total bitch. They had cheered on Team USA as soon as they'd found out they were in the finals against them. Courtney said she'd even had the girl's poster plastered on the bar door and threw a dart at it every time they scored.

Meanwhile, Bo and Lauren laughed as the four women carried on talking about everything from bar fights to a trip they suddenly planned to take to Australia. Bo had noticed Lauren's eyes go wide when she'd used the term girlfriend. She'd also felt her stiffen.

Bo stopped Lauren mid-stride, "I'm sorry about calling you my girlfriend. I just thought... well... I guess it's too soon for you. I understand if...

"No, Bo... it's just that... I didn't think... I mean... I was surprised that... it's fine, Bo..." She sighed, shaking her head as she looked up into the brunette's eyes, "It's more than fine, Bo... I just wasn't expecting to hear you use that word for a very long time. I mean... we don't even know how this is all going to work out. Long distance is..."

"It's hard, Lauren. I know that, but when I look forward five, ten, fifteen years down the road, I just don't see a time that I would be without you. I can't imagine coming home at night and not talking to you about my day. I can't imagine a holiday without you. And when I'm old... I can't imagine sitting on the front porch when I'm old and not having you sitting next to me."

She moved her fingers through Lauren's hair, "The wind blowing these beautiful blonde strands through the air while you laugh about something one of our grandchildren did or said as they went running from your lap back to the beach. Maybe they'd be surfing or skimboarding along the shore, but we'd be watching with hearts full of love."

Lauren lowered her eyes to Bo's chest, her hands placed gently just above her breasts as the brunette pulled her close, arms wrapped around her waist,

"I'm sorry if this is too much information for you right now, but since we met and fell in love the first time, it took about three months for me to feel this way. I know I've made my share of mistakes, Lauren... I know that when things were tough I wasn't always the most supportive voice in the room and at times it took me too long to come around to a rationale point of view but my love for you never waivered. There were times where I believed I was going to have to find a way to live without you in my life and I would get this pain in my chest... this hollow feeling... an emptiness that made it hard to breathe... all I felt was hopelessness and fear. Then I would get my act together and realize I was being an idiot, rethink how I had behaved and remember that you were the one that had been put through the shitter."

"Bo, I knew you were dealing with a lot. I wasn't honest with you to begin with and that led to you thinking I cheated on you with Nadia in Rio, to Evony trying to kill you and Kenzi, to all of that landing both of us in therapy for three months, to your mistrust of me, to the video recordings and more mistrust, to my running off and taking a job in Colorado because I thought it was the only way to stop hurting you which... well, as we both know, I then put my trust in another trap and hurt you again. I know I am a product of my environment as a child and the abuse that followed in my college years and beyond, but when I look back on it now... well, frankly, I'm embarrassed."

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo... I know your instinct is to protect and so you don't want me to feel that way, but you can't dictate my feelings, sweetie. I'm embarrassed because I'm a strong, intelligent woman. The more time I spend thinking about my past, the more angry I become that I allowed it to happen."

"Well, I can never fully understand what you feel, Lauren but you can't spend the rest of your life kicking yourself for what happened. My two cents – if you want it – is that you let the past stay where it belongs... behind you. Move forward and promise yourself that you will never allow anyone to take advantage of you again. Not me, not your friends, family, colleagues or strangers you meet until you have done a background check on them."

Lauren rolled her eyes, "Well, you may be right about that, but in my defense, Tess was hanging out with a whole group of good people. She played her part very well... I just... I was vulnerable... I was alone with my whole support group here. I leaned on her and before long, she had manipulated me into..." Lauren stopped, visibly upset with herself, "I'm a fucking doctor not to mention my PhD in Biological Research. How the hell did I not see it!"

As she tried to pull away, Bo stopped her, "Hey, hey... beating yourself up is not going to change what happened."

"Yea, but maybe it will get beaten into my brain not to let it happen again!"

"It's not going to happen again because we won't let it, Lauren... not you, not me, not any of our friends or family. We're going to be here for you and you're stronger and wiser now... trust yourself and soon... hopefully... you'll be able to trust... all of us."

Lauren sighed, "I do trust you, Bo."

"Not completely, Lauren... and that's okay... you've been through a lot. I know that my trust in you is still not completely there either, but I know that it will be."

"How can you know that?" Lauren asked.

"Because I believe that you love me like you say you do. I believe that you want a future with me like you say you do. I know that you're it for me, so as long as you stick by those first two things, we're good because I believe that we're meant to be together."

"Can I ask what you don't trust?" Lauren asked.

Bo hung her head, "I don't trust that you won't try to run again."

Lauren nodded, "Thank you for being honest about that. To tell you the truth, it worries me as well."

"Well, that's not making me feel better." Bo replied, giving Lauren a tug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure it doesn't, but I'm being honest. It's not that I want to, it's just that I'm afraid that I'll turn into an idiot again."

Bo shook her head, "Forward... not back, right?"

Lauren smiled, "Right."

The blonde laid her head on Bo's shoulder, the two just holding each other for a long while. The rest of the world melted away, allowing them to just... be... for the first time in weeks.

"Do you think it's all over now?"

Bo heard the question that was posed quietly in her ear, "Is what all over?"

"The chaos."

"Chaos?" Bo asked.

"Maybe that's not the best word, but... I don't know... it's just been one thing after another since we met."

"Well, we did meet with me drowning. I have to admit that was a bit chaotic."

Lauren nodded, "And then the bleeding on the brain and the surgery."

"Yea and then juggling your training schedule with my PT and subsequent return to classes to finish my degree."

"And then Evony trying to screw with me at the hospital."

Bo nodded, "And then the Olympics."

"The bonfire mess."

"The water bottle incident."

"The Nadia kiss night."

"The Evony and Kristy shooting night."

"The finals and you falling apart and deciding on counseling."

"The separation."

"The counseling."

"The rocky reunion."

"The videotapes."

"Me being an idiot when watching the videotapes."

"She-who-must-not-be-named."

"The run to Colorado."

"Not returning texts and calls."

"Angry Maverick."

"Tess flirting."

"You flirting back."

"I did not flirt."

"Yes, you did."

"Agree to disagree?"

"Fine."

"What else?" Bo asked.

"Your training and competition."

"And now that's over."

"Unless..."

"Unless what?" Bo asked.

Lauren lifted her head and turned it so she was facing Bo. Nuzzling into her neck she answered carefully... quietly...

"Unless you come to the training center and take a position on Team USA Surfing."

Bo smiled, "Was that a proposition?"

Lauren chuckled, "We wouldn't have to be apart."

"True."

"Maverick could snowboard."

"That's also true."

"But..."

"But what about the school? What happens to Emma when I leave and take Maverick away as well?"

Lauren sighed, "It was just a dream moment... I wish we could make it work. I know you can't leave your school, Bo."

She stood and looked the brunette in the eyes, "I truly understand."

Bo nodded, "And I understand why you can't stay. Being the head doc for the Olympic program that has given so much to you... well, let's just say that I understand the need to give back to something that gave so much to you."

Lauren smiled a tight smile, "We'll work it out, Bo."

"I know we will, Lauren... that's why they invented planes, right?"

"Right."

Bo watched as Lauren's eyes welled with tears. She was about to speak some words of comfort, but the blonde placed two hands firmly on her chest and spoke firmly, wiping away her own tears,

"No. There will be no tears today. This is a celebration." She looked up at Bo, a brilliant smile spreading slowly across her face as she spoke, "You just won the WSL Championship!"

Bo smiled, "I did, didn't I?"

"You did... and you did it with style while doing things no one had ever seen before. I wasn't sure where to look first. I mean, I wanted to see you surfing, but someone would yell after a trick and I would turn to see such stunned looks on their faces... I just knew I was seeing so many firsts. You were amazing, Bo."

Bo shrugged, "I don't know where that last move came from. I just... I don't know... I just felt inspired."

Lauren smiled, "Maybe your Mom was out there with you... maybe she was your muse?"

"I never thought of it that way, but I did think of her a lot today... I thought a lot about when I was a kid... the way the water felt... and I felt closer to her than I had in a long, long time. Thank you for bringing me the book."

Lauren acknowledged the brunette's thanks with a nod, "I'm glad I could help you overcome that little meltdown you were having."

Bo shrugged, "Well, I did help you over your little meltdown at the Olympics, so maybe you were just returning the favor?"

Lauren nodded before growing quiet. Her eyes wandered over the crowd in the distance before she gazed out at the sea, and then back to Bo. Grasping both of the brunette's hands and giving them a squeeze, she spoke from her heart,

"I love you, Bo... so very much... and I'm so very happy for you... and proud of the surfer, the sister, the friend, the mentor, the teacher, the business owner... the woman... you've become. You're amazing and I'm honored to be the woman you love."

"I am honored that the brilliant doctor, incredible Olympian, kind and gentle woman who is the picture of grace and beauty feels that way about me. I love you so much, Lauren... and I know that you may not see it, but you're growing and getting stronger every day. I believe in you, Lauren... I truly do."

"And if I needed something from you right now, would you provide what I need?" Lauren asked.

"Anything."

"Good, because I need food really bad."

Bo laughed, "Well that can surely be arranged. Can I ask if you'll go to California for the final event of the season next week?"

"I'd be honored to be there to see the presentation of your championship, Bo. Are we taking Maverick?"

"He asked to go. He wants me to take him to see Mavericks... he wants to see the house where I grew up." Bo frowned.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Kenzi and I haven't been back there since my Mom died."

Lauren took Bo's hand, "I'll be there with you every step of the way."

Bo smiled, "Thank you."

The pair turned to the sound of Kenzi's voice, "HEY LOVEBIRDS! COME ON! WE'RE ALL HUNGRY!"

Bo nodded and led Lauren towards the group that now included all of their family and friends. She was shocked at the size of the crowd that had gathered, but then, one by one, she began to recognize the familiarity of the numerous faces,

"Wow... everyone is here."

"Yup... most of the town. You're special to all of them, Bo." Lauren smiled.

Bo smiled and heaved a great sigh, "This is one of the best days ever."

"I'm not sure how you could top this one, sweetie." Lauren laughed.

Bo turned to Lauren and shrugged, "One day... I'm going to marry you, Lauren Lewis." She gave the blonde a wink and a slap on the butt, then turned and started to walk away, calling out, "THAT... will be the best day ever."

She kept walking with a satisfied smirk on her face, leaving Lauren standing, stunned by her words. The brunette decided to let the blonde remain, allowing the thought of marriage and a real future together sink in. She wanted Lauren to know every word she'd ever spoken about their life together from the day they'd acknowledged their feelings were honest. She wanted the blonde to feel certain she wasn't going anywhere.

Bo was certain they would talk about it later. She knew Lauren better than the blonde was willing to believe, but Bo knew that she had just dropped a bombshell that would no doubt have her girlfriend's mind reeling for the next several minutes until Kenzi or someone else yelled for her to hurry up. She would be afraid... afraid that she would blow it... that she wouldn't be a good wife... that something would cause their marriage to fall apart that would be her fault.

Yes, Bo knew Lauren and she knew that right now, she was probably thinking of all the ways their marriage would fail and how the failures would somehow be her fault, but Bo knew better. They were meant to be – she was sure of it. All she needed to do was have patience and trust that Lauren would find her way to the truth... and Bo knew she would.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Five Days Later...**_

The week had gone by quickly... too quickly, if Lauren was being honest. She hated the idea of having to leave this place and go back to the cold winds of Colorado. She loved her knew home... she loved everything about it and every day she found more reasons to stay. She loved the view, she loved the sound of the occasional rainstorms on the tin roof, the greenhouse was bigger than her former one and it had new plants that she hadn't had before. She loved the new reading nook, she loved the outdoor lap pool and used it every morning this week. She loved the kitchen and had taken to making recipes from videos on YouTube. She smiled as she realized that she now loved to cook.

The customized parts of her home that Bo had designed were very special to her. The brunette had only stayed with her twice this week, but both times they'd had a wonderful evening. The feeling of falling asleep in Bo's arms again was one she found she missed when she wasn't there now. It was different than it had been for the last several months. She'd become accustomed to sleeping alone and had actually felt relief from now having to live up to the expectations of anyone else. Of course, now she realized that no one had actually expected anything of her... it was all her own perceptions.

She sighed, as she finished up her make up before stepping back to take a look in the mirror. She had put on a pair of skinny jeans with low cut boots, a long flowing white top that was cut low in the front and hung just below her hips. Putting on her favorite earrings, she primped her hair a bit before lifting up the gold medal replica necklace that Bo had bought her after she'd come home from the in-patient facility.

She allowed the charm to settle in the palm of her hand, her thumb running over the engraved surface before lifting it up to work open the clasp. She heard feet shuffling behind her and smiled. She closed her eyes as gentle hands wrapped around her and took the necklace from her hands. Soft, warm lips kissed the skin just below her ear, fingers pulling the hair back as the cool metal of the chain grazed her neck sending a chill down her spine.

Looking down, she saw the medallion fall in place between her breasts, "I missed you last night, Lauren."

"Mmmm... I missed you too, Bo."

She turned in the brunette's arms, their eyes meeting, sharing a long greeting without words or touch. Slowly, they leaned into each other, eyes closing as soft, moist, warm lips met. Warmth spread through every vessel in the blonde's body as she felt herself sink into a kiss that was uniquely Bo's. When she felt the brunette's tongue beg for entrance, she opened her mouth and welcomed the deepened kiss. It had been more than seven months since they'd shared this type of intimacy and Lauren felt her body grow lighter as the burden of the physical distance between them began to lift.

She felt Bo pull back and immediately missed her taste, her touch, her warmth. Her eyes remained closed as she felt Bo's thumb trace her bottom lip, her fingers lingering along her jaw before she felt the brunette's tongue glide back and forth, circling around the rim of her mouth.

Bo... the closeness of this kiss... the intimacy of this act was exactly the medicine Lauren had needed all along. To feel the brunette's touch... a touch unlike any she'd felt in her lifetime. It was gentle and kind, it was caring and sincere, it was warm and tender, it was everything she could want, yet she always found herself wanting more.

She felt the brunette pull back again and instantly missed the sensation on her mouth. Hearing a light chuckled escape, she slowly opened her eyes to see a brilliant smile and loving eyes gazing back at her,

"Are you laughing at me, Ms. Dennis?"

"You're adorable and the look on your face is too precious."

"Well, that was some kiss."

"It was delicious." Bo smiled, pecking Lauren's lips.

"Can I ask what brought that kiss on?" Lauren asked, slipping her fingers into Bo's belt loops and pulling her close before wrapping her arms around her waist.

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..." Bo sang before the two began to laugh.

"We've been apart before and you didn't kiss me like that, so come on... what was it?"

"We haven't been... you know... intimate... in a very, very long time and... well... honestly... I've been standing in the doorway since before you put your top on and... well... your strong arms were raised as you put on your make up and that flexed the muscles in your back and... well, your back goes to your incredibly perfect ass and... well, I was getting a little heated when you finally pulled the top over your head."

"And then?" Lauren asked with a smirk.

Bo placed her forehead against Lauren's and closed her eyes, "And then I just needed to touch you... to be close to you. Something just... I just... needed you. Is that bad?"

"I don't think it is... do you?"

"I don't know and honestly, in that moment, I didn't care. Are you... I mean, did it make you uncomfortable?"

Lauren pulled back and lifted Bo's chin until their eyes met, "It was anything but uncomfortable, Bo. It was just what the doctor ordered."

"I wish you were coming with me."

Lauren frowned, "Bo, I told you I would come... wanted to come. I thought..."

"I know, I know... Kenzi has to surf this weekend and the team is going with her except for Manny who's going with me. Tamsin is going with Kenzi, which she should and Moms is going to handle the sales orders. Val is going to be with me and..."

"Sweetie... the bottom line is that you wanted someone else here at the school with the Professor and you asked me. If you changed your mind and want me there, I'll go."

Bo shook her head, "Not with the perspective parents coming to visit Emma to give her a Christmas gift."

Lauren nodded, "Did you tell her yet?"

Bo shrugged before she gave a slight nod, "She didn't take it well. She doesn't want to leave Maverick and they've already told me they have no interest in adopting two children... especially when the second one is ten years old."

"So are they definitely going through with the adoption?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "I really don't know. Apparently there is another child in Minnesota that they're considering as well."

"So what? They're coming here to take a second look? They do realize they're not buying a car, right?"

Bo sighed, "Something about this just feels... off. I just... when they get here, I don't want her alone with them."

"You want me to supervise the visit and let you know if I get the same vibe?"

"Well... yes, actually. I want you to do Doctor mode and tell me... well, I don't want to say anything that could make you any more prejudicial than I already have, so just let me know what you think?"

Lauren nodded, "I will, Bo. Try not to worry, okay? It's not like they can take her before you get back."

"I know, but I just don't like not being here for her... especially when Kenzi and Tamsin are leaving as well. She's very close to Moms, so at least she'll have her." Bo laughed, "She calls her Grams. Moms hates that... at least she says she does."

"She probably secretly loves it. She's always wanted grandchildren." Lauren smiled, "Well, we'd better get you off to the airport so you don't miss your flight. Where's Maverick?"

"He's downstairs playing with Mittens. He's a little upset with me for asking you to stay, but when I explained Emma being here practically alone, he was all for you staying. He wants you to convince our visitors not to take Emma."

"And I take it you told him I can't do that?"

Bo nodded, "I did and he argued that you're a doctor, so you could tell them she has some horrible disease so they wouldn't want her."

"The poor kid. It must be hard to watch people come and adopt kids while he stays here."

"Actually, he confided in me that he doesn't want to be adopted. He wants to stay here with you and me. He..." Bo stopped abruptly, "We'd better go."

"Bo?"

The brunette sighed, "He asked me, Lauren... he asked me if we would adopt him. It wasn't just a passing question... it was real. He wants us to be a family."

Lauren nodded, "And what did you say?"

"What could I say? We're in no place to adopt a child right now. We have no idea where we'll ever be living and... well, if he decides on snowboarding, we'll be apart most of the time even if I do go to the Olympics."

"I thought you'd be at the training center most of the time?"

"Kenzi found out that they did decide that we would be training with individual coaches in our home states, flying to the training center every thirty days for two week stays to do team things."

"I see." Lauren said, her shoulders slumping slightly.

"Hey, we'll work it out." Bo replied.

Lauren nodded, "I know. We'd better get you on that plane. You've got a last event to show up for and an award to grab. Are you going to surf?"

"We'll see how the conditions are. If they're good, I'll go for it. If not, I'll stand down."

The pair walked down the stairs to where Maverick was running around the coffee table, a line of string with a ball attached to the end trailing behind him while Mittens gave chase. The sight of the small boy giggling and smiling brightly warmed the hearts of both women,

"If we ever are on good footing and in one place before he turns eighteen, I would love to do it, Lauren... I mean... if you were up for it, too."

Lauren nodded, "I know exactly how you feel, Bo."

"Come on, kiddo. It's time to go so I don't miss my flight!"

"Okay! But who's gonna watch Mittens?" Maverick frowned.

Lauren lifted her into her arms and scratched her on the head, "She'll be okay while I'm gone. She usually takes a nap at this time of day anyway."

Maverick watched as Mittens leaned into his hand, as he rubbed behind her ears, "I wish she could stay with me."

"Well, you can come and visit her any time you want. Just give me a call. I'll come and pick you up if you need a ride... as long as you're not missing class or haven't finished your homework."

"Ugh... school takes the fun out of everything!" Maverick slouched as he turned and walked towards the door under the command of Bo's hands on his shoulders.

"No whining, Mister. Do you know how lucky you are to be able to go to school at all? There are kids all over the world who will never learn all you know."

He stopped and looked at Bo, "Everyone goes to school. Why wouldn't a kid go to school?"

Lauren pulled the door shut behind them and locked it before turning to see Bo struggling for an answer as she stood just off the front step. Lauren smiled down at Maverick, who had waited for her on the sidewalk and took his hand to walk to the car.

"Well, most countries have some type of required schooling for children, but some families are very poor and need their kids to help with chores and jobs to bring money home so they can by food. Other countries don't have organized schools in every neighborhood and in others, kids have to walk miles and miles to get to school. That's why Bo is saying you are so lucky to live in a place where you have access to education."

"Oh." Maverick said as Lauren watched to make sure that he buckled himself in to the back seat, "I didn't know all of that. It's not fair that kids don't have a way to learn."

Bo was now curious. She knew the Kenbo School was less than conventional. In that moment she realized that she had never asked any kids what they thought of their knew school. She made a mental note to have Harry and Ben create an online survey for all of the kids to take. She would make it anonymous so none of them would feel like they couldn't be honest, but for now, she knew the little guy in Lauren's back seat would be straight up with her,

"How do you like the Kenbo School, Maverick? I mean... I know it's not like your old school would have been. Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? I love it! We don't just sit in a desk all day and read and write and do problems and stuff. We don't have to listen to a teacher talk and talk and talk all day. It's like... I don't know... I learn stuff because I do stuff. Do you know what I mean, Bo?"

He leaned forward and tried to look around the edge of Bo's seat, but she was directly in front of him so she couldn't see him,

"I hate sitting in the back! I can't wait until I'm old enough to sit up front so I can see you!"

Bo and Lauren shared a glance, both women smiling before Bo turned in her seat, pulling her shoulder harness down around her shoulder so it wouldn't choke her. She peeked around the seat,

"Hey there. Is this better?"

"Yea, but Lauren's gonna get mad at you. It's not safe to sit like that. You're supposed to be in the car company or something."

"They what?" Bo asked, looking at Lauren,

"He learned a physics lesson on car safety in which we explained the 'car compartment'. All cars are designed with the intent that all occupants will remain in the designated space provided by the seat. If a car is in a crash, as long as all parts of you remain in that 'compartment' or designated space, you will have minimal injuries in a car with a high safety rating. Any part of your body that is outside of the intended car compartment will be at risk."

"Yea, like you could get your arm chopped off if it's hanging out the window because it's outside of the car comp... what's it called again?"

"Compartment." Bo and Lauren said in unison.

"Geez... I can hear, ya know."

Bo laughed, "Sorry, Mav. Anyway, to answer your previous question, I think I know what you mean about the way you learn. You see, when Kenzi and I were kids, I loved to read and listen to the stories my teachers told. But Kenzi hated school. She hated sitting in a desk all day and she really hated reading. So, we decided to create a school curriculum that would meet somewhere in the middle so that all kids would learn the way they learn best."

"How did you know how I would learn?"

"Do you remember when you first came to us and you met Hale as Dr. Santiago?"

"Yea. I didn't like him a whole lot. He asked too many question. We sat in that room for like, hours." Maverick rolled his eyes.

"Well, you told me how you felt about that interview..."

"I did?"

"Oh yea." Bo said, her eyes smiling wide, "You were not too happy about it and I got the message. Now, the kids call him Dr. Hale until they know him well enough to be comfortable calling him Hale. He divides the interview between arrival, after move-in, during the tour of the entire facility, after lunch and again after dinner. We throw some fun time in there with the teachers so they can talk about various subjects to get an idea of what they know and don't know."

"Wow. That's way different from how it was for me."

"Well, you're one of the last kids to enter the school with the original program in place. You've really helped us to improve things, Maverick."

"I have?"

"Yup. You talk, we listen, we make changes based on what you like and don't like... within reason and if it still meets the state requirements for education and the laws we have to follow from Children and Youth Services."

Maverick shook his head, "So many rules."

"Well, get used to it. Life is full of rules."

"I thought this was a free country."

Bo smiled, "Well, unfortunately a lot of people think a 'free' country means they have no responsibilities or rules to follow, but if that was the case, what would happen to other people?"

"What do you mean?"

Lauren smiled, knowing that the teacher in Bo was coming out. Maverick was missing a full day of classes because she was leaving today, so he was going to learn something to make up for it,

"Well, you know how you learned in Health class about smoking and second hand smoke?"

"I can get cancer from being around people who smoke. It's gross. They showed us pictures of what happens to peoples' lungs and then we did an experiment with this doll that inhales smoke into a big box. Her lungs got all black and the box was all cloudy. Do you know that if everyone on earth lit a cigarette, it would be a big cloud going up and the pollution would be even worse."

"Yup... so if people are free to smoke whenever and wherever they want, how is that fair to you and your lungs if you are choosing not to smoke?"

"It's not... especially if I was there first."

Bo nodded, "Right, so there has to be a rule. Do you know what all of the rules are that protect people from each other?"

"Ooh...ooh... I know that! It's... we just learned it... we learned about Lincoln and his speech about... well... I just remember we learned this song..."

"Are you gonna sing it for us?" Bo asked.

"I don't know... it's embarrassing. I'm not very good."

"Everyone can sing – it's how you free your soul to dance with words." Lauren said, causing Bo to look at her with surprise, "What? I'm not the best singer either, but it sure doesn't stop me from singing out loud in the car when a good song comes on the radio."

"You sing?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "In the shower, making breakfast... I dance too. For the last couple weeks when I was unpacking the stuff I kept, I've been dancing my way through every box and singing my heart out. You're surprised?"

Maverick agreed, "When you dropped me off to help her hang pictures and work in the greenhouse last week, she was dancing and singing all day. She called it dance planting. She made me dance, Bo!"

The brunette laughed, "Well, I can't wait to meet this side of you, Dr. Lewis."

"I am a woman of many hidden talents."

"Oh really?" Bo asked.

"I am and if you stick around long enough, you'll be privy to all of them." Lauren smiled.

"Well, I hope you have talent to last a lifetime."

"Well, if I don't, I'll have to learn some new tricks to keep you around."

Bo smiled, "I'll stay even when you get old and boring."

"Let's hope that never happens." Lauren smiled, making the final turn into the airport.

Bo turned back to Maverick, "So are you gonna sing the song?"

"Can't Misty and Sarah sing it for you?"

"Misty and Sarah? Together?"

"Yea. Misty was teaching us about the Constitution and all of that stuff and she had Sarah come and teach us the music stuff that has the history in it."

"So your Music teacher and your History teacher teamed up to combine their subjects to teach you?"

"Yup... about history stuff. It was a fun way to learn it and I got a hundred on the test!"

"So will you sing a little for us?"

"Aw, Bo... don't make me. I suck!"

Lauren pulled into a parking space and cut the engine before unlocking her seatbelt and turning around to face Maverick,

"I'll sing it with you, okay?"

"You know it?" Bo asked.

"I heard them singing it while I was in the science classroom next door teaching the upperclassmen anatomy class."

"And you memorized it that quickly?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, "They're learning the old schoolhouse rock songs from my childhood. They're all on YouTube so even though Misty is younger than us, she must have learned about the songs and talked to Sarah about using them. I heard she's working with your English teachers too."

"Ohmagosh! I loved _'Conjunction, junction, what's your function? Pickin' up lines and phrases and clauses...'_ or something like that." Bo laughed then turned to the back seat,

"Come on... let's all sing it! _'We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union... establish justice ensure domestic tranquility'_..."

Bo looked to Lauren for help since Maverick wasn't buying into it. The blonde smiled and joined in, turning towards Maverick as she sang animatedly with Bo,

"... _Provide for the common defense... promote the general welfare and then... secure the blessings of liberty_... Come on, Mav!"

He smiled and joined in for the last of the song, "... _for ourselves and our prosperity do ordain and establish this constitution_..."

The three finished out the song and then exited the car to enter the airport. On the way in, Bo asked him if he knew any more of Mr. Morton's Schoolhouse Rock songs. By the time they entered the baggage area to check Bo's surfboards, they were loudly singing 'Interjections' quite badly since none of them could remember most of the words.

"So when you're happy..." Maverick smiled broadly, "... or sad..." he pouted, "... or frightened..." Bo jumped back and screamed "Eeek!"...

Their fun was interrupted by the baggage claim worker, "Excuse me? Excuse me?"

Bo laughed with Maverick who blushed, realizing he had just been singing quite loudly to the entire airport,

"Hi. Sorry, we were just..."

"Schoolhouse Rock... I know. My kids just learned the song from a kid they sail with down at the Kenbo School."

Bo's eyes went wide, "Really? Your kids are on the sail team at Kenbo?"

"Yea." The woman suddenly looked embarrassed, "They help out with kids whose parents can't afford... well... I work a lot so..." She smoothed out her jacket, "I'm so sorry. My problems are not why you're here. Can I check your bags?"

Bo looked down at the nameplate on the woman's chest and smiled, "Brandi? My name is Bo... Bo Dennis..."

The woman looked at her, confused so Bo continued, "I'm the 'Bo' in Kenbo... I'm one of the owners..."

"Oh. My. God! You are Bo Dennis!"

Maverick leaned into Lauren, pulling her hand. She leaned down so he could whisper, "She just said that. What's with this lady?"

"Hey! She obviously didn't know Bo at first, but now she recognizes the connection. You're being awfully judgmental young man." Lauren scolded.

Maverick looked up at the woman who was now thanking Bo for allowing her kids to sail with the school, "I'm sorry, Lauren. I just..."

Lauren squatted down and turned Maverick so he was facing her, "No secrets, right?"

His eyes filled with tears, "I don't wanna go... I mean... I do because I want to see Bo get her reward and help Val sell the new Maverick surfboards but... you're gonna leave soon and I won't see you again for a really long time and... well... I wanna spend time with you while I can... and then those people are coming and they want Emma and she's scared and alone because Kenzi isn't there either. I just... I don't know what to do."

"Mav, Bo told you that you could stay. She really wasn't expecting you to go knowing that Emma wasn't going to be able to go like we'd all planned."

"It's not right. She was so excited for her first ride on a plane and then those rich people come and all of a sudden she can't do anything she wants to do. I think little kids should get to say what they want. She doesn't want to be with those people, Lauren. She told me so. She wants to stay with me and you and Bo and Kenzi and Tamsin and Hale and Ciara and... well... she wants to live at Kenbo with us."

Lauren nodded, her eyes going to the young boys' hands so she could squeeze them and keep her tears at bay. The truth was, she had bonded with Emma these past couple weeks ever more than before and she didn't want her to be adopted either. She knew that they had to do what was best for the future of these kids, but it was hard when they all allowed themselves to let these kids into their hearts.

She gave the teary-eyed boy a hug, "Let's ask Bo, okay?"

Maverick nodded, "I don't want her to be mad at me... I just don't know what to do."

Lauren tapped Bo on the shoulder, "Don't check Maverick's bag. It's small enough to be a carry on. We may have a situation."

Bo looked at her confused, then looked down to see Maverick's face buried in Lauren's belly. The blonde gave her a pleading glance for help. Bo nodded and turned back to finish checking her own bag, taking Maverick's from the stack while Lauren took Maverick over near the windows and sat down on a nearby bench.

When Bo was finished, she turned to see an empty space where her two companions had once been. Looking around, she saw Lauren waving her over to the bench where they were seated. She sat down beside them,

"So what's going on?" Bo asked, rubbing Maverick's back.

"Well, we have a torn little boy here. He isn't sure if he should be staying with Emma or going with you. He doesn't want to disappoint anyone, so he just told me he wished he could split himself in two."

Bo smiled, "You and me both, Mav. If I were two people, one would be in Colorado with Lauren when she goes back and the other would stay here at Kenbo."

She smiled as the boy simply nodded, knowing it wasn't possible.

"So what do you think is the most important thing to do, Mav?"

"They're both important. That's what's so hard!"

"Well, which one is more important to you?"

"I'm only ten! This is a big decision for a ten-year-old."

Bo and Lauren shared a glance and a chuckle, "Well, even ten-year-olds have to learn to make big decisions. What did you learn about decision-making in school?"

"Identify the problem, which I already did. Then list the solutions, then look at the smiley faces and the frowny faces, then make a decision."

"Okay, so did you do that?"

"Yea and the smiley's and the frowny's are equal. There is no way to make a decision."

Bo sighed, "Mmmm... well, it sounds like you have a difficult problem on your hands then."

"I know! That's what I said!"

"Well, which person do you think would understand if you weren't there for them more?"

Maverick considered Bo's question before looking up at Lauren who nodded, "Well, you're a big kid and she's a little kid..."

Bo mouthed to Lauren, " _I'm a big kid?_ "

Lauren smiled as Maverick continued,

"...So I guess you should understand better."

"And I do, Maverick. We talked about this a few days ago when you first heard that Emma's prospective adoptive parents might be coming a few days before Christmas."

"So you think I should be here for you?" Maverick asked.

"She was pretty upset that you were leaving."

"She doesn't want to go with them, Bo. Can't you stop it?" Maverick asked.

Bo shook her head, "I will do everything I can to speak on Emma's behalf, Maverick but you should prepare yourself for the possibility that you may have to have a long distance relationship with her."

"But she's my little sister!"

Bo gave the young boy a hug, "I know how you and Emma feel about each other, Mav and I really will do all I can to assure that the two of you are not split up. But... well, I won't lie to you and make promises I may not be able to keep. I will fight for the two of you to stay together, but they may not listen to me."

"Well, maybe they'll listen to Emma and me. Don't we get to talk to the judge?"

Bo shook her head, "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure." She looked up at Lauren who placed a firm hand on her forearm,

"I'll talk to the Kenbo attorneys while you're gone this weekend." She turned to Maverick, "We'll do all we can, but for now, what you need to do is try to be strong for Emma. Be the big brother she needs and let her know that whether the two of you are together or not, she'll always be your little sister."

"Will we be able to see each other?" Maverick asked.

Bo looked up at Lauren, her shoulders dropped as she heaved a great sigh. The look of helplessness on her face was apparent as she turned to Maverick and gave him a little more information about the couple that was interested in Emma,

"I don't know, Mav. They live in Utah, so..."

"So it's too far away." Maverick said quietly.

Bo looked at Lauren and said, "Well, that's what they have planes for."

Lauren gave her a gentle smile knowing that flights back and forth to Utah would be a great expense and a huge time commitment since either Bo or Kenzi would have to travel with him since they were the official legal guardians of all Kenbo students.

She didn't have to say anything though, because Maverick had already figured out the math,

"Utah is too far away. We're already going to have to fly back and forth to Colorado to see Lauren and if we're both training then we're not going to have time to go see Emma. She'll be all alone with strangers who don't want any other kids. She should have other kids... it sucks being the only kid."

It was in that moment that Bo and Lauren realized that this wasn't only about Emma. This was about losing another sister. Maverick had pretty much shut down all communication about his sister in the past few months. Unless he was asked direct questions about her or was asked to recall the details of that night with his family, he avoided the topic altogether.

Bo was careful as she stood slowly and knelt down in front of Maverick, "Look, Mav. I don't want to upset you, but it seems to me that there might be something else on your mind right now. Is there something else bothering you?"

"No." He answered quickly and quietly, his feet beginning to kick.

Bo and Lauren both noticed the swiftly moving feet. It always happened when he talked about the night his parents were killed and his sister was taken. Bo looked up at Lauren, wishing she could hear her thoughts. She was worried about taking him to California right now. She felt he should be here where Hale and Ciara were in case anything happened this weekend with Emma. She had long theorized that he had adopted Emma as a sort of surrogate for his own sister and the two psychiatrists had agreed, but had determined it was not an unhealthy coping mechanism.

"Mav... the three of us... we have no secrets, right?"

"Right."

"And that includes things we choose not to mention, not just lying about things we say, right?"

Maverick shrugged.

Lauren slid forward on the bench so she could look at the young boy, "Would you like to talk about your sister?"

"I heard you guys talking about her the other day."

Bo and Lauren looked at each other, then back to Maverick, "What did you hear?"

"That they might know where she is." He looked up at the pair, "You said no secrets, but you didn't tell me."

Bo shook her head, "We didn't want to get your hopes up, Mav."

"Do they think she's... you know... is she... not alive?"

"They don't know anything for sure, Mav. That's why we didn't tell you anything. The only thing Hale was told was that they had a lead on a group of women who had been abducted. The FBI is working with British Intelligence to try to find them. They think your sister might be among the women in the group, but they're not sure."

"You should have told me."

Bo looked up at Lauren and sighed, "You're right. We should have told you."

The three sat in silence for a bit until Lauren finally spoke, "What are you thinking, Mav?"

"Will they bring her home? I mean... to me... here... no matter what?"

"Is that what you want?" Bo asked.

Maverick nodded, "I know the people that are in charge of me think I'm just a kid, but I know they bury people. I've seen it in movies. They didn't let me see them get buried. I asked, but they said it wasn't something for kids. Who says that? They were my parents. I had a right to see them get buried! Now I don't know where they are! I don't know where people go when they die and I don't know where they go here on earth because no one would tell me. I want to know where my sister is if she isn't alive."

Bo stared at Maverick for a moment, waiting for a break down that never came. He was angry and frankly, she couldn't blame him. Seeing her parents get buried had helped her to know they were truly gone. She didn't realize it then, but it gave her a form of closure Maverick never had and she just realized it was something she'd never thought about or even asked about. Hell, the first stop she'd planned to make when landing in California had been the hotel to let Maverick take a nap under Val's supervision while she went to her parents' gravesite. She'd never thought about the fact that Maverick had never been to visit his parents' burial ground.

"Mav, did they let you go to your parent's funeral at all?" Lauren asked.

Maverick shook his head, "No but people came to my house. They were all dressed up and they made me get dressed up. I wore the suit my Mom liked the best. She always wanted me to look my best when I wasn't snowboarding. I mean... she didn't make me wear a suit to school or anything... just for church and holidays and stuff."

Church... Bo said the word over and over again in her mind. There was no church for the kids at Kenbo School. There was no religion whatsoever. She was sure that some of her students probably came from religious backgrounds. Was she wrong to keep that from them? Why hadn't anyone thought of that? Suddenly, she wanted to run back to the school and begin planning the building of some sort of worship center. Hell, she didn't even know any of the religious people in the community. She'd been raised in a spiritual life, but it wasn't about organized religion. It was more about being one with the world that was given to us... it was about being a good person and living a life of love and service. Was that a religion?

Bo placed both hands on his legs, "I will find out where your parents are, okay? If you want to go visit them, we'll do that soon. If you're sister is to be buried, I'll make sure you're there when that happens. If we have to bury her, do you want her buried here in Hawaii or with your parents?"

Maverick shrugged, "I don't think I want to talk about this anymore."

Bo nodded and sat up, pulling Maverick to her chest and holding him. She looked up at Lauren, her eyes welling up with unshed tears. She whispered to her,

"I wish I didn't have to leave right now."

Lauren nodded, "It's okay. I've got him."

Bo nodded, giving the youngster a final squeeze before pulling back, "I've got to go, Mav. I think you've made your decision, yes?"

Maverick nodded, and leaned into Lauren.

"You take care of Emma for me?"

He nodded again.

"I know it's not fair and I know you want her to stay with us, but we need Emma to feel okay about the things that may happen that we can't stop. If the court decides these are good people who could give her a good home, we have to let her go, okay?"

Maverick nodded, "I just want her to be okay. I hate it when she cries. It makes me really sad and I don't know what to do."

Bo shrugged, "Well, what makes you feel better when you cry?"

Maverick smiled, "Lauren's hugs. They're the best." He blushed.

"Well, I agree. Lauren does give the best hugs." Bo smiled, taking Lauren's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"And Kenzi knows when to turn tears into something funny. She's good at making me laugh when I cry."

"She is good at that. She's always found a way to make me laugh since we were little." Bo nodded.

"And you make me talk about it. If you didn't, I would hold it all in and Hale says that's a bad thing. When I hold it in, it feels like I'm about to explode."

Bo laughed, "Well, that would be bad."

The brunette stood up and adjusted her clothes, "I really do have to go or I'm going to miss my flight. I love you both... so much."

Maverick jumped up and wrapped his arms around Bo's legs, his head tilted back as he looked up at her, "I love you too, Bo."

Lauren stood and placed a gentle hand on Maverick's shoulder before leaning in and giving Bo a long soft kiss,

"I love you, sweetie. Have a good flight."

Bo kissed her once more, deepening the kiss, desperate for it not to end, but she released the blonde, knowing she was running really late,

"I love you, too. Thanks for watching out for all of the kids. I know Kenbo isn't your responsibility so..."

"Hey... if you're serious about a life with me, you have to stop saying things like that. Your stuff is my stuff."

"And your stuff is my stuff."

"it seems that's what the fates have had in mind for us all along. You inherited a boatload of my stuff, so it's only fair that I inherit the much smaller messes that your life seems to carry."

"One hundred and twenty-two residential students is a smaller mess?" Bo asked.

"It's a much more enjoyable mess." Lauren smiled.

"Could I ask you to do me a favor?"

"Anything." Lauren smiled.

"Can you look at bringing some sort of nondenominational religious... or spiritual experience to the school? It's just..."

Lauren looked down at Maverick, "I get it, Bo... you don't have to explain. I heard it too."

"Okay. Gotta run."

With one last short peck on the lips and a ruffle of Maverick's hair, Bo shouldered her carry-on bag and hustled towards the escalator. Once on the moving staircase, she looked back at the pair. Maverick was standing with his hands on Lauren's, the blonde standing behind him with her arms wrapped over his shoulders. The pair waved at Bo who waved back before stepping off the escalator. With one last wave, she turned and walked out of sight.

"Should I have gone with her?" Maverick asked.

"I think she's happy you're staying with Emma."

"But no one will be there when she gets her reward." Maverick said.

"Kenzi and Tamsin are going to be there... it's a surprise. She's not that far away, so she's going to hop a quick flight to be there after her competition ends today."

"She's a good sister."

Lauren nodded, "She is and now it's time for you to go be a good big brother."

Maverick smiled and took Lauren's hand who picked up his bag and threw it over her shoulder before the two walked towards the exit.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It had been an uneventful weekend at the Kenbo School. Lauren had worked with Dr. Mansfield at the Emergency Care and Training Facility, helped Professor Meade at the Outdoor Adventure Center, talked to Hale about Maverick's sister and the progress in the case, called the judge and discussed the relationship between Emma and Maverick, hoping she would seek double placement for the two and consulted with a minister of a local non-denominational college center for worship about a model for the Kenbo School.

The weekend had been productive, but she needed to wait until Bo and Kenzi were home before anything further could be done. It was their decision in the end, so she took careful notes, gathering as much factual information as possible to help the sisters in taking steps moving forward.

She had left the Kenbo School in the capable hands of the staff, Dr. Mansfield, her friends from Colorado who had jumped right in to help out and the Professor. She had promised Trick to take on a shift at the E.R. since he had kept her on staff in name, even though she hadn't been on the schedule in months. He explained that he felt certain she would be back, so there was no sense in taking away her privileges at his hospital.

When she had entered the emergency room, Helen was at the desk, smiling wide and holding her lab coat out on her index finger,

"I thought you might need this, Doc."

Lauren smiled, "Where did you..."

"There were three left in the stock room with your name embroidered on them. Dr. Fitz had me put them in your locker which is still exactly how you left it."

"Wow. It's unsettling to find I'm this predictable." Lauren smiled.

"We know you know this is your real home, Doctor Lewis. No matter how many states separate you from us, this will always be where you belong in our hearts and minds."

Lauren nodded and smiled as the emergency room doors flew open and two paramedics came in with one gurney followed by two fire fighters,

"Doc! Old faithful blew her stack and the lava headed towards a neighborhood. We've got incoming!" The paramedic called out.

Right behind him was Pops, his face covered in black soot, his head and shoulders covered in ash,

"POPS!" Lauren's face was bathed in worry as she ran towards the man, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Lauren. This is Sammy Miko and he works for us. He was checking on Bo's equipment... thought it was malfunctioning, but it was right on point. His partner warned him not to go – to trust the readings, but he insisted it was a malfunction and went to the base of the crater. That was when the whole thing blew. I had just happened to pull up right as it happened. Threw him into my car and met the ambulance half way here. The burns are bad, Lauren. He hasn't woken up and a piece of... something... went right through his thigh."

Lauren placed a hand on Pops' shoulder, "I'll do my best for him, Pops. Did you call his family?"

Pops nodded, "I called his wife. He's got a six-month-old daughter, Lauren... please help him."

Lauren knew better than to make any promises as she took inventory of the burns covering at least a third of the man's body. Luckily, his chest had only some minor first and second-degree burns, which meant his breathing, may not give out, but infection was going to be a problem.

"I'll do the best I can, Pops. You have my word."

She looked up at Helen who was right by her side, "Helen, call Dr. Fitz. I'm going to need help. I need a sterile field set up in the burn unit and I'm going to need nurses... several of them besides you."

"Anyone else?"

"I know it sounds redundant, but I'm going to want someone from Neuro and Cardiology for second opinions. I'll also want someone from plastics to take a look once we've cleaned the debris from the wounds."

"Got it, Doc.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was seven o'clock in the morning when Lauren finally got back to the Kenbo School. It had been a long night with Sammy followed by a three-car crash and then a little five-year old girl who had an allergic reaction to peanuts. She hadn't worked an E.R. shift in a long time and she was exhausted... but it was a good feeling.

She slipped into Bo's house and headed straight to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she fed Mittens who was staying at Bo's with her this weekend. Lauren needed to be near the school, so she had taken the sisters up on their offer that she stay at their place this weekend.

Opening the cabinets, she laughed finding only cereal and a bottle each of vodka and tequila. Taking out the cereal, she moved to the refrigerator to find milk, lemons, limes, sparkling water, some fresh whole fruit and some vegetables.

"Well, at least they have some food that's good for them." She said to Mittens who had found her way between Lauren's ankles. She opened the freezer and smiled, seeing the secret stash of dark chocolate the girls always kept at the ready, "I see some things haven't changed."

She poured some cereal into the bowl, added the milk and some blueberries before sitting down to eat. She turned on her iPad and flipped through the news stories on her feed, checking to see if there was any news about Kenzi's performance in her competition.

Lauren smiled when she saw her face holding up a surfboard over her head with a smile. She loved the fact that she was holding a Maverick Board. She saved the photo, so she could show it to him later.

She looked out the window towards the ocean, leaning back to get a glimpse of the waterfront just a short walk down the beach from the house. She stood and walked to the sliding glass doors. Opening the one on the right, she looked out towards the school. She smiled, seeing that the sailing club was already out on the water, catching the soft morning breeze that was now finding its way into the house. The air was crisp and clean with just a hint of sea salt to it.

Mittens jumped up onto the chair next to the door and stepped carefully onto the arm, purring as she rubbed her head up against Lauren's arm,

"You know... I miss it here..." She swallowed hard, "I miss it a lot. How about you?"

As if she understood what Lauren was saying, Mittens jumped down from the chair and stared out at the ocean, sniffing at the breeze. She rubbed her cheek against the screen before looking up at Lauren.

"I know, baby girl. It's a lot nicer here than in Colorado and it's a helluva lot easier to breathe, huh?"

Mittens wandered through Lauren's legs again, almost tripping the blonde as she tried to make her way to the sink to wash out her bowl. When she finished, she decided she would sleep in the hammock out back instead of in Bo's bed. Sleeping in the brunette's room would just make her miss her since she was sure her scent was on her pillow and sheets.

She snapped a leash onto Mitten's collar and grabbed a blanket before heading out the back door and getting comfortable in the swinging bed. Setting her phone alarm for four hours, she settled in with Mitten's leash fastened securely around her wrist and sighed. The small cat curled up in a ball on her chest and was soon purring Lauren to sleep.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"LAUREN! LAUREN! PLEASE! YOU GOTTA WAKE UP! PLEASE! HELP ME!"

Lauren opened her eyes, to see a panicked Maverick pleading with her. She went to stand, forgetting that she was in a hammock and flipped over, landing on her face in the sand beneath. Spitting out the mouthful of sand, she found Mitten's leash tangled around her neck,

"Shit! Mittens!" She quickly rolled over and found the cat effectively being pulled through the hammock ropes, "I'm so sorry!"

She quickly freed herself of the leash, releasing the cat from its restraint.

"LAUREN!"

She turned to Maverick, still a bit dazed, "Maverick?"

"Come quick! It's Emma! She's under the surfboards in the shed and she's hurt!"

"Grab Mittens and take her in the house, then meet me at the shed."

Lauren ran around the side of the house to the shed where she saw a pile of surfboards leaning haphazardly in a row, several of them cracked.

"Emma? EMMA!" She looked down and saw an arm, but heard no sound.

She pulled out her cell phone just as Maverick rounded the corner. Holding out her phone, she hit 9-1-1 and handed the phone to the boy,

"Stay calm and tell them to send an ambulance. You know the address and my phone number. Tell them a doctor is with her. Just answer their questions."

"I-I can't..."

"You can... now listen."

Maverick raised the phone to his ear and began a conversation with the operator while Lauren began carefully removing the surfboards one at a time, being careful not to allow any to drop any lower.

When Maverick hung up the phone, Lauren looked up at him,

"Go get Dr. Mansfield, Maverick. Tell him to bring the emergency kit. Hurry, Mav!"

Maverick nodded and headed off down the trail at a sprint just as Lauren saw the blonde curls of Emma's head and some blood coming from her ear.

"Oh, God, Oh God... please no... Emma... talk to me, little girl."

She cleared the last three surfboards before finding two pieces of surfboard and a rake used for clamming on top of the little girl. She turned on her cell phone flashlight and pulled open Emma's eyelids, using the light to check for pupil response as she called to the little girl again,

"Emma! Emma! Can you hear me, little girl?"

"Wauwen. My head huwts."

"I know, baby girl. I need you to not move, okay?"

"It huwts... it weally weally huwts."

Lauren slid up above the little girl and held her head and neck still. Looking down at her, she repeated,

"I know, Em but I really need you to lie still, okay?"

"Wes. Whewes Mavwick?"

"He went to get Doc Mansfield. He'll be right back, sweetie. Don't move, okay?"

"Okawy."

Lauren's heart broke at the sign of a stray tear trailing down her temple into her hair from the corner of her eye. She kissed the little girl's forehead,

"You're being very brave, Emma. I'm so proud of you, baby girl."

"Wauwen my belly hurts."

"Okay, sweetie. Does it feel like it does before you throw up or does it hurt like a pain?"

"A pain."

"Hold still, baby." She reminded before she removed one hand and reached down to lift up the little girl's shirt. She took a deep breath when she saw bruising across her ribs on the right, "Does it hurt to take a breath, Emma?"

"Uh-huh."

"Just try to relax, okay?"

"Uh-huh."

Dr. Mansfield entered the hut with Maverick looking over his shoulder, "Emma! Emma!"

Lauren looked up at the panicked little boy, "Calm, Maverick. I need you up here."

Maverick came up to where Lauren was and did as he was told, "Lay down and put both of your elbows on the ground. Now place one hand here and one hand here... hold her head perfectly still and don't move no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it."

Lauren moved to where Dr. Mansfield was opening the kit and pulled out gauze and bandages. The two got to work dealing with the worst of the cuts. There was one particularly bad puncture wound in the little girl's side that appeared to be from the rake,

"Emma? Is this where the pain is coming from?" Lauren asked, palpating the area around the wound.

"Mmmm... Wes! Pwease don't touch it."

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Lauren said, "You're going to feel a little pinch, baby girl."

Dr. Mansfield handed Lauren a syringe which she injected into the wound site to ease the child's pain,

"There. That will make it feel better soon. You're being very brave, Em. I'm so very proud of you."

The sound of sirens drew Lauren's attention, "Do you hear that, Em? You're gonna go for a ride in an ambulance."

"I'm so sorry, Emma. I'm so sorry."

"It's awight Mavwick. I shoulda wistened to you. I sowwy too."

"I'm older. I should have stopped you. It's my fault."

Tears streamed down Lauren's face as she began to piece together parts of what must have happened to cause the accident. Knowing Emma the way she did, she guessed her curious nature brought her to the shed. The fact that they were both in their bathing suits likely meant they were planning to do a little surfing on their own. She would talk to Maverick about it a little later on, but until then she would just deal with what was going on right now.

"Emma?"

There was no response.

"Emma? Emma if you're awake, I need you to talk to me, baby girl!"

"There's no response, Lauren." Dr. Mansfield replied.

"Check her pupils. They were responsive and unequal before."

The doctor did the check, "Unresponsive."

"Shit. I need a CT Scan."

The paramedics arrived with their gear and moved towards the shed until they caught sight of Lauren,

"Dr. Lewis. Ma'am, how may we assist?"

"Stabilize the head, neck and spine. Start a saline drip for now and monitor vitals. I'll ride with you. Pupils were unequal but responsive and are now dilated and fixed. I need a CT Scan to know what else is going on. I think she may have a broken rib or two and she has a puncture wound on the left. From the looks of it, I think it's from that rake, so tetanus shot and MRI of the left lung."

"Got it. We'll call ahead and make sure they're prepped to do the tests."

"Consent forms?"

"I'm in loco parentis, consent is given. Her medical records will arrive at the hospital. Dr. Mansfield will bring them with her small friend here. He'll help me with the accident report. Can we move now?"

"Of course, Doc."

After about ten minutes, the ambulance was pulling off the school grounds with Lauren on board. Maverick was in a car with Professor Meade and the medical records while Dr. Mansfield stayed behind, deciding it was better to retain one doctor on campus in Lauren's absence. Ciara had arrived and headed off to the hospital to be with Lauren, calling Hale to come over to the school to help Dr. Mansfield in the blonde's absence.

With everything covered, all Lauren could do was look down at the little girl, helpless to do any more for her until they arrived at the hospital.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren sat by the little girls' bedside, holding her hand, her eyes fixed on the monitors as she watched her oxygen saturation rates, heart rate and blood pressure for any variations. When they arrived, everything had moved quickly, thanks to Violet getting everything prepped. Lauren smiled at the thought of the younger nurse who had been trained by Helen. That is why the doctor knew that no matter which nurse was working her shift, things would go as smoothly as possible.

Unfortunately, the patient's condition always had something to do with that factor. In Emma's case, the CT Scan had showed a serious concussion. The blood coming from her ear had helped Lauren surmise that would be the result, but she had hoped that somehow she was wrong.

The little girl had yet to wake up again, which Lauren knew was due to the fluid that had built up around the brain. All they could do was monitor for changes in pressure and hope that the cerebral fluid did not increase to a point where surgery would be required. The puncture wound had grazed her lung, but not punctured it, so there was that silver lining. On the other hand, she did have a cracked rib, but luckily it was not displaced. Keeping her still would be the challenge, although the head injury would likely keep her still and lethargic for quite some time.

"Lauren?"

Maverick's voice pulled Lauren from her musings. She looked up to see his red swollen eyes and immediately waved him over. He came to rest on her knee and she immediately wrapped one arm around his waist while her other hand kept hold of Emma's,

"So do you want to tell me what happened?"

Maverick nodded, "She wanted to go surfing and I told her we had to wait for Corey and Cody to get to the waterfront. We were playing in the sand and when I turned around, she was gone. I noticed her little footprints in the sand leading towards the house and thought maybe she went to see you, so I followed. You know how little her legs are, so I caught up to her and saw she was going into the shed where all of Bo and Kenzi's surfboards and beach stuff is. Kenzi always says we aren't supposed to go in there without her or Bo, but by the time I yelled to Emma to stop, everything was falling on her. It happened so fast and I couldn't stop her. I tried to catch the boards, but I fell and... well... I don't remember what happened until I woke up and saw the shed. I ran to get you right away."

Lauren had no idea that Maverick had been injured. She had never even thought to check him.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a headache. I'm fine."

She looked up at Professor Meade, "Can you stay with Emma, Professor? I want to go check on this guy's head. A brilliant mind is a terrible thing to waste."

"You bet, Doctor. I won't leave her side."

"Just hit that button if anything changes, okay?"

He nodded as Lauren led Maverick out of the room and down the hall into the CT Scan room. She sat him on the table when the tech came into the room and asked him to prep for a scan after she did an initial exam. Running her fingers through his thick, curly hair she found a small wound,

"We'll have to clean that up... looks like you'll need a couple of stitches there, Mav. I'll have to shave a small patch of your hair, but I promise you won't be able to see it."

The young boy didn't respond which was unusual. Lauren tilted his head up and looked at his eyes,

"You're pupils are dilated, little man. Looks like you have a concussion too."

"Huh?"

"Confusion, too."

"I'm sorry about Emma, Lauren."

"It's not your fault, Mav. She's a curious little girl. It could have happened to any of us when we were watching her."

"But it didn't happen to any of you. It happened to me. I was supposed to keep her safe."

"And you did, Maverick. You came and got me as soon as you found her."

"Yea and I got myself knocked out before I did that."

Lauren smiled, helping the young boy to lay down on the table of the scanner. Once he was strapped in, she leaned down with a smile, "Now hold still, okay?"

"Okay."

Lauren disappeared from the room, leaving Maverick alone in the room as the big machine started to make noise.

"LAUREN!"

"It's okay, Maverick. I'm right here. I can see you even though you can't see me. The noise you're hearing is normal, okay?"

Maverick nodded his head.

"I need you to answer with words, Mav. You can't move your head at all, remember?"

"Yea."

"Good man. Now, I'm going to take a look at that head of yours."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren and Maverick made their way back into Emma's room where the Professor was asleep in the chair. After checking the monitors, the doctor moved to recheck the little girl's pupils and found no change. She pulled back the covers on the empty bed in the room and waved Maverick into the bed,

"You need to lay down for a little while. That mild concussion is going to make you drowsy, but if you sleep, you should feel a little better when you wake up. Hopefully it will help with the headache as well."

Maverick didn't argue, but instead climbed into bed and was quickly sound asleep. Just as the younger boy fell off to sleep, the Professor awoke. Lauren asked him to return to the school and make sure all was well there while she remained to watch over little Emma and Maverick.

The Professor informed her that Pops had stopped by after hearing from his wife about the incident. He called Tamsin who told Bo and Kenzi what was going on. She thanked him for his help and watched as he left the room. Sitting back down by Emma's bed, she watched as the two kids slept. She was exhausted now that the adrenaline was wearing off and she felt her eyelids growing heavy. Moments later, nothing could be heard in the hospital room but the quiet beeps on Emma's machines and the soft breathing of the three inhabitants.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Lauren? Lauren?"

The blonde's eyes opened quickly as she sat up in a panic. Looking at Emma, she saw her sleeping soundly, her vitals still in normal ranges. She looked over to see Maverick still sound asleep. Looking at her watch, she saw that it had been four hours.

"Shit. I fell asleep."

"Lauren?"

The blonde looked up to see Bo staring down at her, "Bo?"

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"What are you doing here?"

"We hopped a flight back as soon as Pops called Tamsin. How are they?"

Lauren tried to stand so she could check on Maverick, but Bo stopped her. She argued, "I've got to rouse him, Bo. He has a concussion and shouldn't be left to sleep for more than two hours at a time for the first twenty-four hours."

Bo nodded, "I can do it, Lauren. I'm the head injury champion, remember?"

Lauren gave her a tight smile and watched as Bo nudged the young boy awake. He opened his eyes and said hello, before rolling over and going back to sleep again.

"Is that okay or do I actually have to get him to talk to me?"

"That's fine as long as I know he's not like Emma."

Bo turned and stood next to the little girl on the other side of the bed, "So what's going on with her?"

"Well, she wanted to go surfing. Maverick turned his back on her for a second and she was off to the shed where you and Kenzi keep your boards and gear. She tried to pull out one of the boards and all of them came down on top of her. Maverick tried to get to her while it was happening and he got knocked out by one of the falling boards. He came to and ran in to get to me."

Lauren's eyes were filling with tears as she spoke, but she continued, "I ran into the shed and started pulling the boards out one by one until I saw her head and blood coming out of her right ear. When I got to the bottom, I found the rake had punctured her left side, but luckily it only grazed her lung. We sewed up the wound. She has a cracked rib on the right side and a serious concussion. She hasn't woken up since she passed out on me a second time in the shed."

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo... I should have been watching... I should have..."

"Lauren, you can't watch kids every minute of the day. Besides, Kenzi and I have been talking about adding board holders to that shed and we didn't. It was unsafe and we knew it. We should have had it locked and we didn't. We should have shelves or something in it to prevent a mass tumble like that and we didn't. It's not your fault."

"I still feel responsible. You left me in charge because you thought I could handle taking care of the kids and the minute you leave... well... look."

She pointed at Emma and glanced over at Maverick, but Bo was having none of it.

"Lauren, children are curious. Just go visit the medical facility on campus and ask. We have daily cuts, bruises, sprains and strains... hell, last week we had our third allergic reaction and our third broken bone since we opened. They're kids... they play hard and sometimes they get hurt. This is not anyone's fault. Emma isn't supposed to go in that shed by herself and she knows it. Maverick was with her and knows she has to be watched. Kenzi and I know we need to make the shed safer and keep it locked and we didn't. All of those things led to this... you are at the end of the fault ladder, so stop with the blaming, okay?"

Lauren nodded, "It's just so hard to see her like this."

"I know, sweetie."

"Where are Kenzi and Tamsin?"

Bo shrugged, "I talked them out of flying home with me. Kenzi has the rest of her competition tomorrow morning, so she agreed to stay."

"Did you at least get to pick up your championship trophy?"

"Kenzi has it, so she'll bring it home."

"Did you surf?"

Bo laughed, "I did... and I won... the conditions were too perfect and... I was home, Lauren... it was so good to be home."

"Did you visit your parents?"

Bo nodded, "I did. I told them all about you... about all that drama that is our love story."

"Do you think they would like me if they were alive?"

"Of course they would... my Mom especially. You have her taste in... well, just about everything."

"Oh really?"

Bo nodded, "Now... why don't you take a nap?"

"I'm okay, Bo."

"Actually, I ran into Trick on my way in. He told me you worked a double last night. With all that happened to these two this morning, I doubt you slept for more than an hour or two before you were back in doctor mode. You need to sleep, Lauren."

"You'll wake me if she wakes up or if anything changes on the monitors?"

Bo nodded, "I will, sweetie."

Lauren stood and joined Maverick in the other bed. Bo smiled as she looked across the room at her three favorite people in the world next to her sister. It was good to be home... she hated that Emma was hurt, but she was happy to be back with her family again. Once Emma was well, she would tell Lauren all about the epiphany she'd had while she was gone. For now, she would sit here and do as Lauren had asked.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi entered the room to see all four of the occupants sleeping. She checked on Emma first, then looked over at Maverick who was snuggled in to Lauren's chest, her arm wrapped protectively over him. Bo was slumped over the side rail of Emma's bed, her hands holding the little girl's in her own. Kenzi gave her a nudge and whispered,

"BoBo?"

The brunette sat up bolt straight, her eyes wide and staring down at Emma before she heard her name again and turned to see her sister,

"What's wrong?"

"Why does anything have to be wrong?" Kenzi asked.

Bo sighed and sat back in her seat, "Uh... are we in the same room?"

Kenzi looked around, "Oh... right... well, everything is good at the school. The kids were all a little worried when the ambulance showed up, although I think it's sort of becoming sort of our monthly normal."

Bo nodded, "Oh please don't say that. Did you check on Jake Truth? I didn't get to ask Lauren if she..."

"He was right by my side at the upperclassmen meeting. The cuts on his side are healing nicely according to Doc Mansfield and he is officially casted."

"Casted?" Bo asked, surprised, "I thought he only had to wear a splint because the break wasn't that bad!"

"Uh... right... well, that was until Doc Mansfield saw him out wakeboarding behind Jonathan's wave runner last night just before sundown."

Bo stood up, "THOSE..."

"SHHHH... Bo..." Kenzi slapped her sister's shoulder hard and pointed to the sleeping bodies around the room. Bo grabbed her shoulder,

"OWA!"

"Well, control yourself!"

"Sorry, but I'm pissed!" Bo scowled, watching as Maverick kicked at the covers, trying to free his legs. Lauren opened her eyes and untangled him before laying her head back down.

"Doc looks exhausted."

Bo shook her head, "Well, that'll happen when you volunteer to do a double E.R. shift and then go home to two kids trying to get themselves killed when you've only had a few hours of sleep."

"She worked a double E.R. shift?"

"Yea. Apparently one she had volunteered to work and the other was an emergency coverage. I talked to Trick when I came in. He was waiting for me, apparently knowing I would be in to check on the kids."

"And Lauren."

"Yes, and Lauren. I knew she would be blaming herself."

"She's not the one that broke the shed rule."

"I told her that, but you know how she is."

"We really need to get that shed renovated."

"Kenz, we have stands in our store. It would be simply to put stands in the shed, but we really need to start locking it."

Kenzi shrugged, "I hate that we have to lock up our stuff. First our house, now our boards. I think I liked it better when we lived in a shack."

"You've been saying that for a year now. We have money. Get over it... oh, and as I was saying, we're going to start putting the wave runner keys in a lock box. No supervision, no riding."

"Bo, they're sixteen."

"Yea, well that's two years short of eighteen and living on their own, so the keys get locked up. They'll moan and groan, but when they do, I'll just show them exhibit A."

"Exhibit A?"

"Jake's cast."

"Right."

"Please tell me Doc did something to remind him of his stupidity."

"Well, I think the cast does that, but he gave him a lime green cast."

Bo laughed, "He didn't. Jake doesn't like anything other than black."

"A man after your own heart, by the way."

"Hey! I do much better with color now!" Bo argued.

"Thanks to our little girl there." Kenzi nodded at Emma, "Thank Poseidon that she convinced you that black represents the absence of color."

Bo looked down at the little girl, "I wish Lauren would wake up so she could tell us if it's bad that she hasn't woken up yet."

"What did the Doc tell you?"

"Severe concussion, cracked rib and something about a rake puncturing her side, but only grazing her lung. She was apparently buried under every board, Kenz. This is our fault."

Kenzi pulled out her cell phone.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Sal."

"The maintenance guy?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Our pal Sal is gonna make our shed a top priority on his list. Shelving, stands and a lock... a good, strong lock... one of those fingerprint ones that only works on our two prints."

Bo sighed, looking at Emma, "Go for it, Kenz."

"I wasn't asking for your permission, but thanks."

Bo mumbled, shaking her head and imitating Kenzi, "I wasn't asking for your permission..."

The two girls turned towards the Emma's bed as an alarm started to sound. They had no sooner stepped to her bedside than Lauren was there with a stethoscope on her chest, silencing the alarm. The two sisters watched as Violet came running into the room and stood by Lauren's side as she checked her pupils,

"Responsive. Her heart rate is picking up, so it tripped the alarm. I think she's in pain and conscious enough to feel that now."

Lauren glanced at Bo and Kenzi who looked terrified, "I think our little girl is waking up, ladies."

Lauren turned to her patient just as Maverick came to the foot of the bed, "Emma? Emma?" She tapped her shoulder gently and then ran her hand up and down her forearm.

Her eyes fluttered open and then closed again, so Lauren called to her once more, "Emma? Can you look at me sweetie?"

She opened her eyes and looked at Lauren, "Wauwen?"

"Yea, it's me baby girl. How are you feeling?"

A tear trailed down her cheek, "My head weelee, weelee huwts."

"Okay, sweetie. I'm going to give you something to help with that. Can you take a big breath for me?"

Lauren watched for signs of discomfort as Emma did as she was asked, "Does that hurt at all?"

Emma placed a hand on her right rib, "It huwts heewa."

"Well, you've got a pretty bad boo-boo there, so I need you to lie still, okay?"

Emma nodded, then put a hand on her head, "Owa... my head weelee, weelee huwts, Wauwen."

Lauren turned to Violet, "Let's take her down for another CT Scan. I just want to be sure that swelling hasn't increased. The fact that she is conscious and aware contradicts that possibility, but I don't want to take any chances. There was also a lot of swelling when she came in, so I'd like an X-ray just to rule out a skull fracture."

"Wauwen, my belly huwts." Emma said.

"Do you feel like you're going to get sick, sweetie?"

"Uh-huh."

Lauren turned to Violet who was already on it, "Nausea meds, right."

"Quickly, Violet. I need her still and..."

"I know, we don't want her using those muscles because of the trauma to her ribs and lung."

Bo looked at Lauren, "I thought you said her lung was okay?"

"It wasn't punctured, Bo but it was bruised when the rake broke through the skin and entered through the ribs."

"It went that deep?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded towards Maverick as she spoke, "But it didn't actually enter the lung which is a good thing. She's on antibiotics to prevent infection, the wound has been sutured, her side is taped to support the ribs, the cut on her head is sutured and everything else is going to heal on its own."

"Geezus, Lauren."

The blonde looked up at Bo, her eyes watering a bit before she moved to the end of the bed,

"Mav, do you want to say hi to your little sister?"

"Do you think she's mad at me?" Maverick asked.

"Not at all, Mav. Go on... I think seeing you will make her feel better."

Violet pulled a chair over and hoisted Maverick up onto the chair. He leaned over onto the railing,

"Careful not to lean on the bed, Mav. I need her still, okay?"

The young boy nodded, "Emma? It's me, Maverick."

Emma's eyes opened slowly, "Mavwick?"

"I'm so sorry, Emma."

"Me too, Mavwick. You told me not to go in the shed. I was bad."

Maverick shook his head, "You must made a mistake. Mistakes happen."

Kenzi interjected, "Mistakes hurt, huh guys?"

Emma and Maverick looked at Kenzi and nodded. Emma looked at the two sisters, "I'm sorry for bwaking the rule."

Bo smiled and took Emma's hand, "Well, I think you both know now why we have the no shed rule. All we care about is that you are both going to be okay."

Kenzi added, "And we're putting a lock on the shed so no one tries to top your act."

"Sorry." Maverick said, "I know you didn't want to have to lock your shed."

Bo looked at Kenzi, "See? Even the ten-year-old gets it. The wave runners are getting locked up, the shed is getting locked up. We are officially child-proofing the entire school before we can't afford health insurance."

"Sorry." Maverick repeated.

"Oh, Mav... that wasn't all because of you and Emma."

Kenzi waved a hand, "That was all your buddy Jake's."

"What happened to Jake?" Maverick asked.

"Well, he and his buddies decided to take a wave runner out after water curfew. Jake was the one being towed on the wake board."

"He's not supposed to..."

Kenzi nodded, "Yup and now Jake is in a cast because Doc Mansfield caught him using his broken arm when he was specifically told he was to go easy."

Lauren added, "Let that be a lesson to you to always follow doctor's orders."

Maverick looked at Lauren, "Are you gonna put a cast on my head?"

They all laughed, "No, but maybe I'll make you wear a hockey helmet everywhere you go if you're going to keep getting concussions."

"That'd be embarrassing."

Lauren nodded, "And that would be the idea. If we can't convince you to do things because it will keep you alive, we'll do things to embarrass you to keep you alive."

Maverick shook his head, "You guys are smart."

"Well, you guys are good teachers." Bo smiled.

"Huh?" Maverick asked, confused.

Lauren looked down at the young boy, "Eyes open." She moved the pen light back and forth, double-checking his pupils, "You need to get back in bed."

"But I wanna talk to Emma."

Lauren shook her head, "Emma needs to rest and so do you."

"Can Mavwick lay with me?"

Lauren sighed, her eyes drifting to Bo and Kenzi who were frowning along with Maverick.

"I hate you all." Lauren laughed, "Fine. Maverick, be very, very careful. You can't lean on her at all. She has a bruised rib on one side and a bruised lung on the other."

Bo suddenly looked worried, "Maybe he shouldn't..."

Lauren waved her off, "It's okay."

She helped Maverick get into position next to Emma who instantly took his hand and closed her eyes.

"Can't she lay flat?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren shook her head, "No, we're trying to do all we can to help keep the excess fluid down. Elevation is warranted."

Violet re-entered the room, "They're going to take her down to CT in about an hour and then they'll take her over to X-ray. They're adorable together."

"Do you not see the bruises and monitors? They're holy terrors together!" Kenzi said, "I'm heading over to keep things running."

"Wait! I just realized... you aren't supposed to be here!" Bo's eyes were wide.

"It's a funny thing. Did you know that Pops actually owns a plane? He had his buddy fly us here and then we're flying back after dinner."

"Wow... I had no idea he... wow." Bo replied.

"Apparently, it's how he and Moms are running the business here and still running their retirement business." Kenzi explained, "But I have no idea how any of all that adds up to retirement."

Bo shook her head, "Me either."

"Okay. I'll see you chickas later. Dinner at our place?"

Bo looked at Lauren who nodded before replying, "Take out?"

"Is there any other food?"

"I take it that means we're too late for the school cafeteria?"

"We gave Chef Carlos the night off."

"Right... it's his anniversary. Did we..."

"We gave them a gift card to FreshMex in town."

"His wife told me it's her favorite restaurant because they're the only place that serves authentic Mexican food in this state. Her words, not mine."

"Okay then. TexMex it is."

"FreshMex."

"Right. See ya later, Kenz."

"Later ladies!"

Bo and Lauren smiled as Kenzi left, then turned back to the two sleeping children. Bo looked at the blonde,

"You still look tired, Lauren."

"I'm okay, Bo. I'm just a little stressed over all of this. You know that I always hate seeing kids in my E.R. and knowing them only makes it that much worse."

"Little kids shouldn't have to get hurt... ever. It's hard to watch."

Lauren nodded her agreement, "I don't want to leave them. I mean... I know we just told Kenzi we would have dinner with them but... how do I walk out of here, Bo? I can't seem to make my feet move."

"You feel responsible, Lauren and you have to let that go. It's not your fault that this happened. Emma knows Violet very well from her work at the Kenbo School... she'll be okay while we go home, shower and eat something."

"Home." Lauren said softly.

Bo frowned, "I'm sorry... I meant... to my house."

Lauren shook her head, "No, Bo... I meant... home... I mean..." Lauren sighed, "When you said the word, my mind went to a bigger picture. The past two weeks... the time I've spent on my own... it was good for me."

"I can give you more space if you need it, Lauren. I know things started moving more quickly than we had agreed... I mean... the girlfriend label and sleeping in the same bed... even though we aren't..."

Lauren moved around the bed to Bo's side and gripped her face in both hands before kissing her senseless. After a long, deep kiss, she pulled away and leaned her forehead against Bo's. They stayed like that for a long while before Lauren pulled back,

"Would you let me finish a thought before you start jumping to conclusions about where my head is at?"

"Sorry?" Bo said, sheepishly.

Lauren let out a light chuckle, "No need to apologize, Bo. I wasn't being very clear. I just... I've been thinking a lot about my life these last two weeks. This place will always feel more like home to me than Colorado. It's nice to wake up and feel the sun every morning."

Bo wrapped her arms around Lauren's waist, "So you like my dome idea?"

"I've told you what must be a thousand times that I love your dome idea. Tamsin's plant is growing like a weed. It's like it's reaching up to touch the top of the dome."

"Yea, she said it would do that."

"Will you be mad at me if I tell you I sort of like it?"

"That plant is gonna block my view when I stay overnight at your house and you're not gonna want to get rid of it! It's as bad as when Mittens gets in bed with us and steals my cuddle spot in your neck."

"Well, she's adorable."

"Right and I'm chopped liver."

"Awww... you poor thing."

"You love Mittens more than me... it's heartbreaking."

"You're such a baby." Lauren laughed, pulling Bo into a hug.

"Only when I haven't had my snuggles for the day."

"Well, you had very important business to attend to in California. Are you going to tell me about it?" Lauren asked.

"The part where Manny hoisted me up on his shoulders after they declared me the champ or the part where the crowd went nuts when I pulled a backside 360 off a wave on my new Maverick Short board?"

"You used a Maverick in the competition?"

"Yup."

"But you'd never used one before!"

"I did some practice runs the night before the competition. It felt... I don't know... natural, somehow. I switched boards before my last run and just went for it. Honestly, I was lucky to land it. For a second, I thought I was gonna have to ditch, because I landed too close to the front end of the tube, but somehow I dropped down into the face and ended up in the tube. It's a fast board... really fast."

"I guess your Mom and Dad were holding you up in that moment." Lauren smiled.

Bo nodded, "It would be nice if that were true. Who knows."

"So, I guess after that, you signed a lot of autographs?"

"The line was ridiculous. Val was ready for it, though. She set me up at a table and chair in our tent. We sold out of boards and had to tell people that delivery would be up to six months out since they're hand carved."

"I guess someone is going to be very, very busy."

Bo smiled, "Pia, Cody and Corey have agreed to change their plans and come back here in March to help us fill the last of the orders. Pia said this is going to be her last winter Olympics, so she's looking for something new in her life."

Lauren smiled, "I had dinner with her in the cafeteria last week after class and she told me she absolutely adores Hawaii. Did you know she was born here?"

"What? No!"

"It's quite the story. She was born here and her mother died in childbirth. Her birth father had been in the military and was killed in Iraq before she was born."

"Oh, no." Bo gasped, holding her hands to her mouth.

"Actually, her mom wasn't with her biological father. It was a one-night stand or something along those lines. Anyway, when her mom died, her grandmother took her in and then when she took ill when Pia was about six, her Aunt took her. She lived in California but was taking a new job in Syracuse, New York. Her Aunt had surfed all of her life and quickly got into snowboarding, taking Pia with her. Apparently she was a natural and her career took off by the time she was Maverick's age. Now she's twenty-nine and ready to do something new."

Bo nodded, "She asked me if I ever thought about settling down and having a family. We talked about it for a while before she admitted it was something she really wanted."

"What did you tell her about you?"

"Yes... to all of it."

Lauren smiled, "Bo, earlier we were talking about home and... well... I just think that for me, wherever you are, that will be my home. I think that's how I'm going to make it through the times that we're apart. Knowing that it won't matter if you come to me or I come to you... wherever we are together, that will be home."

Bo's eyes brimmed with tears, "Have I told you how beautiful you are lately? I mean... the things you say are beautiful... what you just said... it was beautiful and I think it perfectly describes our perfect home."

"I just don't understand how I ever strayed so far from this... from us."

"I'm just glad we found our way back to each other... that's all that matters now, Lauren. We never let that happen again... the outside world, never gets in here again." Bo said as she moved her hand back and forth in the space between them.

Lauren nodded, leaning in to capture Bo's lips in a soft, sweet kiss that led to a warm, full-body hug.

Violet came into the room and cleared her throat, "Sorry, ladies. They're ready for Emma in CT."

The pair nodded and sighed, looking at how Emma was now holding tight to Maverick's whole arm, their fingers laced together tightly,

"Well isn't that the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life." Violet said, pulling out her phone to take a picture.

"Hey... no posting on social media... state..."

"I know, I know, Bo... state laws for child protection." Violet smiled, "This one is purely for Aunty Vi's enjoyment. I don't get to spend enough time with these two lovelies. They don't spend nearly enough time in the infirmary when I'm on shift there."

"No offense, Violet, but I'm pretty happy about that." Bo replied.

Violet shook her head, "Spoil sport. They could at least have the courtesy of getting a sniffle once in a while. These two are entirely too healthy for MY good!"

The couple laughed as they watched her take the I.V. bag down and lay it next to Emma on the bed. She then disengaged the wheels on the bed and slid it into position to exit the room.

"Are you going to come down with us?" Lauren asked Bo.

"Is it okay?"

"You're they're legal guardian and one of us is going to need to tend to Maverick."

"Well, okay then. Let's go." Bo smiled.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **CHRISTMAS EVE AT THE KENBO SCHOOL**_

Bo sat in the middle of the common room at the Kenbo School watching all of the kids opening their gifts. The Dennis sisters had decided on how to handle the holidays at one of their many staff meetings just before they'd first opened. They agreed that Christmas would be celebrated as a holiday that celebrated the birth of love, kindness and giving to keep with their non-denominational theme. In the name of giving... and in teaching the older kids about mentoring, leadership and taking care of the little ones... they decided that the upper school would make gifts for the middle school and the middle school would make gifts for the lower school.

Naturally, the lower school kids had banded together and asked who they were supposed to make gifts for, so they told them their gifts were for the upper school kids. Before today, they'd had an upper school meeting and explained that the value of these gifts wasn't about how well crafted it was, but rather how much love was poured into the gift.

As Bo watched the faces of the older students while they thanked the lower school kids for their gifts, she was moved by the emotion present on their faces. She smiled at the realization that her students had gotten the true meaning behind the gifts even though many of them had been raised to believe that gift giving was about getting a new tablet, video game or computer. Clearly, these gifts meant something to them.

She looked over to where Emma sat in her wheelchair with Maverick by her side. He hadn't left her since she was released from the hospital. While Emma had been discharged, she was on bed rest so Lauren had allowed the wheelchair as a compromise for tonight's gift exchange.

For his part, Maverick was up and about, though at a much more sluggish pace than usual. He was struggling with headaches if he was outside for too long, so spent a lot of time indoors with Emma playing Candy Land and listening to books on tape in their dark dorm room. The older kids had taken to calling them 'The Two Peas' because they were together all the time. The truth was that Bo knew Maverick still felt responsible for Emma's accident just as Lauren did. She could only hope that time would allow both of them to let go of their guilt.

The best news since the incident had come earlier today. Bo learned that the couple that had wanted to adopt Emma informed them that they had decided on the other child because she was 'a little less adventurous'. Of course, their decision had been with a little nudge from the judge. Bo and some of her fellow school officials had met with her to show video footage of Emma and Maverick together. They had also interviewed them talking about why they didn't want to be adopted apart. Finally, the footage had showed evidence of their more adventurous nature and their bedtime ritual of Maverick reading to Emma and tucking her in before laying with her until she fell asleep. Bo included footage of Emma's nightmares being eased by Maverick's presence as well.

When the judge compared their life at Kenbo together to a life apart with the more sedentary lifestyle that would be afforded Emma by the potential adoptive family, she fell into agreement with the Kenbo staff.

The judge explained to Bo how unusual it was for her to discourage an adoption for a child of Emma's age, but Bo sold the judge on how the Kenbo School was all about changing the norms for how abandoned or orphaned children usually lived. As a final sales pitch for her way of handling children like the students of the Kenbo School, she invited the judge to come and visit so she could see the community the Dennis sisters had built.

Needless to say, the judge was impressed and asked Bo if she might bring others by to hold the school up as an example of what Children and Youth Services should strive to provide for these children rather than push for a 'family atmosphere' for the sake of putting kids into the social norm of 'family life'.

Lauren's voice pulled Bo from her musings, "I see the judge is still here."

Bo laughed, "I was actually just sitting here thinking of my conversation with her today. I can't believe the kids made her gifts."

"Actually, Kenzi and I may have had a little something to do with that. The lower and middle school kids made extras because they were afraid that new kids might come to the school after they'd drawn names. The kids decided that since there were three visitors here tonight, they should all get gifts too. They used the extras since no new students arrived today."

"Three new visitors? I thought there were only two?"

"Trick and Helen told Violet she could bring her little boy." Lauren nodded, "That's her with Jake and Sam."

Bo's face carried the sadness that she was sure the young boy must have felt at this time of year.

"Any news on his Dad?"

Lauren shook her head, "Violet said he was supposed to get leave to come home this month, but that's military life. He's a Navy SEAL, so their schedule is a little less predictable than other branches of the service."

"She seems to handle it very well." Bo replied, looking at Violet laughing with Trick, Helen, Val and Ciara.

"She married him knowing full well what she was getting into, Bo. Spouses learn to soldier on... so to speak."

"Right." Bo replied.

"Bo! Wauwen! Wook!" Emma yelled, grabbing her head.

Lauren laughed, as she and Bo moved towards the little girl and her adopted big brother, "It hurts her head and her sides to yell. I told her to stop doing it."

"She's an excited little girl. I can't blame her."

They moved to her side, "Look what Maverick made for me!"

Bo took the tiny toy train engine into her hands before looking up at Maverick, "You made this?"

The young boy nodded, "The Professor helped me... I mean... I'm not allowed to use the tools in your workshop without permission so... I swear I didn't..."

Bo knew the boy's guilt was beginning to show, so she cut him off, "Maverick, this is absolutely amazing work! You used the same layers as is in our surfboard designs, right?"

"Mmhmm... did I get the varnish right?"

Bo smiled proudly, "You certainly did... right down to the logo on the side." She leaned over and whispered, "The Maverick Express, eh? I like it."

The young boy giggled as Bo poked him in the belly, "So why a train?"

Emma took the train back from Bo as she explained, "We been reading the book the Wittle Engine That Could... Mavwick said it weeminds him of me. Ima wittle engine that can!"

Lauren and Bo smiled, as Bo replied, "You certainly are. Where are you going to put it?"

Emma opened and closed the engine door as she spoke, "The Pwofessow is gonna make me a shelwf above my bed in my woom!"

"Well that's very cool!" Lauren smiled as the Professor walked up to stand beside Maverick.

"They like it, Professor!"

"Of course they do, my boy. It's great work!"

Emma looked up at the Professor, "Fank you for helping Mavwick make this fow me, Pwofessow. It's vewy special."

"You're very welcome, little one." He smiled.

"Open your pwesent fwom me, Mavwick! Mrs. Manalawa helped me make it!"

Bo smiled, "Your art teacher helped you? This must be pretty special, Mav."

They all watched as Maverick tore into the paper, smiling wide. When he opened it, he found a paperback book with a boy who looked similar to him on the front cover.

"Wook inside! Wook inside!"

Maverick nodded and paged through the book, "It's a coloring book! This is really cool, Emma! How did you do this?"

"Well, I did the dwawings and then my teachaw put them in the computaw and made them wike that!"

Maverick nodded, "So all of these pictures are of me?"

"It's called the Adventures of Maverick on Sea and Snow, Mav. I think it's safe to assume all of those pictures are of you. That one looks like you, Cody and Corey." Lauren replied, looking over Maverick's shoulder, "And that one is you surfing."

"See the dolffins! Wemember when we saw the dolffins!"

Maverick smiled, "I do, Emma. This is so great! I love it, little sis!" He leaned down and gave Emma a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you so much. We can color it together, okay?"

Emma nodded, "Uh-huh. But I think we hafta stawt tomorrow." She looked up at Lauren, "My head huwts again."

Lauren nodded, "Okay. I think it's time for you to get some rest again."

"I'll take her." Maverick said, putting the book in the pouch on the back of the wheelchair and gripping both handles.

"I'll help you, Mav." Lauren insisted, standing over the young boy and gripping the handles on top of his hands. They would have to get down the long ramp and then follow the boardwalk around to the dorms. Earlier today, he had almost driven Emma off the walkway into the sand. The last thing the little girl needed was to be dumped out of her wheelchair when she was just starting to feel better.

Lauren turned to Bo, "Meet you by the back bay for the prayer service?"

"See you there." The brunette smiled, "Bring Maverick, okay? I think it will help him."

"Agreed."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **BACK BAY, PRAYER SERVICE, MIDNIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE**_

Bo had explained to the judge the purpose of the prayer service they would have later in the evening and she had absolutely loved the idea. The brunette had explained the non-denominational and spiritual ideals that the school was in the process of developing to serve within the comfort of all members of the community. They would still continue to bus kids to Saturday or Sunday services within their own religious communities, but they felt it was important to have some spiritual element for the school that wasn't entity based, but rather character and value based.

So, since tonight was about kindness, giving and love, she wanted to do something to close up the evening before Christmas morning. She decided that since the common thread that ran through this community was loss, they all had something that they wished or hoped for and she had always wanted to keep hope alive within the community as well as each individual child.

After explaining the ceremony to the judge, she'd invited her to join them and possibly give the convocation speech if she so desired. The judge had graciously accepted, so Bo was now walking to the Back Bay with the older woman. As they walked, the judge spoke frankly to Bo with Kenzi trailing closely behind, Tamsin by her side.

"The work the two of you have started here should be held up as a model for all facilities currently housing our orphaned and abandoned children. May I ask what your motivation was for building the Kenbo School?"

"Well, that is a very long story, Judge Kalani."

"The short version then?"

Bo nodded, "My sister Kenzi and I lost our parents a little over a year apart quite unexpectedly. The system wanted to split us up, but in my Mom and Dad's will, they had specifically instructed me to take care of my sister and make sure both of us finished college. The long story short... I did just that. That foster care system wanted to split us up, so I took Kenzi and we moved here since we had no other family that was capable of helping us. I turned eighteen while we went on the run and then I legally adopted her because I was old enough here."

The judge smiled, "Smart girl."

"The Internet is smart, I was just smart enough to use Google."

The judge laughed, "Well, that little spitfire of a sister behind us is definitely someone your parents would be proud of, Bo. You've done well for yourself and everyone around you."

Bo could only nod. She wasn't sure that was true. Had she really done enough? Had she done well enough for Lauren? The entire week, she had been plagued by thoughts of how she could have a life with Lauren and the only solution she could come up with was leaving Hawaii and moving to Colorado. She just didn't know how Kenzi would feel about it. Talking to the judge today had given her an idea for the possibility of expanding the Kenbo School to the state of Colorado using the same concept, but with snow instead of water. Was it something they were ready for? Would the staff come running to a snow-based school run by a surfer?

They arrived at the Back Bay much faster than Bo had realized. The kids were all gathered on the bleachers in front of the Emergency Medicine Facility. Bo stepped up to the water's edge with the judge and turned to face the students, faculty, staff and friends of the school,

"Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends... Welcome to the first annual Christmas Celebration of the Kenbo School. Kenzi and I feel it is only fitting that we begin the midnight prayer ceremony with the woman who gave the green light on the building of this school to begin with... Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the woman who made it possible for our community to become the family we are today... Judge Kalani."

Bo shook the judge's hand and then stepped to the side to join Kenzi and Tamsin as the woman stepped up to the microphone.

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home tonight. The beautiful collage I received of this school community will hang proudly in my office for everyone who enters to see. It will also serve to see me through hard times, as when I look at it, I will be reminded of what children who pass through my courtroom can become if given a chance to build a community such as this. I applaud you all for I know this place... this beautiful, amazing place... was not built solely with the grit of the Dennis sisters, their family and friends but with the students, faculty and staff that work together every day to make this a place to live, learn and grow... to give children who came here at the lowest point in their lives with no hope... a chance to realize the dreams they've had since childhood."

The entire school erupted in applause as the judge smiled and applauded them in return. When the cheering died down, she continued,

"Christmas at Kenbo is about kindness, giving and love. I have seen all three during my time here today. Watching the older kids serve as mentors and leaders to the younger kids... teaching them to tie knots, helping them with their homework, holding them when they cried... you are exemplary citizens of our great nation and I will be proud to watch each of you graduate one day. Thank you for an eye-opening, amazing, fun day that filled this old heart with memories that will last for the rest of my life."

Another round of applause took place before the judge continued,

"And now, I'd like to read a verse to you that I believe is perfect for this occasion. When I am finished, each of you should please move to the water's edge and obtain your candle boat. Upper school students, please light the candles of the middle and lower school students, supervising your mentees as they lower their candles into the water. Remember, do not lower your candles until you have sent out your prayer for hope to your loved one."

The opened her phone and read the poem she had searched for when Bo had asked her to do the convocation,

 _ **Life**_ _ **by Catherine Pulsifer, ©2012**_ _ **  
**_ _  
Life is an opportunity, seize the day, live each day to the fullest.  
Life is not a project, but a journey to be enjoyed._

Life is a gift, accept it, enjoy it, and be happy with it.  
Life is a challenge, but challenges can always be overcome.

Life is to be lived, not to be dreamed.  
Life is a wonder, if you sit back and be thankful.

Life is a decision each of us makes, to be happy or sad.  
Life is a time for new beginnings and endings.

Life is a balance, take time for play not just work.  
Life is a joy for those who are optimistic.

Life is a bundle of possibilities if you just look for them.  
Life is meant to do, not to regret.  
Life is no bed of roses but life is what you make it.

"Let's make this life at the Kenbo School the best life we ever could have dreamed for... for ourselves and for each other. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of being here with you all tonight."

The judge nodded to the older group of students who had been working on carving the candle boats for the past two weeks as part of their required unity project. Bo felt a warm hand thread its fingers into her own and looked up to see Lauren looking at her with such love, she fell just a little more in love with her in that moment. The pair turned to watch as the candles began to flow out across the waters of the bay. Bo leaned forward to pick up a boat from the sand. Handing it to Lauren, the blonde asked,

"What's this?"

"The kids made it for us... couples only get one wish." Bo smiled.

Lauren looked down to see the carving on the side, "BoLo?"

"Yea, it was Kenzi's influence. It's better than Tamzi, right?"

Lauren smiled, "That is unfortunate, I suppose."

Bo pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit the candle, "So what's our prayer for hope?"

Lauren stared at the flame as she spoke, "That our ship will stay afloat even when it's sailing upon turbulent seas."

Bo smiled, "I think our ship has already proved itself to be seaworthy in anything."

Lauren smiled as the pair placed the boat in the water together before giving it a gentle shove and sending it on its way.

Bo turned to Lauren and kissed her gently, "I hope I can always love you enough for your heart and soul to be full... for your mind to trust and believe in my love for you."

"I am so in love with you, Bo."

"And I am so glad I am not in this love alone."

The pair wrapped their arms around each other as they turned towards the water to see that the members of the Kenbo community had all joined hands along the water as the small boats floated across the bay towards the open ocean. The light provided by the culmination of over two hundred candles illuminated the Back Bay in a way the couple had never seen before. It was like someone had applied glitter to the surface of the water and the feelings of love in the air filled their hearts.

"I think this is the most beautiful moment I have ever witnessed in my life." Lauren smiled.

Bo nodded, her eyes fixed on Lauren against the backdrop of the flickering candles floating across the glass-like surface of the water, "I'll have to agree with you on that one, Doctor Lewis."

Bo stood there staring at Lauren for a long moment before her eyes traveled along the shoreline of the Back Bay. She loved these kids. She loved this land. She loved this school. She loved her staff. She loved her friends and she loved her sister. Looking back at Lauren, her heart felt heavy... she loved this woman so very much. Could she give all of this up to be with her in a state where she couldn't do what she loved most? Would she be able to find a job and find something to do that would keep her mind occupied? Could she live a day-to-day life that didn't include water... or more importantly, included snow?

Bo sighed. She supposed spring and summer weren't too bad there. From what she had heard, the snows stopped and while the climate was still a lot colder than it was here, it was bareable.

"Sweetie? Are you okay?"

Bo turned her head towards Lauren, "Huh?"

"I said we should say goodbye to the judge."

"Right. Yea... sorry."

"Bo, are you alright?"

The brunette smiled and took Lauren's arm, "Sure, baby. I was just... thinking."

"And are you going to share?"

Bo smiled, "I promise I'm not keeping anything from you. I really was just thinking... about how much I love this place, these people... you. I just wish..."

"I know, Bo. But we still have three weeks left. Let's just make the most of it, okay?"

"Okay. Come on, let's go say goodbye to the judge."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Bo and Kenzi's House, Early Christmas Morning**_

"My feet are killing me!" Kenzi said, flopping down onto the couch, "Help! Please? I need relief!"

The youngest Dennis sister kicked her feet at Tamsin, "You know, you still owe me for the last time I took your boots off."

"I know, but I promise I will pay you back."

Tamsin crossed her arms over her chest and stared her girlfriend down while Lauren and Bo sat on the couch across from them, laughing at the interaction between the two women.

"Please? I swear, Tamsin... I will do anything you want." She pointed her toes and waved a foot at the blonde.

Tamsin smirked, "Anything?"

"Anything! Please just get these off of my feet!"

"Well then, if I'm getting anything I want... and you did say anything twice... I'll help you out."

She pulled off each boot and then sat down on the couch. Kenzi placed her feet on Tamsin's lap, "Rub, please?"

"Kenzi!" Bo scolded.

"Mind your business BoBo. Just because your woman won't rub your feet doesn't mean I have to suffer."

"That's because I don't take advantage of my girlfriend's kindness. She was on her feet all day too. I'm not about to ask her to rub my feet."

Kenzi shook her head, popping a grape into her mouth as Tamsin worked on her arches quietly,

"Actually, you should be rubbing Lauren's feet. She was actually on her feet longer than you were today. She worked another shift at the hospital E.R... and I heard it was hoppin', then came and taught two classes, then helped set up for the party we had and then helped to get Emma ready for the party..."

"Fine! I get it! I'm a terrible girlfriend because I'm not on my knees rubbing my girlfriend's feet right now."

"Nah... you don't have to get on your knees. You can just pull those tired old doggies up onto your lap like Tamsin's doing for me."

"You know, it's not so bad, Bo. I do this for ten minutes and then I get anything I want... and I do mean aaanything." She winked at Bo, and then smirked at Kenzi.

"Mmmm... maybe that's not such a bad idea."

"No." Lauren said flatly.

"No?" Bo asked.

"No."

"But you don't even know what I'm proposing yet?"

"I do not need my feet rubbed, but I do need a shower." Lauren stood, "I'm going to head home since I have to be here for Christmas morning breakfast in..." She looked at her watch, "... uh... five hours?"

Bo looked at her watch, "Eight, actually. We made the meal an eleven o'clock brunch."

"Oh thank you Einstein, Hippocrates, and all of the scientists."

Tamsin looked at Bo, "That's a new one. She must be really tired."

Bo laughed and stood up to walk Lauren out to the door, "I'll walk you out."

"Good morning, Lauren!"

"Good morning, Kenzi."

"Later Lewis."

"Later Torrent."

Bo walked Lauren to the door and stepped outside with her. They walked down the path to the driveway and then stopped at the driver's side door of Lauren's car.

"So... are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Lauren nodded, "I'm out of clothes, Bo. I'm going to go home and get some of my laundry done, and then get some sleep. I'll be back before you know it."

"Are you okay, Lauren? I mean... you seem a little distant all of a sudden."

The blonde leaned forward and kissed Bo on the lips, her hands sliding down her sides to her hips. She took two steps forward, inserting her foot between Bo's and bringing their bodies close together as she deepened the kiss. Her fingers thread into Bo's hair, one hand sliding down to her neck, her thumb gracing her jawline as she slipped her tongue into the slight opening of Bo's mouth.

The kiss deepened, causing Bo to moan as Lauren's hand slid from her hip around her back and down to cup her ass. She pulled her close... impossibly close... until Bo was able to feel her thigh slip between her legs. It was then that Lauren pulled back,

"The shower I need is a cold one. The distance is to stop myself from asking you to come home and share my bed with me... the way we used to when the title girlfriend included being my lover."

Lauren stepped back, her hands peeling Bo's from her low back before she held them tightly in front of her,

"Goodnight, Bo."

The brunette stood... stunned... as she watched Lauren smile and get into her car. She stared at the back of her blonde hair as she started the convertible and looked over her shoulder,

"I love you." She said before turning back to the road, putting her car in gear and pulling out of the driveway.

Bo stood, still nodding in response to Lauren's declaration of love as blonde hair blew out from the convertible in the cool morning breeze. She continued to watch as the electronic top came up, finally taking away her view. Long after Lauren's car had vanished from view, she still stood there, her fingers tracing her lips back and forth as she tried to process what had just happened. She was finally pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the window.

She turned to see Tamsin and Kenzi mouthing something through the window. Something was wrong. She ran across the lawn and into the house through the front door. Rounding the corner, she skidded across the floor on the throw rug, sliding to a halt, her eyes wide,

"What happened!"

Kenzi threw her arms out to the side, then slapped herself on the head, "NOTHING APPARENTLY! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ARE MY SISTER! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST IDIOT!"

The younger Dennis sister jumped off the sofa and onto the floor, marching past Bo and down the hallway. Bo watched her go, confusion twisting her features until she heard her sister's bedroom door slam. She looked up at Tamsin,

"What did I do now?"

Tamsin shook her head, "You do realize you just turned down the best reunion makeup sex of your life, right?"

"Huh?"

"Geez, Bo! Does Lauren have to launch a missile at you for you to figure it out?"

Bo sighed, her shoulder's slumping as she slapped her hands against her leg, "What the hell are you guys talking about? I just had an amazing moment with Lauren and then I turned around to see the two of you waving your hands and mouthing what looked like screaming at me. You scared the shit out of me! I thought something bad happened!"

"Something bad did happen, Bo! You let her drive away without you in the fucking car! What the hell is wrong with you? I mean, I know it's been a while, but have you lost your sex drive entirely? The woman was practically offering to fuck your brains out right there in the driveway!"

Bo stood there looking at Tamsin, memories of the moment she'd just shared with Lauren running through her mind.

"I'm an idiot!" Bo said, her hands on her head as she stared at Tamsin.

"LIKE I SAID!" Yelled Kenzi from her room.

Bo shook her head, "Think... I have to think... what do I do..."

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?" Kenzi called from her bedroom.

Tamsin was now trying desperately not to laugh her ass off as she imagined her girlfriend lying in bed, calling out the play-by-play without even being in the room. She knew her sister so well and it always amazed her how Kenzi could predict her sister so easily. She watched as Bo ran back to her bedroom and her sister yelled out to her,

"WHERE THE RED ONE! IF YOU HAVE DARK HAIR, YOU WEAR RED! SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO LIFT HER JAW OFF THE FLOOR WHEN SHE SEES IT! DON'T FORGET TO PUSH THE GIRLS UP! HOTPANTS CAN'T RESIST THE BOOBALAS!"

Bo came running out of her bedroom in a bright red negligee, searching for something while Tamsin stood staring, her mouth agape.

"TAMSIN TORRENT IF YOU WANT TO GET LUCKY TONIGHT, YOU BETTER STOP GAWKING AT MY SISTER'S BOOBS AND ASS!"

"Uh..." Tamsin turned abruptly, pivoting towards the window, then back towards the TV, then towards Kenzi's room, "I'll... just... have a good night, Bo."

Bo didn't acknowledge Tamsin, but instead rushed out the front door, slamming it behind her.

"LOCK THE FRONT DOOR! WE HAVE TO LOCK EVERYTHING NOWADAYS AROUND HERE! DAMN I WISH LIVING IN A SHACK WITH DRAFTY WALLS AND LEAKY CEILINGS!" Kenzi yelled from the bedroom.

Tamsin ran back to the door, locked it and then ran to the refrigerator. Pulling out the whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate syrup, she ran to the bedroom laughing.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH ALL OF THAT, TORRENT?!"

"YOU SAID ANYTHING..."

Giggles and laughter filled the home of the Dennis sisters as Bo started her muscle car and headed out of the driveway.


	16. Chapter 16: Past,Present,Reconciliations

_**A/N:**_ _Hello Peeps! Sorry for the long absence... just work and life. Ya'll know how it goes._

 _I've been getting questions about a sequel to Finding Our Way. It is in the works, but until then, I'm hoping to put out a short (my version of short) 1-2 chapter Christmas short with the Martini Clan. Apparently, someone from Scotland misses her tiger cubs! We may be oceans apart, but I hear ya!_

 _And now... on to a super long chapter that should leave you all feeling good all over... and maybe under as well. So, enjoy and thanks for any reviews and pm's. I've been really bad at responding during this story, but I promise I read and appreciate every single one of them! Again, much love and hope to all of you who are dealing with a rough road in life. If you're still feeling stuck with no way out, remember that sometimes the only way to move from one point to another is to take a leap of faith and trust that if you land in turbulent seas, the current will carry you safely to shore. Love to all the amazing members of the Faemily who are still following and keeping LG alive!_

 _Cuddles_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 16: Past, Present and Reconciliations**_

All the way to Lauren's Bo kept replaying a quote her Dad used to say over and over again in her head. She didn't know why... she was about to have sex for the first time in months and here she was thinking of quotes from her dead father. She really should go back to Ciara, she thought but there it was again...

' _Ysabeau, you don't get into something to test the waters, you go into things to make waves... make waves, Ysabeau... make big waves.'_

The truth was, that for some time now, whenever she was alone, her mind would be flooded by her Dad's random quotes and images of his study where leather books of famous poets and classical novels lined the walls. He would tape quotes all over her bedroom and there was always one hanging in the bathroom for her each morning before she would go to school... until there wasn't anymore.

She hadn't thought of it for years, but in these last few months of challenges with Lauren, they'd been in the front of her mind like a Rolodex of quotes that she would mentally flip through over and over again. Some were persistent... was it a message?

' _Ysabeau, you must never look back except to be thankful.'_

' _Bo, if you ever start courting fear, break up with it right away. It's not good enough to court my daughter.'_

' _My Grandfather used to say, yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself... he was right, Bo... so I changed myself.'_

But today, the one that was the most persistent... the one that would not leave her alone was,

' _My dear Ysabeau, nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.'_

She supposed it was her subconscious trying to tell her how to handle the worry she had been dealing with over Lauren, but today everything was progressing nicely. Why were the quotes still coming like a waterfall through her mind? She looked up at see that she was already parked in Lauren's driveway. When had she gotten here?

She looked at the clock and realized she had gotten here in record time. She barely remembered the drive. Not good.

' _You're here... she's waiting for you... get in there.' She said to herself._

But now she couldn't seem to get out of the car. She had thought the whole thing through the entire way here, right? Damn quotes! She had a plan, but now she couldn't seem to figure out what to say if she went in. She felt like the teenage girl who planned to lose her virginity at the Prom and was now sitting in the bathroom stall second-guessing the idea.

She knew Lauren had to have heard her car. For some reason she had chosen to take her old beloved American muscle car whose engine roared like the king of the jungle. Since there wasn't another car like it on the island, she knew the blonde would have recognized the engine if she hadn't actually seen her pull in but, of course, the driveway was some distance from the front door so maybe Lauren hadn't heard or saw her? She sat staring at the bag in her front seat. When she went into her bedroom after realizing what Lauren had been suggesting, the hormones kicked in and she had grabbed everything but the kitchen sink.

She hesitantly tugged at the bag, opening the drawstring and cringed when the first item she saw was a large strap-on. Throwing her head back, she yelled to herself, teeth clenched in hushed tones,

" _No! Bo, you're an idiot! You bring a fucking strap-on for our first night together again? Shit! What the hell is wrong with you!" She cursed herself until she heard a sultry voice outside of her car,_

"Well, it would seem as though you're nervous."

Bo's eyes slowly traveled towards the top of her convertible's passenger side door where Lauren stood smirking in a short white nighty that dipped lower than the base of the blonde's breasts. Bo swallowed hard as she watched the blonde tug at the bag in her front seat,

"What do we have here?" She said, opening the drawstring and peeking inside, her eyes going wide as Bo struggled to explain,

"Uh... I... well... I wasn't thinking straight... and... well... I sort of... missed your signals because... well... I didn't expect you to be interested in... well... you know. And then Tamsin and Kenzi... uh... well... explained it... and... well, when it sort of... ya know... hit me... well... I just..."

"Turned into a kid in a candy store?" Lauren asked, chuckling as she held up a pair of flavored panties, "Peppermint, huh? That's different." She smiled.

Bo's blush was visible even on this dark winter night amidst the dim solar lights that lit the long driveway to Lauren's house.

"Uh... I know how this must look... but... I really... I... respect you..." Bo cringed at her own words. Respect you? Really, Bo?

Lauren laughed, "Oh, sweetie... I don't want your respect tonight. It's been way too long for that."

Bo watched as the blonde pulled the drawstring closed on the bag in the front seat before pulling it out of the car and throwing it over her shoulder, "I'll be Santa's Helper and go get us all set up while you close up your precious convertible."

Lauren looked back over her shoulder as she placed one foot in front of the other, walking like a runway model back up the driveway. Bo's eyes moved to the firm, round ass cheeks now on display as the ground-level solar lights illuminated the blonde's form making her white negligee translucent.

When the blonde finally disappeared from view, her absence pulled Bo from her trance. She scrambled out of the vehicle and began the process of closing the convertible top. Naturally, the moisture in the air was making it stick. She worked quickly, but clumsily knowing that she had the woman she had dreamed of for months probably laid out naked waiting for her by now.

"OWA!" Bo barked, as she stuck the middle finger she had pinched in her mouth. Withdrawing it, she looked down to see an angry bruise already forming on her middle finger,

"Shit. I'm gonna lose that nail." She shook her head and took a breath, "It's okay, Bo... shake it off... it's your non-dominant hand," she reassured herself, her mind still focused on Lauren as she resumed trying to close up her car. She fastened the last latch with the four fingers remaining on her injured hand and then turned to run down the driveway, catching her hip on the rearview mirror, "OWA!"

She gripped her hip and stopped herself, taking a deep breath, "Okay. Stop and think. Yes, you're excited, but yes, you're very nervous. You've fucked plenty of women in your life... this is something you're good at, Bo. Just pull yourself together!"

She sighed, leaning back against her car, her hands crossed over her chest as her own words settled into her mind,

"But this isn't just another fuck... this isn't about fucking at all. This is Lauren... my wonderful, beautiful, loving, caring, sometimes confused and vulnerable, but still amazing Lauren and it's the first time we've..."

She began to pace back and forth along the length of her car, as she talked to herself, unaware that the blonde was watching her on the security camera, observing her nervous behavior. Lauren turned up the sound, finally understanding why Tamsin would have rigged the solar lights with both sound and video... well... not for eavesdropping on her girlfriend's nervous moments, but for strangers who might be hidden, but announced through sound. She felt bad for listening in to a private moment, but at the same time, she wanted to know what Bo was thinking. The truth was, she was incredibly nervous as well. Had she been too forward? Was the brunette not ready for this step? She returned her attention to the tortured soul in her driveway and listened...

"Okay, so you're going to be fine, Bo. Sure... you're nervous... she's the most beautiful soul on the planet and you don't want to fuck up the progress you've made in your relationship. But... you know her better now... well... you think you do. At least you know what topics make her anxious or scared. But what turns her on? Has that changed? What if you come on too strong? Will you make her uncomfortable?"

She stopped her pacing and sighed, "Okay, so the slow gentle approach is best. You need to focus on her needs. You need to make sure that she's okay with everything. She's been hurt... badly... by other women. You need to not do anything they did so you don't remind her of them. You need to be soft, kind, gentle. Sure, we used to get a little wild and crazy our first time around... I mean... that's where all of the toys came from... hell, she bought half of them as gifts to you, but... no... now that you know what has happened in her life, you know that she may have been doing those things because she thought it's what you wanted."

She turned and leaned on the driver's side door, "This is about Lauren now... it's about making love... it's about taking your time with her... getting to know what she really wants... helping her to know what she really wants... letting her do everything in her own time... letting her take the lead... don't be anything like those other bitches that have been screwing with her mind for months... years maybe... wow... was she ever just with me? Were they always there with us when we..."

Bo started pacing along the driveway towards the house, but only made it as far as the hood of her car before she stopped,

"Okay... so if they have been in her head, what did they do? She never really got into any details. How the hell do you avoid saying or doing something that will be a trigger for her when you don't really know what happened? Sweet Poseidon how do I not keep hurting this woman!"

She leaned back against the hood of her car, crossing her arms over her chest,

"Okay... so... she did say she didn't want me to respect her. Was that the real Lauren talking or is that the woman who thinks she has to be something she's not to be loved... or to not be alone?"

She kept thinking about what Lauren had just said to her,

"How the hell can I not respect her? She's the fucking woman of my dreams! Of course I respect her and all that she's been through! I can't just... I can't just fuck her! I have to be... I have to be gentle and... I have to keep my eyes on her and watch for any signs that she's uncomfortable. I have to make sure I go at her pace. I have to take care of her... I have to make sure I don't push her away again."

She covered her face, "Oh God, what if I push her away again! I don't think I could handle the distance again!" She shook her head, "Wait... of course you can! You can do whatever she needs! You're strong, Bo. You can be what she needs. You love her. You have to trust her to know herself. She wouldn't be taking this step if she didn't feel she was ready. You can trust her. You have to trust her, Bo. She promised no lying and so did you."

She closed her eyes, her head down and focused, "Maybe you just need to tell her... _'Lauren, I'm nervous as all hell and I'm terrified I'm going to do something that makes you uncomfortable'_... no, that's not it... _'Lauren, I just want you to know that things are different, but my love has never changed'_... no, that sucks..."

She stopped, feeling warm arms wrap around her and pull her close, "Bo..."

She heard the blonde whisper in her ear before pulling back, a timid smile on her face,

"Lauren... I'm sorry. I... I just finished putting up the top..."

Bo didn't know what else to say. She was awestruck by the blonde's beauty, as she stood before her in a thin silk white robe over the thin white nighty. Lauren reached up and cupped Bo's cheek, watching as the brunette closed her eyes and tilted her head into her hand,

"I'm sorry it took me so long. I..." Bo looked up at Lauren. Opening her eyes, she gave her a soft smile before holding up a single digit, "I pinched my finger."

Lauren chuckled, "Awww... you poor thing."

The blonde felt horrible that Bo was in such a state over something that should come naturally to them. She felt responsible for it and knew she needed to reassure the brunette that she was okay. She was going to give herself to the brunette and make sure that she knew that she was ready for the physical part of their relationship to begin. More importantly, she wanted to make sure Bo knew that she was hers... body, mind and soul.

Bo watched as the blonde's lips gently kissed the bruise once... twice... three times... before brown eyes looked up at hers and took the finger into her mouth, sucking it gently before slowly pulling it from her lips. She slowly closed her eyes again before slowly reinserting the digit into her mouth and repeating the act.

The brunette felt her knees ready to buckle and moisture pool between her legs. Lauren pulled the finger from her mouth again and licked up the length of it before placing a light kiss on the tip, then took it and the one next to it into her mouth once again, spinning them around so she was leaning on the hood of Bo's car.

Lauren took the two fingers in her hand and pulled them to her chest, dragging them down her cleavage, parting the robe as they traveled over her abdomen to the downy patch above her legs. Pressing Bo's hand down between her legs, she moaned,

"Have I mentioned how much I love the thick landscaping around the house that shelters it from the view of my nosey neighbors? The idea to back up the house from the street and lengthen the driveway was brilliant. My house is all but invisible... as is the driveway and backyard. Not that my four-acre property allows much open to prying eyes, but still... I'm sure it was with moments like this in mind that you made sure the driveway was... discreet."

"Lauren... I..." Bo began, trying to withdraw her hand, but Lauren held it in place.

"You know, the new upgrades to the security system are great as well. The video camera's are like watching HDTV and the sound quality is spot on."

Bo's face froze as she realized what the blonde was telling her, "You heard..."

"Everything." Lauren replied, "And I think that your concern is both admirable and adorable, but you don't have to worry about me, Bo. The only person who has any control over what happens in my life and my body anymore is me. No one will ever take my life or my body from me ever again without my consent... something I have no intention of doing. Although, surrendering my body to the whims of the woman I love... to the woman I know truly loves me... well, that is something I will do willingly because I know she will take care of both my body and my heart."

She kissed Bo thoroughly before pulling back and adding, "Now... I've been waiting over an hour for you." She smiled, her eyes softening, "I need you, Bo... I don't want any space of any kind between us anymore. I want you and I to feel... complete."

Bo's fingers moved back and forth through the blonde's wet folds, as she watched the her lie back on the hood of her precious Camaro. Lauren's head turned to the

side, her tongue tracing her lips as she rose up to meet Bo's touch. Her hands traced the warm metal beneath her,

"Mmmm... I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I love this car... American Muscle... there's something very sexy about it."

Bo's mouth dropped open as the only thought that entered her mind was how sexy the woman laying on her sexy car looked in this moment of reckless abandon. She looked down to see Lauren's legs spread side, her feet moving to the front bumper. There was something about seeing the skin of Lauren's bare feet on the chrome of her car... skin on chrome... who knew it would be Bo's weakness?

The brunette watched as her two fingers slid easily in and out of the blonde. She was mesmerized by the idea of being inside her girlfriend's body again... mesmerized by the pleasure on the blonde's face as she moved her hands above her head to grip the edge of the hood of Bo's car. Her robe slid open and Bo instinctively went to pull it closed and cover her, but Lauren shook her head,

"No one can see me, Bo... but I want you to... if you want to." Lauren reached with one hand and pulled at a hidden zipper that opened the negligee she was wearing. As the two pieces of cloth fell open like the robe, she suddenly looked at bit shy and the brunette knew she was having a moment of insecurity over how forward she was being,

"God, Lauren... leave it open... if you're sure no one can see... I would very much like to see your body..." She moved her hand to caress the skin of the blonde, before using the hand to support her weight on the hood, her mouth moving to kiss up the strong, lean body of her girlfriend, "...I've missed your body, Lauren. You're so damn beautiful to me... I've missed your body so damn much... I've missed you so much... all of you... everything about you."

Lauren moaned as Bo pressed deeper into her body, "Me too, sweetie. I've missed your touch, Bo... so damn much."

Bo leaned down and kissed the blonde, their mouths exploring each other. The kids was familiar, yet new and when they finally pulled apart, they looked into each other's eyes with a renewed sense of love.

"I love you, Bo... please... love me... I need you."

Bo nodded and kissed her way down the blonde's chest, until she arrived at the soft rounded lobes. Taking one of the blonde's nipples into her mouth, she used her tongue to tease and suck while her fingers moved in an out of her lover, her thumb stroking her needy clit.

"More, Bo... I need... more..." She panted, one arm moving to Bo's tricep, firmly pulling her arm to get her deeper and harder, "Bo... please... you don't have to be so gentle. I promise you I won't break... I'm fine... please... I need you... make me come... I want to come so hard for you."

The brunette needed no further encouragement as she threw all caution to the wind. Her fingers filled the blonde, her mouth all over her chest, neck and mouth as she continued to watch the big brown eyes of her girlfriend tell her all she needed to know about what she wanted.

She pumped hard and fast, her forearm burning as Lauren's legs wrapped around her, high on her torso, her hips now suspended in mid air while her shoulders and chest flexed under the strain of holding onto the thin edge of the hood. The sight of desire flooding the blonde's face mesmerized Bo. Lauren's cheeks pinked, sweat covered her torso and her lungs panted out her effort until finally, all breathing ceased, a red flush flooding her skin from her chest through her neck, a look of pure ecstasy covering her facial features as she cried out into the night.

Bo's eyes moved from her lover's face to her lower body, watching as her hips moved erratically, her juices rushing out into the palm of her hand and down the hood of her car. She swore in that moment, she would never wash this car again.

The brunette gazed back up at the blonde, expecting to see her looking back into her eyes, but was met with a look of shame as Lauren unexpectedly pulled her robe closed and began to sit up, her hand gripping Bo's wrist to pull it free as if suddenly aware of how forward she had just been,

"I... I'm sorry... I..."

Bo's voice was gentle as she slowly pulled her fingers from Lauren and wrapped her in a warm embrace, "Hey... Hey... what's this?"

"I... you must think I'm such a..." the blonde choked out, but Bo wasn't having it,

"Lauren... stop... look at me."

She gripped the blonde's face and pulled her eyes to meet her own,

"Don't you dare allow yourself to feel shame or embarrassment or anything else that I think you might be feeling right now. You gave yourself to me for the first time in a very long time and... it is such a precious gift. I love you so very much and being the one who gets to share such intimacy with you is... it's beyond anything I ever imagined having in my life."

Lauren laughed uncomfortably, "Intimacy would imply some privacy, but I just allowed you to... I mean... outside..."

Bo shook her head vigorously, "Don't you dare... look around us..."

The brunette waved her arm around the property, assuring Lauren that, as she had said, they were well out of anyone's view,

"No one can see us... you were right about that... and although I would like to take the credit for the landscaping as you suggested, I wasn't that forward-thinking. Though I must admit, after that moment, I'm grateful for the architect's design."

Bo smiled, but Lauren wasn't buying it. She moved to close her robe fully, but Bo stilled her hands,

"No, Lauren... don't you dare cover your beautiful body out of shame." She traced the blonde's collar bones with her thumb, "This was our moment... it was a moment that you gave me... for me... I was struggling out here unsure of how... gosh, I was terrified, Lauren. You just reassured me that... well... that you were mine again... your body and your heart. Did you not mean it?"

"No, Bo... no... not at all... I just..." Lauren closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Well then please don't." She gripped Lauren's hands and stacked them over her heart, "Please don't you dare take away the beauty of what we just shared. Don't you dare let them do that to us."

Lauren looked up at Bo, her eyes sad as Bo continued, "They don't get to win. We get to be us... uninhibited... spontaneous... in love... and a little bit in lust. What we just shared was pure, loving and beautiful. We are two women who are very much in love and want to spend our lives together. This is your home... your property... and my car. There is no shame in the desire we feel for each other... there is no shame in what we just did... what you wanted... what you asked for... what I gave you."

She pulled the blonde to her, holding her closer... tighter... than she ever had before.

"We get to love each other, Lauren. We get to be in love and do the things that lovers do. We get to do crazy things like make out in dark movie theatres, have quickies in a car, in the back room of a pub, in a sand dune late at night on a deserted beach or right here on the hood of my car in the privacy of your home... your home, Lauren... no one else can claim it... nobody owns you, Lauren. You're free to be and do as you please... we are free to be and do as we please."

Bo thought that after she had finished making love to Lauren, she would take her inside for round two, but right now she needed to reassure the blonde that all she had just done was okay. She knew that Nadia had called her a slut and a whore... she knew that right now, those words were echoing in her mind and she also knew that she had to quell them once and for all.

She turned them around and kissed the blonde gently before pulling back and taking the doctor's hand in her own, lifting them to cup her breasts through the red silk material that barely covered them. Bo's desire grew as she watched the blonde's eyes darken at the sight of her breasts practically spilling out over the cups of the nighty.

"Please, Lauren... I've wanted you for so long... I've missed your touch... please... I need you just as you needed me... I love you so much... please... show me you love me too... I want to share myself with you the way you shared yourself with me... please, Lauren..."

"Bo..." The blonde frowned, "I'm sorry... I've ruined the moment... I..."

The brunette sighed and pulled her jacket closed, tying it shut tightly as Lauren watched,

"It's okay. I can wait. Do you want me to leave?"

Lauren stood silently still, but Bo reassured her, "I'll go, Lauren. It's okay. You give me a call when you figure it out. Just know that I love you and I'm here with you even if I'm not physically present."

She kissed the blonde's cheek and stepped back around her car, pulling her keys from her pocket. She opened the door and got inside, starting up her car. A stray tear rolled down her cheek. She knew this was just a setback, but she had such hopes that they would finally reconnect fully tonight. It was hard... it was really, really hard. She sighed as she looked up to see the blonde still standing, arms crossed, her eyes focused on the car in front of her.

Putting the car in reverse, Bo backed into the turn around and then pulled forward, heading back down the long, winding driveway. As she drove, the light dimmed until she was driving through the thick, dark foliage that surrounded the blonde's property.

She wiped the tears from her face, taking deep breaths. She needed to calm down before she reached the road so she could drive and not hurt anyone. Looking in the rearview mirror, she caught sight of a flash of white. She stopped the car and looked in the rearview mirror to see Lauren chasing after her car. Bo cut the engine and pulled the keys from the ignition before shoving them into her pocket as she threw open the door and exited the vehicle.

Her was smashed up against the side of the car, her lips assaulted by Lauren's. Hands tangled in hair as tongues searched desperately for some sort of satisfaction. Breaking the kiss, Bo had no chance to see Lauren's face before the blonde was pulling her to the hood of her car and ripping her coat open. Her hands traveled up and down the red silk, pausing to palm the heavy breasts before sliding up to Bo's neck, her lips kissing her softly before pulling back once more,

Bo saw the big brown eyes brimming with tears, but before she had a chance to say anything, Lauren's finger was over her lips, "I'm sorry... I was being an idiot... I just... I had a moment... I don't know how to stop her voice sometimes, Bo. Her words... calling me... names... the shame floods my mind and I lose myself to my past."

"It's okay, Lauren. I'm not kidding when I tell you I'm patient enough to wait. We don't have to do this, sweetie. I promise you. I can stay, I can leave, I can stay and just hold you, I can stay and sleep in a guest room... it's your call baby. I want us to put Nadia and everything that she did to you in the past, but I don't know what else I can do to make that happen. I wish I could get into that big brain of yours and suck all of the chaos from it, but sadly, I'm no surgeon."

Lauren laughed, "I know of no surgeon who could do such a thing, but I appreciate the sentiment. As to what you can do for me, just help me to keep moving forward. Remind me... like you just did... that sexual desire is nothing to be ashamed of... that doing things outside of the standard position in the typical place does not make me a..."

"Shhh..." Bo covered Lauren's mouth, "... don't you even say the word... you are a kind, good, caring, loving soul who has needs and desires just like any other mortal on this planet. Fulfilling those cravings is something we all seek to do... even more so when you want to do them only with one person if you're looking to measure up to some social norm of what's acceptable."

Lauren nodded, "I guess it's social norms that make me feel like I'm doing something wrong."

Bo shook her head, "No social norm says that two people who are in love can't show that love on the hood of a car in the darkness and seclusion of their own property."

Lauren took Bo's hand and led her to the front of her car, "You're right and I refuse to deny myself the experience I just gave you... I mean... if it's okay with you that we..."

Bo smiled, kissing the blonde gently, "I am open to trying anything once, Lauren. I want you... in every way possible. I want our relationship to be honest... when I said no secrets, I meant none, Lauren... I want you to be honest with me about everything including what you want physically in our relationship."

"But?" Lauren asked, knowing that Bo had something else on her mind.

"But what just happened... it's hard for me... if we're being honest. I will wait if you need me to be, but when you won't listen to me... when you listen to Nadia's voice in your head over mine... the woman who has loved you and stood by you... well... it hurts... it hurts that you place her voice and words over mine."

Lauren pulled back, her eyes fixed on the logo of the Camaro before she looked up at Bo, "I hadn't thought of it that way and you're right. I'm still allowing her to have power over me and by doing that, I'm allowing her to have a place in our relationship... to have power over you... over us... and that's wrong. Your words... your voice is more important to me than anything, Bo. I can't promise I won't slide back into old behaviors, but I can promise I will try to let your voice be the one that takes precedence in my mind."

"Thank you." Bo replied.

Lauren kissed Bo's cheek and walked past her to the passenger side door, "Give a girl a ride home?"

Bo smiled, "Of course."

The pair got into the car and Bo started the engine. Lauren smiled, "I heard your car coming all the way out at the street."

Bo smiled, putting her car in gear, "We'll have to drive all the way to the road and then come back in. I don't want to turn around on your grass... the seed is still new and Manuel would probably let the air out of my tires if he knew it was me."

Lauren laughed as Bo headed towards the street, "He's quite particular, I've learned. I saw him out at the front steps trimming the flowers with scissors?"

Bo laughed, "He talks to the flowers as well. He says he has better relationships with gardens than people... he says they're beauty is endless and timeless, they're grateful when you help them heal and they don't talk back and say horrible things."

The blonde smiled, "I guess that is all true in so many ways."

Bo pulled out onto the street and headed down the road. Lauren looked confused,

"Where are we going?"

"I just suddenly had a craving for a milkshake."

"Nothing is open now, Bo. It's really, really late."

"Ah, but that's why fast food was invented. They are always open and they always have milkshakes. They're not the best, but they'll take care of my craving."

Lauren laughed, "Is that all you're craving?"

"For now... like I said, I'm patient." Bo smiled, taking Lauren's hand in her own.

"Thank you, Bo."

"For what?" She asked.

"For being you... for understanding me... for not getting mad or frustrated at me when I have my little setbacks."

"Yea, well I survived the big setbacks. The little ones are a piece of cake. And you should know... I do get frustrated... you've just helped me to learn perseverance through my frustration. I know that you'll get better, Lauren... I've seen so much change in you already. I'm so proud of you and how far you've come... it makes it easier to temper my frustration with patience."

Lauren nodded, "Look... they're open!"

"Milkshakes! You want one?"

The blonde nodded, "Strawberry and Vanilla mixed, please."

Bo smiled as she spoke into the speaker, "One strawberry and vanilla mixed shake and one black and white shake, please."

She looked at Lauren and stopped her car. Reaching into the backseat, she grabbed her hoodie and handed it to the blonde,

"Some things, only I get to see." Lauren smiled and pulled the sweatshirt on, zipping it up as Bo pulled her own coat shut and tied the belt.

Bo paid for the milkshakes and passed them to Lauren who stuck straws in both lids before placing them in the cup holder Bo had installed years ago. She took a sip of her own,

"Mmmm... wow... I didn't even know I was craving a milkshake." Lauren smiled.

Bo picked hers up and took a long sip, "Oh that really hits the spot."

Lauren nodded, "I like smoothies too... that's my go-to cheat. Not as many calories as a milkshake, but you can still make it sort of taste like one. Adding fruit allows you to call it 'healthy' even if it's not quite there."

Bo smiled and nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine how I would survive on the strict diet you and Tamsin were on. I mean, I've really cut back on drinking so I think that helped, but Kenzi and I used to survive on fast food dinners when we lived in California. Being on the island helped our diet since we met so many people that owned farms and orchards. Fruits and raw vegetables became our snacks."

"The two of you seem to eat a very healthy diet aside from Kenzi's seemingly endless craving for pizza and Chinese food."

"Yea, tell me about it." Bo smiled as she turned into the driveway, following it until it came to an end at the line of trees that separated the paved road and garage from the main house.

They sat in the car for a while, just talking and finishing their milkshakes before Bo finally asked,

"So, do you want me to stay or go?"

Lauren's hand was tracing Bo's thigh as she replied, "Stay? Please? I want you to stay. I want to... you know... try again?"

Bo nodded, suddenly quite nervous again. Lauren leaned over and kissed her softly, her hand traveling up Bo's thigh beneath the trench coat she wore, stopping at her hip. They made out like teenagers for a long while before the blonde pulled on the tie of the jacket, her hand traveling inside to cup Bo's breast causing her to moan into the blonde's mouth.

"Come on." Lauren said, pulling away from Bo and exiting the car. She stopped at the hood, standing in the glow of Bo's headlights and pulled off the hoodie, leaving her only in the white nighty that was now translucent in the light once again.

Bo swallowed hard before cutting the engine and turning off the lights. She exited the car, dropping her car keys into her pocket and moved to where Lauren stood at the front of her car. The pair stood standing before each other, hands joined, eyes connecting... searching... until Lauren reached up and gripped Bo's face, kissing her hard.

The blonde spun the brunette around towards the front of the car and pulled the coat from her shoulders, tossing it onto the ground. She kissed Bo again, this time slower... purposefully... as one hand cupped her breast and the other thread into the long dark strands of hair.

Lauren's mouth moved down Bo's neck, to her collarbone, before she reached in and pulled the heavy flesh from the nighty and took it into her mouth. Bo moaned, her fingers lacing through Lauren's hair as the blonde lavished her nipple with soft sucks and kisses.

She pushed Bo gently back against the front of the car and lowered her hand to her center, finding no panties. She smiled, running her fingers through the brunette's folds. Bo whispered in her ear,

"Do you feel how wet I am for you, Lauren? Do you have any idea how incredibly beautiful it was earlier to watch you feel pleasure at my hands? You are the reason I'm so wet now. I'm incredibly in love with everything about you, Lauren and that includes your body. You're sexy, Lauren... very, very sexy to me... and that is nothing to be ashamed of... you looked so sexy on the hood of this car. Do you want to see what I saw, Lauren? Do you want to see what it looks like to have the woman you love come on a muscle car?"

Lauren was lost to the feel of the brunette. She looked up at her and could only nod, her voice lost to the moment. She leaned Bo back onto the car, giving her a boost so she could slide up onto the hood. The brunette spread her legs boldly, wedging the heels of the pumps she had donned, between the front grill and the chrome of the bumper. She pulled down one strap of the red negligee, then the other before lowering it so her breasts dropped heavily from the cloth. Leaning back onto the hood, she looked up at Lauren whose eyes were planted on the brunette's chest while her hands rested on her thighs,

"I miss your touch, Lauren..."

Lauren shook her head, "I'm so sorry I've denied you, Bo. Lay back... please..."

Bo nodded and did as she was told, laying back onto the hood and raising her arms up over her head, gripping the edge of the hood as Lauren had so she could slide herself up. She watched as Lauren's mouth dropped open when she slipped a hand down to the edge of her nighty and pulled up the edge to reveal her wet thighs and moist center,

"I've been dreaming of how it would feel to have you touch me again... how it would feel to have you deep inside me again... how it would feel to have your mouth on me again."

Lauren needed no further encouragement as she stepped up onto the bummer and took Bo's mouth in her own for a long, sensual, deep kiss, her own center pressing down to grind against the brunette's. When she heard a suitable moan come from her girlfriend, Lauren lowered her mouth to cover one nipple, then the other before replacing her mouth with needy hands,

"Damn I missed these incredible breasts of yours. They feel... Damn I love your fucking breasts, Bo."

"Mmmm... and they love you, Lauren."

Keeping her hands working on the taut flesh, she kissed her way down the brunette's body until she reached her destination. She wasted no time, using her tongue to part the sopping wet folds of her partner, licking until she'd lapped up all of the excess juices, her tongue entering Bo longing for more.

"Fuck, Lauren!" Bo's hips rose up off the hood, her legs pushing her wet core into the blonde's waiting mouth, "Inside, Lauren!"

The blonde did as commanded and slipped two and then three fingers inside of the brunette, driving into her repeatedly while her mouth sought it's way back to the firm breasts she relished in.

"Lauren..." Bo moaned as her hips rose up to meet each firm thrust of her lover. The brunette watched as the blonde enjoyed her breasts, giving each equal time while her fingers worked feverishly to bring her to climax, "... look at me..."

The blonde's eyes met Bo's, her tongue swirling around the nipple as she watched the brunette approach her climax. Breathing labored, eyes wide, hands gripping tightly overhead, her hips froze in mid-air as Lauren pumped out every last bit of ecstasy for her lover. The pair finally fell together onto the roof, Bo's arms wrapping around the blonde who slowly continued to pump in and out of the brunette,

"Don't stop, Lauren... please don't stop..."

The blonde nodded, lifting her head up as she slid her body back up onto the hood with her lover. She pulled her fingers free and lowered her center onto Bo's grinding down against her. Their lips smashed together in a feverish kiss as hips bucked wildly, finally breaking apart only to take in long gasps of air before exhaling them, their names falling from their lips in union with their orgasm.

They settled against each other, fingers touching lips, cheeks, jawlines as their breathing calmed and emotions flooded them both. As they gazed into each other's eyes, tears came with desperate wet kisses until the feelings were spent. When they finally lay exhausted in each other's arms, Bo whispered,

"Ready for bed?"

"Bed? Yes. Sleep? No way."

Bo chuckled, "Oh really? And what else is there to do in bed other than sleep?"

Lauren smiled, "I seem to recall a bag of goodies you brought with you."

Bo laughed, "Mmmm... and what goodie would you like to use?"

The blonde pulled back and smiled, "I'd like to get reacquainted with the ones we've used in the past and then try out all of the other ones at least once."

Bo's eyes went wide, "You do know there are at least ten items in that bag, right?"

Lauren nodded, "And you do realize we have nowhere to be in the morning because when you were on your way over here, Tamsin called me to tell me that we have the day off tomorrow... the entire day until the next morning."

"Kenzi agreed to that?"

Lauren smirked, "I believe Tamsin was going to convince Kenzi that she was going to make it worth her while."

Bo chuckled as she kissed a trail down Lauren's neck, "Have I mentioned how grateful I am for my sister's love of your best friend?"

The blonde pulled back, her face serious, "How are they? Really... I mean... is Kenzi... look... I don't want to offend you in any way but... is this... real for Kenzi?"

Bo gave a sigh of relief, "Shit... you scared me. I thought you were going to tell me something about Tamsin's feelings changing."

"No... I just want to be sure this isn't some sort of experiment for Kenzi. Tamsin is really... I've never seen her like this before, Bo. She is totally in love with your sister... this is it for her. And Kenzi... well, she's young and... I mean... she's been straight all of her life and then..."

Bo placed a finger over Lauren's mouth, "We've talked about it... at length... before, during and after they got together. I've seen plenty of friends who've fallen for straight women only for it to end in disaster. I reminded Kenzi about some of those friends and she knew exactly what I was worried about. She never would have gotten involved with Tamsin if she hadn't intended to see it through. If they split up, it won't be because she was suddenly attracted to a man. She told me that love means much more than sex and with Tamsin... well... she has both... only the sex isn't sex... I mean..."

Lauren sat up, bringing Bo with her. The two gathered themselves into their respective clothing, dismounting the vehicle to stand together as Bo finished her thought,

"She's really in love, Lauren. I mean... so much so that I actually asked Tamsin how she felt about my sister. I was worried about Tamsin getting caught up... you know... in the thrill of the hunt?"

Lauren shook her head, "Tamsin would never..."

Bo put up her hand, "I meant no offense. I don't know Tamsin as well as you do and you were... unavailable... for me to talk to about it, so I went to the source. We talked for a long time about how she felt about Kenzi and let's just say that I was more than satisfied at the end of our chat. I think they're the real deal."

Lauren laced her fingers into Bo's, "Like us?"

Bo kissed her gently, "Sweetie, they can't hold a candle to us," Bo smiled brightly as she pulled Lauren in and kissed the blonde until she pulled back,

"Are you ready to go inside?" Lauren asked with a chuckle.

Bo nodded, "I certainly am, Doctor Lewis."

Lauren kissed Bo's cheek and gave her hand a gentle squeeze as they turned to walk inside, but she stopped and turned back towards the Camaro, "You know, every ride I take in that Camaro from now on will be... memorable."

Bo laughed, "Imagine me sitting behind the wheel and staring over my hood. You may just have me visiting your E.R. soon if I can't keep my mind on the road instead of what just happened on my hood."

"Well, it's not my E.R. anymore, so you just keep yourself safe." Lauren replied, instantly worried at the thought of Bo having to go to the emergency room. She'd seen that before and the image was forever engrained in her mind.

Bo, for her part, grew silent at the reminder that Lauren was no longer a full-time employee for the hospital here... or anywhere in Hawaii for that matter. She was a resident of Colorado and her time here... their time together was limited.

"Bo?"

The brunette turned her head towards Lauren, "So can we just... go inside now?"

Lauren turned away from the Camaro to look at her girlfriend, "What's wrong?"

Bo shrugged, "Nothing... just... getting a little chilly."

Lauren looked at Bo, "You're not looking at me which tells me there's more to it. Please don't lie to me Bo... we promised..."

"I know, I know... you're right. I just don't want to be a downer right now."

Lauren smiled, taking Bo's face in her hands, "What could possibly bring us down?"

Bo frowned, "You said it's not your E.R. anymore and it just reminded me that... well... you know."

Lauren sighed, pulling Bo into a hug, "That I'm not here anymore?"

"Well, you're here now, but that soon I won't be able to do this. To stand here and hold you like this." Bo pulled back and looked at Lauren, her hands staying firm around her waist,

"Look... I want to be strong for you... for us... I really do. It's just... I want to be here with you... right now... here, in this moment. I don't want to be here worrying about a few weeks from now when you're going to get on a plane and fly away until one of us has time to get away to get to the other. I just..." Bo's eyes brimmed with tears which she fought back as she finished, "...what are we going to do, Lauren?"

"Well, we're going to do what you said. Right now, I'm going to take you inside and we're going to make love and..." She pulled Bo to her tightly and smiled, "...maybe have a little fun doing that." She kissed the brunette sweetly, "... and then we're going to fall asleep in each other's arms. We're going to spend the day together... alone... without the outside world interfering. We're going to take time together... just the two of us... and we're going to figure out how we're going to handle seeing each other after I go back to Colorado."

"We are?"

"We are, Bo. I have to see you more than once every few months. I'm not going to stand by and allow distance to come between us again. I hate the idea of being apart as much as you do... maybe more since I'm the one that chose to move away without giving us a real chance to work through our issues..."

"... I understand why you took the job, Lauren. I told you that..."

"... No, Bo... I was wrong. I appreciate you saying you understand, but in being away from you, I learned the truth about what I was doing at the time. I ran, Bo... plain and simple... I ran." Lauren lowered her eyes, "I made the choice to sabotage us... leave you before you could see the truth about me... that I was damaged goods. That taking me on in your life was an impossible task because I was so damaged. I left you before my fear of you leaving me could be realized. I didn't trust you to stand by me and... well... I'm sorry for that."

Bo nodded and gave Lauren's hand a tug, getting her to walk with her towards the walkway that would lead up to the house,

"No apologies tonight, okay? What's done is done and now we have to deal with it. If you say we'll figure out a way to work this out, then I believe you."

"Thank you, Bo... for your vote of confidence."

Bo smiled, "Well, you will always get my vote, Lauren... and right now, I'd like to vote for something in that Santa Sack, head elf."

Lauren grinned as they arrived at the front door. She opened it, allowing Bo to walk inside first,

"Well, head right up that staircase and you'll see what the head elf set up for you."

Bo's eyes went wide as she practically ran up the staircase with Lauren following quickly behind after locking the door and dimming the lights. When Bo arrived in the room, she stopped short her mouth dropping open,

"Uh... Lauren?"

The blonde stepped past the brunette into the room. She turned her eyes towards Bo and started to pull off her robe, but stopped when she saw the shocked look on the brunette's face. She quickly tied her robe fast and stood nervously. Bo caught the action and realized that Lauren had misread her again. She quickly walked to the end of the bed where the blonde stood,

"Hey. You're misreading me, Lauren. I'm not upset by this."

"You don't think I'm being too..."

Bo shook her head, "Listen to me, Lauren. You and I are both very much aware of the terms that a certain woman used to make you feel shame over your own sexual desires. We know how she manipulated you and used your desires against you. Tonight, we're going to..."

Bo picked up the handcuffs and dropped them on the floor,

"... do things our way. All of this stuff..."

Bo picked up the crop, the strap on and the butt plug that Lauren had placed on the bed, "... isn't us, Lauren... not tonight."

She dropped the items on the floor with the handcuffs.

"Right now, I think this..." Bo picked up the black silk scarf, "... is about all we might need."

She took Lauren in her arms, "I'm not opposed to trying a few of those things somewhere in the distant future, but... well, I took a class in school... and it covered... well... that topic." Bo shyly pointed towards the pile of toys she'd just tossed to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Bo... I just thought..."

"Did you think that I don't think you're enough to satisfy me all on your own? Did you think that I'd want to take charge and... do things to you?"

"Well, we've used the blindfold, handcuffs and strap on before, so... I mean you brought them all so I just thought that..."

"I told you, Lauren. I just grabbed everything when Tamsin made me realize the signals you were sending out before you left. I wasn't thinking... I just emptied the drawer."

"But you had all of these things, so..."

"Lauren, sure you and I got a few of these things, but I've had most of them for well over a decade because I went to a sex party that a friend of mine had. She really needed money in a bad way, so we all agreed to buy at least five items since they weren't that expensive."

"Oh. So you've never..."

"No, Lauren... I mean... the things we used... well... you were the first."

The blonde nodded, her eyes lowered, sending a very clear message to Bo.

"So I take it you have?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, her eyes never moving from Bo's feet.

"I'm not mad and I don't think any less of you, Lauren. Do you want to talk about it?"

Lauren shook her head, "Not really. It's just... well, it's all part of the Nadia life. She liked to use things..."

Bo placed a silencing finger on the blonde's lips, "You don't have to explain. It's clear it makes you uncomfortable. I know enough about the story, Lauren. She used these things to make you feel small... to make you her slave in every aspect of the word."

She used two fingers below Lauren's chin to raise her eyes to meet her own, "But you and me, Lauren? We're equals. The time we spend being intimate will always be about mutual respect, mutual desire and mutual satisfaction. There are no conditions in our relationship, Lauren. I will never ask you to do anything you don't want to do and I would expect the same in return."

"Absolutely." Lauren nodded in reply, "So... this class..."

"We learned about the different types of sexual lifestyles. Swingers, BDSM and stuff like that. Anyway, with regard to the latter, we learned that some people perform acts that break the rules of BDSM. Any person who is too shy to speak his or her mind or is afraid of losing the person or relationship because they were unwilling to do as requested would be in danger because he or she would not be capable of preventing the other partner from doing harm out of fear."

Lauren nodded, her silence giving Bo more insight into the life the blonde had led with Nadia. She wanted to leave the past behind knowing that the offender had broken down and apologized to Lauren in jail, but she just wasn't there yet. Her life was still being influenced by the damage the other brunette had done to her girlfriend and she suspected it would for a long time. It wasn't fair that this woman had taken Lauren's confidence and resiliency from her.

Bo bent down and pulled the toys from the floor, putting them all in the bag and tying it shut. She tossed the bag under the bed,

"It will be there if we ever choose to use it. If not, it will stay there... out of sight, out of mind."

Bo took Lauren's hand and pulled her to the other side, pulling back the covers and settling in before offering Lauren her hand. The blonde gave her a tight smile and lay down next to her, moving into Bo's open arms.

"Can we just lay here for a bit?" Bo asked as Lauren's head settled on her chest.

Lauren smiled, "I'd like that."

Bo waited quite some time before she finally felt Lauren relax, "So, can we talk about our sex life a bit more?"

She felt Lauren tense a bit, but continued anyway after lifting Lauren's chin once again to meet her eyes as she spoke, "I'd like you to tell me about what you really, truly like about when we touch each other."

The blonde tried to pull away, but Bo shook her head, "I'd like you to look at me while we talk about this, if you don't mind. I want us to be able to talk about what feels good... about what we want... what we desire. I want to be able to really please you, Lauren and I want you to know what you do that really sends me to the moon."

Bo smiled, pointing towards the open skylight.

"To the moon, huh? I send you to the moon?" Lauren asked.

Bo laughed, "Actually, I think you sort of sent me into another galaxy on the hood of my car a while ago, but yes... it's like everything else disappears when you touch me. Sex with you is like what my drug."

"So you're addicted to me?"

"Tragically, I think that very well may be true. Unfortunately, health care insurance doesn't cover this particular ailment."

"Ailment?"

"Laurenitis... I've got a very bad case." Bo said, trying to be serious.

Lauren smiled, "I'm not sure I'm familiar with Laurenitis. Can you describe the symptoms?"

Bo smiled, more than willing to play along, "Mmmm... you want me to play doctor with the doctor?"

"Well, I don't know... I mean... if you want to play, you'll have to answer my questions. I can't give a proper examination for a disease I'm unfamiliar with unless I'm aware of the signs and symptoms of the condition."

Lauren laughed and Bo couldn't help but laugh with her. It was so good to see that smile on the blonde's face again. The brunette could tell that her mind was free and she was beginning to relax... thoughts of what had happened earlier far from where they were right now.

Bo nodded, and continued to play along, "Oh, well... let's see... first, whenever you wear things like this..." The brunette ran her fingers along the front edge of the robe, her fingers dangerously close to gracing Lauren's breast, "I feel a need to take it off of you... especially when I'm fully aware that you have nothing on beneath."

Lauren paused for a moment as if hesitating, but sat up and removed the robe, her eyes on Bo's the entire time as the brunette's gaze wandered over her body. The blonde lay back down, her head resting on Bo's chest again,

"Does that alleviate the symptoms?" Lauren asked quietly.

Bo shook her head, "No, it sort of brings on more."

The brunette was grateful to feel the blonde relax in her arms again, her laughter filling the room as she asked,

"Oh? And what are those?"

"Well, I see your body and... well, I have this irresistible need to touch it." Bo answered.

"Is that all?" Lauren asked with a chuckle.

"No... I want to kiss it and taste it, too."

"Mmmm... that's very interesting... this could be serious. Is there anything else you feel you need to do?"

Bo nodded, "I want to feel your skin against my own. Do you think you can help me, Doctor?"

"Hmmm... well, I might suggest an experimental treatment at this juncture."

"What's that?" Bo asked.

Lauren slipped her hand beneath the red negligee and pushed it upward. Bo got the hint and sat up to pull it off, revealing her naked skin. She lay back down, resuming her previous position, but Lauren rolled on top of her, insinuating her leg between Bo's,

"Now you can feel my skin. Does that help alleviate the symptoms?"

Bo shook her head, "No... now I have other symptoms."

Lauren propped herself up on her elbows, "Oh? And what might those be?"

Bo ran her hands up and down Lauren's sides, her thumbs tracing the outline of the sides of her breasts each time they moved up,

"Now my hips feel like they need to... well... I don't know... like... push up or something."

Lauren nodded, "I see... I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Can you demonstrate for me?"

The blonde smirked and groaned as Bo lifted her hips, her thigh pressing against Lauren's center, still wet from their previous encounters.

Bo smiled, "You see what I mean?"

"Mmmm... I do. I seem to be experiencing sympathetic symptoms in response to yours. Would you mind if I test my theory and move my hips as well?"

Bo laughed and shook her head, "Of course not, Doctor. Anything to cure this constant ache I have whenever I'm around you."

"Wow, that sounds pretty desperate." Lauren replied with a smile as she ground her hips down into Bo's, earning her a deep moan from the brunette.

"So desperate... you have no idea." Bo replied as she spread her legs allowing Lauren's thigh to penetrate between her wet folds.

"Interesting... my leg seems to be very... wet... and warm." Lauren said, now propping herself up on her hands so she can better move her lower body to rub against Bo's core.

Bo nodded, "And it seems to be getting wetter and I feel... I feel more... desperate."

Lauren's face contorted into a very serious expression, "I'm very concerned about the fact that your condition seems to be worsening. I think I'll have to take a closer look."

The Doctor slid down the bed, her eyes remaining on Bo's as she moved her abdomen, purposely making contact with the brunette's core, then pressed her breast into her in much the same manner before slipping off the foot of the bed,

"If you could spread your legs just a bit more so I can get a better look, it would be helpful." Lauren said, her fingers tracing the brunette's outer lips, tempting her to comply.

"Whatever you need, Doctor. I'll cooperate, just please help me. I feel like... I just need... I don't know what I need. It's throbbing... there must be a cure."

Lauren smirked, "Well, I must say it is very, very wet. It's most interesting. I wonder..."

The blonde ran a finger through the brunette's folds, "Yes, it's definitely wet."

"Don't you think you should hurry? I'm concerned about losing so much fluid."

Lauren nodded, "Oh, you're absolutely correct, Ms. Dennis. I wouldn't want you to become dehydrated." The blonde parted Bo's folds, "There's an opening here... hmmm... interesting... let me just try to..."

She entered Bo, slipping a finger, then two inside of the brunette, watching as her hips rose and fell as she entered and withdrew from her body,

"Interesting." Lauren said.

"What?" Bo asked, her breathing growing more labored.

"I appear to be getting wetter as I touch our body. It seems your condition might be contagious. This could be serious."

Bo nodded, "Well, perhaps I should administer the same cure you're administering to me."

"Cure?"

"What you're doing seems to be helping." Bo smirked.

"I do feel that throbbing you spoke of now." Lauren said.

"Oh?" Bo asked.

"Yes." Lauren replied, quickening her pace within Bo.

"Where is it? Will you show me?"

Lauren blushed, but Bo encouraged her, "Please?"

The blonde turned around on the bed and lifted one leg over Bo's torso, while her fingers continued to work in and out of the brunette,

"Do you see anything?"

Bo laughed, "I see an opening as well and... my goodness, Doctor Lewis, I fear my condition is even worse in you."

"Really? How so?" Lauren asked.

"You're even wetter than I am. I must administer the cure immediately." Bo replied, "I'm not a physician, but I think I have an idea."

She gave a tug on Lauren's hips, encouraging her to move back towards her head. When she was close enough, she reached beneath the blonde and cupped her breasts while her tongue traveled up through the moist space between the blonde's lips.

"Mmmm... that definitely provides some relief for the throbbing." Lauren groaned, "I'll try that treatment on you as well, Ms. Dennis."

"Mmmm... please do, Doctor Lewis." Bo replied before diving back in to Lauren's center.

Hands gripped for anything they could hold onto as mouths worked the pair into a frenzied state. They entered each other with their free hands pumping in and out as they moaned into each other's heat, not stopping until they each brought the other to a delicious climax, bodies tensing, the moment frozen in time until they both came to completion. A few extra licks and kisses later, Lauren returned to her position on Bo's chest, relaxing into her arms.

"You are a miracle worker, Doctor Lewis."

Lauren laughed, "Well, for someone who never went through medical school, you certainly have skills."

Bo chuckled, "Well, I'm an engineer. I fix things for a living."

"Mmmm... you certainly fixed my ache, although I have a feeling it might be coming back again." Lauren smiled.

Bo smiled, "Far be it from me to wish you ill, Doctor Lewis, but I wouldn't mind treating you into the wee hours of the morning."

"Ditto." Lauren replied as Bo rolled her over and scooped one leg up towards her chest before pressing her center into the blonde's, "We'd better get started. We only have about twenty-four more hours to try to cure what ails us."

"Then let's not waste a single precious minute of time."

Bo pressed herself up onto her hands giving Lauren access to her breasts as she began to move rhythmically against the blonde's hot, wet core,

"Damn, Lauren... you feel so fucking good. I will never get enough of you before you have to leave for Colorado."

Unwilling to release the breast in her mouth, Lauren mumbled back, "Then you'd better set up a flight for the weekend after I go back."

"Hell with the weekend. I won't last more than three days."

Lauren chuckled into Bo's flesh, taking a break to switch to the opposite breast, "So needy." She said before latching on, giving a small nibble to the erect tissue.

"Mmmm... I've never known you to be a biter before."

Lauren pulled back, smiling, "I never have been... it's new for me... I don't know why... I just... I just want to devour these." She replied, cupping both breasts together and licking across both nipples.

"God, Lauren... fuck that feels good."

Lauren looked up at Bo, her eyes filled with love for the brunette as she watched a myriad of expressions of pleasure cover her features. It was in that moment that Lauren Lewis knew... she was never letting this woman... the only woman to ever allow her to be vulnerable and very much herself... she was never letting her go.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Standing at the foot of the bed, a breakfast tray in hand, Lauren stared at her girlfriend with a smile on her face. She looked down at the small fruit cup, two smoothies, and two muffins, then back at the brunette. She'd hate to wake her when she was sleeping so peacefully, but... then again... it could be fun. She looked down at the items on her tray again and laughed.

She looked up when she heard the brunette move, relaxing when her sleeping lover settled deeper into her pillow. She smiled, gently placing the tray on the table near the foot of the bed and then leaned against the large post attached to the footboard. She was in awe of the brunette's beauty. The sun was gleaming down through the glass ceiling onto her strong back, highlighting the soft, milky skin tone as well as the small scar from a coral cut that had never disappeared after her drowning incident.

She whispered, "I want to wake up every day with you, Bo. I hope you don't doubt that. Being here with you... in this house that you helped to build... it feels like I finally have a home. In Colorado, I have the apartment... it's a nice apartment... very nice... but a house is just a house without someone to love... someone who loves you... living inside. I think I've finally realized that it's people that make a house a home... people and love."

She slowly slid onto the bed and curled up on her side, her eyes set on the brunette's face. She carefully reached out to push some hair back behind her ear. Truly, she didn't care if she woke from the act... not that she wanted to wake her from this blissful sleep... but selfishly, she wanted her awake... she wanted her awake for every minute of every day they had left. Still, she lay quietly beside her, watching the easy in and out of her breathing and the beauty of her sunlit face.

"You know, it's not polite to stare." Bo's voice was raspy and muffled by the pillow half-covering her mouth.

Lauren laughed, "Mmmm... you're awake. Why are you hiding from me if you're awake? I thought we were going to spend every waking moment together until I left?"

Bo lifted a heavy arm and threw it over the blonde's shoulder, pulling her closer, "I'm awake... we're together... satisfied?"

The blonde laughed again, "Really? I get all of that enthusiasm? Wow... a girl can get used to feeling this loved."

Bo opened one eye, "You _are_ loved so don't you dare start doubting me now. I'm just slightly exhausted from last night. You did take me nine rounds before you would let me crash."

"Technically, I took you ten rounds, and then... well... you just fell asleep."

Bo's eyes shot opened, "Ohmagod... I fell asleep! I did, didn't I? I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Bo."

"Shit! Lauren, I fell asleep in the middle of... I was still..."

"...Inside me, I know... believe me... I know."

"I am so, so sorry!" Bo replied, her face contorting with embarrassment.

"Yea, well your leg worked just fine."

Bo's eyes went wide, "You... you used my leg?"

"No, but I certainly thought about it." Lauren laughed.

"I'm so sorry."

"You've said that... several times now. It's okay, Bo. We were both exhausted, sweetie. It actually didn't take me long to fall asleep."

"I'm so embarrassed." Bo replied, lowering her head into the pillow once again.

"I brought you breakfast." Lauren encouraged.

"I don't deserve it." Bo said emphatically.

"Well, I do and there's too much for just me, so let's eat." Lauren replied, rolling off the bed to pick up the tray and bring it back over.

Bo turned over, using the sheet to cover her chest, "I've got to pee and put on some clothes."

"No clothes." Lauren said, biting into a blueberry muffin.

"What?" Bo asked.

"No clothes. It's officially no clothes Monday."

"But you have clothes on."

"I'm covered... not clothed."

"Well that's not fair."

"Contrary to popular belief, all is not fair in love and war." Lauren replied, emphatically, taking another bite.

"Why don't I get to see you?"

"You fell asleep with your fingers inside of me, so I get to tease and torture you for a while today."

Bo shook her head and dropped her sheet, walking into the bathroom, "Not fair." She mumbled.

Lauren laughed, taking another bite of her muffin, finishing it off before Bo emerged from the bathroom.

Bo stood at the bottom of the bead, her arms extended, "Happy?"

Lauren looked up from her fruit, "Very." She said with a wink, her eyes watching Bo as she walked around the bed and got back in. As she went to pull up the covers, Lauren grabbed her hands,

"No covers."

"It's cold." Bo whined.

Lauren grabbed her phone and opened her smart home app, "No whining on naked Mondays." She ran her finger over the touch screen, "There... I just turned up the heat." She said casually, rolling over onto her side and pushing Bo back to lay down flat. She then placed her cup of fruit on Bo's belly and proceeded to use her as a table, "So... what do you want to do today?"

Bo just lay there, watching her girlfriend nonchalantly eat from her body as if she were a piece of furniture,

"Before or after you've finished using me as a breakfast table?"

"After, I guess."

"Well, I guess it would be nice to actually eat breakfast." Bo shrugged, laughing when Lauren licked a dropped blueberry from her hip.

"I brought you a muffin and I made you a fresh fruit smoothie." Lauren replied.

"Sounds great." Bo said, watching as Lauren began spooning a trail of cut fresh fruit down the valley between her breasts, over her abs past her belly button before finally running out of fruit just above the patch of hair at her hips.

"I'll get it for you..." Lauren smiled before sliding up next to Bo, her hand propped up on her head. She lowered her mouth to the brunette's chest, licked a strawberry up into her mouth, and chewed. She looked up at Bo, "... In a minute..." She looked down the length of Bo's body, "... or five."

Bo watched as Lauren ate the six remaining pieces of fruit from her body, her tongue dwelling longer in some places than others. It was an agonizing journey to watch as the blonde ventured lower, seemingly savoring both the fruit and her body. Bo felt an ache build between her legs until she exhaled a heavy sigh when Lauren finished. Sliding down the bed, Lauren stood and removed her clothing before grabbing a smoothie, and moving back up to Bo,

"Sorry... here's your smoothie."

Bo reached out to grab the refreshing drink, but gasped when the blonde tipped the glass and began pouring the cold liquid over her breasts and down her body before placing the glass firmly between her legs directly against her heated core.

"Lauren..."

"Oops... I'm so sorry. I seem to have spilled your smoothie, all... _(lick)..._ over... _(lick)..._ this... _(lick)..._ beautiful... _(lick)..._ body."

Bo watched as Lauren rolled over onto her body, the blonde's eyes holding hers hostage as she slid her body up and down over the brunette's. No surface was left uncoated she leaned down and licked at the sweet fruity drink on Bo's nipples. The brunette, for her part, lay helpless, unable to do anything but watch what was being done to her... truly, she didn't want to do anything but watch... and enjoy... although the smoothie coating Lauren's body was certainly looking quite appetizing.

"I have no idea what's gotten into you, Lauren but this is..."

Lauren looked up at Bo, her eyes dark, "So fucking sexy? And nothing has gotten into me... well... I guess it did, but you fell asleep, remember? I will say, though... that something is about to get into you."

Lauren lowered her hand between the brunette's legs, seeking out Bo's core, "Mmmm... so cold from the smoothie... yet... so warm... and wet."

Bo laid back, her arms outstretched as she arched her back into Lauren's touch when the blonde entered her. She lifted her hips, settling into an easy rhythm, the sounds of her wet center echoing through the room. Lauren's mouth traveled up to her chest.

"Mmmm... you taste absolutely delicious." Lauren smirked.

"Well, someone turned me into a giant smoothie."

"What can I say... I'm a little clumsy... and a little hungry. Really... really... hungry."

She slid down the brunette's body, slipping between Bo's legs and diving into her final breakfast treat. She licked, sucked and devoured the brunette until she was screaming her name.

The brunette lay breathless before she smiled and said, "Gods woman... I think you broke me."

Bo laughed as she tried to catch her breath while Lauren settled her head on Bo's thigh, a smile on her face while her eyes and fingers traveled back and forth through the neatly trimmed patch of hair just above.

"What are you doing?" Bo asked, her hand going to Lauren's hair.

"Committing all of this to memory... remembering how soaking wet you get for me... remembering your scent... remembering how my fingers look when they're inside of you..." Lauren slipped her fingers inside Bo before pulling them out and licking them clean, "...Remembering your taste... remembering how your hips move for me... remembering this beautiful breakfast in bed."

Bo chuckled, "Is that what this is?"

"Mmmm." Lauren replied with a nod.

"Well, I haven't had any breakfast yet. Am I _actually_ going to get to eat soon?"

Lauren stopped her ministrations and sat up. She stretched her arm out and grabbed the other smoothie from the tray,

"Smoothie?" The blonde smiled.

Bo furrowed her brow, "Are you going to pour that on me?"

Lauren laughed and lay down beside Bo, "No. You can _actually_ have this one."

Handing the brunette the smoothie, she propped herself up on her arm and watched as she took a long sip,

"Mmmm... this is very good."

Lauren nodded, running her tongue over her lips, "It certainly was."

Bo smirked and rolled onto her side before pushing Lauren back onto the bed and drenching her in the cold breakfast drink,

"Oh my... strawberry, banana, blueberry goodness that's cold!" Lauren cried out with a gasp, her breathing labored as the cold hit her unexpectedly.

Bo nodded as she rolled onto Lauren's body, "Really? I had no idea."

The brunette took several long licks along the blonde's cleavage, "Now lay still while I enjoy my breakfast."

Lauren could only laugh as Bo gave her a wink before sliding down her body to her destination.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The pair had spent the day in a cycle of make love, snack, nap, repeat. They'd gone for a walk around the property, Bo pointing out all of the landscaping that had been done by transplanting the items from Lauren's old greenhouse so she would see that roots may be planted, but what came from those roots would always grow and change into something better. She explained it was the reason that they had put all new plant varieties in the new greenhouse.

They sat outside, enjoying wine and cheese at sunset before making love in the sand atop the cliff overlooking Banzai Beach. They had yet to put clothing on, but they had decided on a shared a lightweight blanket as the sun went down and the temperatures dropped.

Now, they lay on the blanket after making love yet again. Staring up at the sky, they talked about the constellations. When they grew silent again, Lauren suddenly spoke,

"You asked me this morning... or maybe it was last night, I really don't remember... but you asked me if we could talk about our sex life and I sort of deflected with... well... sex."

Bo smiled, kissing Lauren on the forehead, "You did."

"Well... I think I can talk about it now... I mean... we've been pretty open all day and... if it's important to you to talk about it, then I want to do that... I mean... if you want to... I'm ready to."

Bo tipped Lauren's chin up and kissed her softly on the lips once... twice... the third time a little longer and more thoroughly before she smiled,

"I'd like that... I mean... I know that... well, we obviously had sex all day, but..."

Bo placed a finger over her lips, "May I?'

"What?" Lauren asked, pressing her forehead into Bo's neck.

"Well, I'd like to clarify that we didn't just have sex all day... we made love... at least... even at our kinkiest, that's what it was for me."

Lauren remained silent, thinking about Bo's words but her long silence didn't sit well with the brunette who rolled away and lay back on her back, pulling the blanket over her chest.

The blonde protested, "Hey... it's cold when you're over there."

Bo stared up at the sky, silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Lauren rolled over next to her girlfriend,

"What's wrong?"

Bo sighed, "Honestly? You have nothing to say in response to what I said?"

"About making love?"

"Yes. Was it just a day of sex for you?" Bo asked, the hurt expression on her face telling Lauren all she needed to know.

"Of course not, Bo... we connected on a level that... well, it was a level that I've never experienced before. That's why I feel ready to talk about it..."

Lauren slid up on top of Bo, their bodies pressing together as her leg dropped between the brunette's, "Ask me again."

Bo lay there, looking up at Lauren surrounded by a backdrop of stars and moonlight, "You're beautiful, Lauren. I want to be closer to you that I ever have to anyone. I want us to be solid... in mind, body and spirit. Tell me, baby... how do I touch you so that you feel so connected to me that everything else in the world goes away?"

Lauren smiled, kissing Bo's lips gently, "Don't you know that just being in your arms does that, sweetie? When you hold me, nothing else exists. I'm surrounded by your scent... you smell like a mixture of vanilla and lavender... I'm drawn to you like no other. I'm only sorry I fought it for so long."

"Why did you?"

"Fear, mistrust... and that's not about my trust of you, personally... it's my trust of life. I always believed that life was somehow against me... that whoever was up there, holding my invisible puppet strings was never going to allow me to be happy."

"What changed it for you?"

"Honestly? Last week on one of the many nights we were apart, I went for a walk down on Banzai Beach. I got to our old practice court and noticed the supply bench was open. I walked over to open it and noticed the AED was gone." Lauren frowned as she recalled the reason to Bo, "It was never replaced after it was used on you the day you drowned."

Lauren laid her head down on Bo's chest and took a moment to listen to her heartbeat. She tapped the brunette's chest in time with the soft beat of the rhythm within,

"I walked back up to the very spot where I pulled you from the water and sat down for a long while. I couldn't push the memory of that day from my mind. It just kept playing over and over and over again."

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo... it's okay. I mean... it wasn't at first. I mean, honestly, I lost my shit for about fifteen solid minutes. But I eventually pulled it together and started thinking back on our time together... how we met, my first fight in the bar with Kenzi, all of our time in the hospital and everything since... the good, the bad and who I am today and..."

She propped herself up, her elbows on either side of Bo's chest, "... well, I thought about how you always talk about Poseidon and... well, this is going to sound really silly... or strange... but... well, I prayed to him right there on that spot on the beach. I prayed that he would always keep you safe in the water... you, Kenzi and all of the kids at the school."

Lauren's eyes brimmed with tears. Bo raised a hand to her face, but Lauren caught it and kissed her palm. Looking into her partner's eyes she smiled,

"He sent you to me, Bo. I had never thought about it before... I don't really know if there is a Poseidon or a God... I've always been a woman of science, but... if Poseidon is out there or someone like him... I believe they sent you to me. I think you were meant to come into my life... no one else could have done what you've done for me... no one else would have stayed, I'm absolutely sure of it. You were chosen to be mine and I was chosen to be yours."

A tear trailed down Lauren's cheek as she continued, "You gave me the courage to trust you and to stand up for myself, you gave me the strength to persevere in my quest to be free of my past, you gave me faith in hope... faith that love... unconditional love... could exist... that it could exist for me in this life. You taught me that the real me... the me that I'd lost so long ago... could exist... that I didn't have to be my past... that I could be... yours... that I could give myself to you... give my heart to you and... trust you to take care of it."

"Lauren..." Bo said, reaching up and cupping the blonde's face, kissing her with everything she had to offer before pulling back, "I promise you, Lauren... for as long as it's mine, I will always take care of your heart."

The blonde nodded, "I'm not perfect, Bo and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have setbacks... that I'm going to make mistakes... but I will do everything in my power to earn your trust... that you will know that you can trust me with your heart as well."

Bo smiled, "Well, I hope I can because you already have it, Lauren... all of it... all of me."

As the tears streamed from her eyes, Lauren pressed her lips to Bo's, never wanting the feeling she was feeling right now to end. She was in love and the certainty of that love gave her a feeling of confidence and relief she had never felt before. When they pulled back, Bo smiled,

"So is that our sex talk?" Bo laughed and Lauren joined in, laying her head on Bo's chest.

"I'm not completely sure about what I like most... I mean... sex has always something that I just did and... well... I learned to shut my mind off during it so I could... get through it."

Bo frowned, "And is that how it is now?"

Lauren's fingers traced a lazy pattern above Bo's left breast as she answered, "With you? No... no way... with you, my mind won't turn off... my body doesn't turn off. When you touch me, I don't want you to stop and... well... honestly, I have a very hard time keeping my hands off of you. I never had that before... I never felt so... physical drawn to someone before and... well, it's not just physical... it's like when I touch you, I feel... everything. I feel it in my chest... it's like this full feeling... and I get butterflies in my stomach and... my head sort of spins and my legs get weak and..."

Lauren chuckled,

"...we won't even talk about what happens between my legs."

Bo laughed, "No? I'd love to hear about that."

Lauren smiled, her focus on her fingertips, "You know, I only have to see you for you to have that effect on me."

"Oh really? And what is it about me that has that... effect?"

Lauren pushed up so she could look at the brunette, "Those big, dark brown eyes... I could fall into the darkness of those eyes for days and not get lost. These lips... I love the way they stretch across your face into your dimple when you smile that brilliant megawatt smile of yours. It literally lifts my heart when you smile."

Bo smiled at the comment and watched as Lauren's eyes lit up at the sight. They shared a brief kiss before Lauren continued,

"I love your neck... you have this incredibly strong jaw that goes into this long trail of soft skin... I love to watch your pulse when I touch your neck or kiss your neck... it speeds up and then, when I pull away, it slows back down."

Lauren allowed her lips to graze along the pathway from the brunette's jaw to her collarbone, watching as her heart pushed more blood through the aforementioned vessel. Pulling back, she traced her fingers over the soft skin of her chest before turning her attention to her girlfriend's breasts,

"My favorite part of your body... hands down... is your breasts. I am one hundred percent a fan of Bo's boobs. They're just so..." Lauren palmed both, her hands too small to hold all of the supple yet firm flesh, "... squeezably soft."

"My boobs are like Charmin toilet paper?" Bo asked with mock offense.

Lauren chuckled, "Oh, baby Charmin has nothing on these." Lauren replied, tracing over both nipples with her thumbs as her eyes searched Bo's.

"Well, you certainly do have a type." Bo replied.

"I have a type?" Lauren asked.

"Brunette, curvy, booby."

Lauren frowned and shook her head, "Well, I guess if you consider the facts, that might be true but trust me when I say that you are the only curvy, booby brunette I have any interest in whatsoever."

Bo smiled, "Well, I certainly hope so because I would hate to think you were out there comparing other curvy, booby brunettes to me."

"Actually, I do. Every one I see, I say, nope... not good enough... not good enough... no where near good enough..." Lauren laughed as Bo wrapped her arms around the blonde's back and kissed her hard.

"And what happens when my curves get droopy, my boobs get saggy and my hair gets gray?" Bo asked.

"I'll buy you a gym membership, a better bra and hair dye?" Lauren smiled.

Bo laughed, "Wow, you really have thought this through, huh?"

Lauren smiled, "Yup. Old age will not change the way I feel about you, Bo. I am now convinced that nothing will. Even when I was making the decision to move to another state... I still loved you, wanted you and yearned for a life with you, Bo. I just couldn't get my mind to believe that my heart could trust that something could work out in my life."

"Well, I'm glad you're mind and your heart finally had that long overdue chat."

Lauren smiled, "Me too."

"So... you still haven't really told me what you like about sex." Bo said quietly, twirling the end of Lauren's hair.

"Curvy, booby brunette wasn't enough?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled shyly, "I want to know how to really please you, Lauren."

"You do please me, Bo. Honestly, I think I get more pleasure out of tasting you than I do when you do anything to me."

"Tasting, huh?"

"You didn't notice?"

"I definitely noticed that you enjoy spending time... in that position."

"Awww... are you being shy? That's so cute!" Lauren giggled.

"Maybe talking about sex was a bad idea."

"So we can do it, but we can't talk about it all of a sudden? I thought you wanted to talk about it."

Bo shrugged, "Well, I want to know what you like... what you want me to do to you."

"I love everything you do to me, Bo. Just because I enjoy tasting you in addition to many other things, doesn't mean you have to do that for me."

"No... I mean... I love tasting you... I love everything you do to me and everything I do to you. I just wonder if there's something that I do that reminds you of... bad stuff."

"You're worried about triggering something in me while we're in bed?" Lauren asked.

"Well, it did happen last night and if there's something I could've done to prevent it, I'd like to know. I don't ever want you to feel forced or ashamed ever again."

"Bo, you have never made me feel as though I had to do anything for you sexually and last night was not your fault. I don't know what made those thoughts pop into my head... well... we talked about it, so I guess I do a bit, but... Bo, what we have... I mean, physically... is nothing like anything I've ever had before. You are generous, gentle, sweet, kind, loving, passionate... I've never had this before."

"I just want you to know that I'm open to anything you're interested in trying, but I get nervous about trying things that are more... adventurous because I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

The blonde placed a finger over her lover's lips, "And I feel the same way about trying things. Is that why we left the toys under the bed all night?"

Bo nodded, "I figured you would ask if you were interested... not that I ever felt like I needed them last night. Touching you and having no barriers was... well... last night and today... it was amazing. And being able to lay here like this right now is... well, I feel like I'm living in some sort of dream."

Lauren laughed, "It is a dream and when the alarm goes off in the morning and you have to go back to work, you'll wake up."

Bo groaned, "Don't remind me. I'd like to stay in this little bubble with you until they forcibly pry you from my arms."

"And who thinks I'll go willingly?" Lauren said, smiling up at Bo.

"You look tired." Bo said, her hand cupping the blonde's face, pulling her in for a light kiss.

"I hate sleeping... can't I just stay awake until I have to go back to Colorado? I can sleep there when I don't have you." Lauren said.

"Well, think of it this way, you can sleep and have me here right now. I'll hold you while you sleep... I promise I won't let go."

Lauren looked up, "You promise?"

"I promise." Bo smiled, pushing the hair from Lauren's face as she turned her head and laid her head on her breast. She pulled the blanket up over the blonde, tucking her in snugly before surrounding her with the strength and warmth of her embrace.

She felt the blonde sigh and relax into her arms. The air grew silent the sounds of the crashing waves on the shore below the backdrop to the smooth and even breaths of her girlfriend.

Just as Bo closed her eyes, she heard the blonde blurt out,

"I want to look for my Aunt."

Bo's snapped open at the sound of her girlfriend's words, "Well... that is... surprising... and sudden."

Lauren nodded, "I know I haven't mentioned it at all, but... well, it actually has been on my mind since I learned where she might be... I mean... if she's even still alive. I just thought of it... I always think of things I meant to do just as I start to fall asleep... I mean... I didn't used to but I have been ever since I moved to Colorado."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Bo asked.

The blonde shook her head, "I don't know... I mean... with the to-do list?"

"Uh, no... sorry... I meant with finding your Aunt, but if I can help you fall asleep, I'd help you with that too."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I don't even know where to start right now, but... well... I'll let you know. Do you think it's a bad idea?"

"No, no... of course not. I'm honestly just surprised because you hadn't mentioned it at all since we last talked about it... months ago."

Lauren nodded, "I know it's sudden but... well, don't you ever think of your cousin?"

Bo shrugged, "Honestly, I mostly just think of finding Maverick's sister. I guess I'm a little ashamed to say that I gave up on my cousin a long time ago. I mean... Kenzi still has feelers out for her, so I guess there's that, right?"

"Maybe someday she'll find her." Lauren replied.

"And maybe you'll find your Aunt."

Lauren nodded, "I don't know that I would have the first clue as to what to say to her. Maybe something like... 'So, you left me alone to seek your fortune because I was too much of a burden?'... or something like that."

"That's much nicer than what I would say to your Aunt." Bo mumbled.

Lauren smiled, "Yes, I'm well aware of your protective side."

"Sorry." Bo replied.

Lauren rolled off of Bo, moving to snuggle into her side, "For what? If it weren't for your protective side, we probably wouldn't be here right now."

Bo rolled over to face the blonde, draping her arm over Lauren's waist, "And where is that, Doctor Lewis? Lying naked together under a blanket, surrounded by tall sea grass and the sound of waves crashing on the reef below?"

Lauren smiled, "Something like that, yes. But I meant that I never would have had the courage or strength to stand up to all that's happened if you hadn't been there, Bo."

"I think you're giving me too much credit, Lauren. I definitely had my moments when I wasn't very supportive and I still replay those times over and over again in my head." Bo chose not to mention the guilt she still felt for the times when her patience had worn thin, her trust had been tested and her anger and frustration had shown through.

"That may be true, but I'd challenge any woman to deal with all you had to deal with. The mess that is my life is not an easy thing to rehash. I mean... if I had kept it all inside and subdued, we could have continued on as we were."

"But that wouldn't have been healthy for you or us. I mean... there was something about today that was different than before. I feel closer to you now, Lauren. I feel closer than I did our first time around because the veil has been lifted. We know it all and I want to keep that curtain down. That's why I've been so insistent about no secrets. I love you... flaws and all."

"I have flaws?" Lauren asked, appalled at the suggestion before bursting out laughing, "Thank you, Bo... for accepting me for my past and my present. I'm hoping that the choice I made to leave for Colorado will somehow turn out to have a silver lining."

"It already does, Lauren. We found the last of Evony's creeps, you learned to keep your eyes open and we're closer than ever."

Lauren nodded, "Maverick is still not happy with me. I'm worried about what will happen when I leave again."

"You promised daily contact... just keep that promise and you'll be fine. Calls and Skype will help, Lauren. Send him pictures and if he writes to you, please write back."

Lauren smiled, "I have all of the drawings he sent me the first few weeks."

Bo nodded, "He loved doing those for you. He was so excited when he got to take them to the post office. All of the workers knew him by name and they all knew that he was best friends with a real doctor and a gold medalist."

Lauren sighed, "I suck."

"I didn't tell you that to make you feel bad, Lauren. I told you so you would understand what's happening on the other end of any mail you receive. You and Emma are his world, baby."

Lauren nodded, "I think his world has expanded to include you, Kenzi, Tamsin, Hale, Moms, Pops and the Professor as well."

Bo smiled, "And Pia, Corey and Cody too, but they're going to leave eventually as well."

"They do seem to be committed to being at Kenbo as much as they can around training, though."

Bo nodded, "They do." She sighed, as Lauren snuggled back in to her side once again. Smiling, she asked the blonde, "Are you ready to sleep now?"

Lauren nodded, "You really wiped me out today."

"So I guess that's a yes?" Bo smiled, her hands running over the soft skin on Lauren's side.

The blonde could only nod.

Bo watched her eyes begin to close and asked, "Are you warm enough? We can go inside if you really want to."

Lauren shook her head, "The bed is covered in smoothie from this morning, the sofa is wet from the cleaner we used on it after we did..."

"...couch aerobics."

"Right... couch aerobics. The kitchen is a nightmare and the dining room table probably needs to be cleaned as well."

"The guest room bed shouldn't be too bad." Bo suggested.

"The whipped cream probably smells really sour by now and the other guest rooms don't have beds yet."

"That didn't stop us from christening all of them." Bo laughed.

"Is there any room we missed?" Lauren asked.

Bo replied, "The garage, the front porch, the powder room and the pantry."

"Wow, you kept track."

"My goal was the whole house. I failed you."

"Hardly. I am fully sated... well, for now... besides, we agreed the pantry was off limits because we'd eaten so much... although, I still think the chocolate syrup would have been great with the ice cream on your..."

"No... we agreed! That would have been freezing!" Bo argued.

Lauren shrugged, "You agreed. I argued that I would have warmed you right up, but you didn't trust me, so I reluctantly and respectfully agreed. Your body, your choice."

Bo squeezed her legs together at the thought of Lauren warming her up, "Maybe after we sleep a bit..."

"We don't have to sleep first. I could go get the..."

"No, we need to sleep and besides, you said you were sick of chocolate not five minutes before we came out here."

"But that was hours and lots of sex ago. I think I'm getting my second wind."

Lauren slid her hand to the side of Bo's breast, but the brunette halted her fingers before they could start anything, "Sleep first. You are a major cranky pants when you're tired and I do have to work tomorrow."

The blonde sighed, snuggling back into her girlfriend's side, "Fine. You win, we'll sleep."

"Do you want to go inside? We can sleep anywhere you want." Bo asked.

Lauren pressed her head into the crook of Bo's neck, "I want to sleep right here under the stars. I want to lay wrapped up in this blanket with you and fall asleep in your arms."

Bo smiled, "Well, the sand is comfortable."

The brunette wrapped her arms around Lauren once again, making sure to pull the blanket up over her now bare shoulder,

"I love you, Lauren. Sleep tight, baby."

"I love you too, Bo... good night, sweetie."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

As the sun rose, Lauren couldn't help but stare at the shades of pink, purple and gold that streaked the skyline above the vast ocean. The thin blades of sea grass swayed in the breeze filled the air with a barely audible whooshing sound.

The blonde leaned back on her hands, tucking her feet into the cool sand. Closing her eyes she allowed the sun to bathe her skin from head to toe. It dawned on her that she had literally just spent almost thirty-six straight hours naked at her own suggestion. She felt free... not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. There were no restraints on her for the first time in her life. She no longer felt as though she was looking over her shoulder and it felt incredible.

She looked over to her left where her girlfriend still lay sleeping, the blanket now twisted around her legs and waist. She laughed thinking about how funny it was going to be to watch her begin to wake and try to free herself. She remembered how frustrated Bo would get with covers restricting her movements and smiled. Everything was very much the same with Bo, but yet different in a very good way.

For the last day and a half, she had been able to reassure herself of several things. She had realized that Bo was a central part of her life and being without her was going to feel impossible when she left for Colorado. She had come to accept that she couldn't imagine life without Bo in it anymore.

Finally, she was certain that she wanted to find her way back to Hawaii some day. She loved the Kenbo School and all that it represented, so wanted to be a part of it. She also loved emergency medicine. While she had always been focused on the negative parts of it... the stress, the death... she now realized that it was the perfect job for her. She was a think-on-her-feet sort of doctor who did very well in the pressure cooker than was the E.R. and she missed that pace.

When she had first arrived in Colorado with all of her emotional baggage, she had welcomed the laid back pace of life there. The Olympic Training Center had left her doing a lot of physicals, blood work for doping tests and injury evaluation. She had to admit that she felt a bit like an intern at times. The job wasn't much of a challenge. Sure it was an honor and she felt good about giving back to the program that had given her so much, but with all of the physical therapists, conditioning coaches, skill coaches, sports psychologists, athletic trainers, nurses and physician's assistants around, she found that she spent more time just giving orders than actually working with patients.

Lauren felt the blanket move beneath her as strong arms wrapped over her shoulders and two legs wrapped around her torso landing between her own,

"Good morning, Doctor Lewis." Bo's voice was raspy from sleep, but the message was clear, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Watching the sunrise... watching you... thinking."

"And what's that big brain of yours thinking about?" Bo asked.

"That I'm the luckiest woman on the planet."

Lauren looked over at Bo, her smile bright and wide as she kissed her lover gently, brushing her lips over the brunette's before she pulled back,

"How did you sleep?"

"Mmmm... great. Two nights with you, two great nights of sleep... I think I see a pattern developing."

Lauren smiled, "Well, I'm glad I can be associated with good sleep. Are you hungry?"

Bo nodded, "Famished, but I really need to eat some real food. We ate nothing but junk food and each other yesterday."

"Mmmm... and I must say you were delicious with or without toppings." Lauren smirked, giving Bo another quick peck on the lips, "How would you feel about a shower and then breakfast at the diner?"

Bo's eyes went wide, "You want to eat at Kana's greasy diner?"

The blonde shrugged, "I woke up craving eggs, pancakes and bacon."

"Wow... hungry, huh?"

"I am." Lauren smiled, "I've burned an awful lot of calories since Sunday night."

"Well, shower and diner breakfast it is."

She watched as Lauren stood and turned around, looking down and offering her a hand. Bo smirked and took the hand, pulling Lauren down on top of her and rolling her over on the blanket. She looked into her eyes and smiled,

"But first, I need to tell you I love you since I have to be at work in a few hours."

Bo kissed Lauren deeply, her fingers traveling down her body until they settled between her thighs. The blonde moaned as her hips moved of their own accord,

"Well, I love you too." Lauren whispered, reaching down beneath Bo to slip her fingers between her legs as the pair chuckled into another kiss.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

After breakfast at the local diner, the pair returned to Lauren's to clean up her house. They had thoroughly christened every room, so there was a lot to do. Lauren had insisted she could handle it, but Bo had been insistent about helping since she'd created half of the mess if not more.

"Lauren? Where's your laundry detergent?"

The blonde was loading the dishwasher as she called back, "I just picked it up yesterday. It's with the other groceries in the pantry. There should be a bag with laundry detergent, fabric softener, toilet paper, soap, tissues and a few candles."

"Okay. I'll find it." Bo called back as she walked through the kitchen to the large pantry.

Lauren smiled at the routine they had fallen into as soon as they had gotten back from breakfast and grocery shopping. Bo had come in and just started helping. Having someone who was so easy-going in her space was simple and it made Lauren love her just a little bit more. Bo was kind and considerate in addition to all of the other things she loved about her. The only problem was that the more time she spent with her, the deeper in love she fell. She knew she was setting herself up for incredible heart ache when they separated, but finally, she realized it was a price she was willing to pay to have just another hour... minute... second with her girlfriend.

Sighing, Lauren pulled herself from the negative thoughts about their future separation and wiped her hands. She then wiped down the counter tops before moving on to wipe down all of the other surfaces in the house that they had used. She heard Bo start up the vacuum cleaner and knew that they were almost finished. Cleaning was much, much easier with two people to tackle the job.

About a half hour later, the two plopped down on the sofa and sighed as they fell up against one another. Lauren said nothing for a long while, instead choosing to live in the moment. She didn't want to ask the question on her mind because she was afraid she would sound too insecure... too needy, but after several more moments, she blurted out the question anyway,

"How long will you be at the school today?"

Bo shrugged, "I'm not sure. Kenzi texted me earlier and told me to take my time. We have staff meetings Monday mornings, so most of them hang around until at least lunch time. She has plenty of help until then."

Lauren watched as the brunette seemed to struggle with her next words, "Uh... apparently we're having our Christmas dinner at the Torrents' home tonight. Did Tamsin tell you?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, "She did."

"Oh... good. I was afraid I was... well, I didn't know if..."

"If I was invited? Honestly, I'm surprised I am. While they've been nothing but kind to me since my return, they are a bit more distant. Perhaps that's because I'm not living there anymore, but... well, it's just a feeling I get."

"Maybe it's a combination of some sense of guilt and insecurities you're still feeling?" Bo suggested.

Lauren gave a slight smile and nodded, spending the next several minutes in silence while playing with the strings on the cover of a throw pillow. Bo watched as the blonde grew uncomfortable in self-imposed silence and placed a soft hand on hers as she asked,

"Lauren, what's wrong?"

"Um... well... I... I didn't know if you and I would be spending... well... I got you a little something for Christmas. I didn't know if we were exchanging gifts or not this year but..."

Bo laughed, "Lauren, of course I had planned on having a Christmas with you... well, at least I hoped for a first Christmas together."

"You did?" Lauren asked, her face showing sadness, yet relief.

Bo nodded, "I did. I got you a few things as well. Between the holiday celebration with the kids at the school and having to put off our own, I just assumed we would do it with the Torrent Family. Well, not with them, but after we had Christmas with them... maybe later tonight? Is that okay?"

The blonde visibly relaxed, "Yes, it is. I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier..."

Bo stretched out across the sofa, laying her head on Lauren's lap and looking up at her, "Okay, where did that awkward Christmas discussion come from?"

Bo smiled as Lauren gave a shy shrug. The brunette chuckled and extended her hand for the blonde to take,

"Hi, I'm Bo... your girlfriend... the one you tell everything and feel completely comfortable around... at least... you're working on it?"

Lauren laughed, "You're right. I'm sorry that, well... in my mind, I laid the responsibility for talking about the holiday all on you. I just assumed that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when we had the party with the kids and the Judge that... well, that was it. I didn't want to give you a gift if... well..."

"If I didn't have one for you?" Bo finished, but Lauren shook her head,

"No... I mean, I wanted to get you something, so I did. I had no expectations that you would get me anything... I really didn't feel I deserved it since, well... until recently, we hadn't really gotten back to being... us. Christmas is a special time... it's about family and... well, I have spent many months distancing myself from my home and the people in it."

"None of that matters now, Lauren."

"But don't you have a normal holiday routine? I don't want to interfere with that, Bo." Lauren looked down, but Bo lifted her eyes to meet her own.

The brunette smiled, "I do."

"But..."

"Lauren, everything is changing and the changes are welcome changes for both of the Dennis sisters. Kenzi wants to be with Tamsin, I want to be with you and the gang will all be there... well, except for Dyson." Bo frowned, still angry that her old friend had made such a scene.

Lauren nodded, "Well... will you tell me about your former Christmas? I mean... I don't know much about the holidays but... well... what did you used to do?"

Bo smiled, "It was a lot of fun. Kenzi and I always had a Chinese-for-Christmas-dinner and but when I turned pro, we weren't always home. We took the tradition on the road and came up with a new tradition with the guys on our surfing team."

"That must have been... different."

Bo shrugged, "Actually, it helped us to get over the silence of not having our parents with us anymore."

Lauren nodded, "That's nice."

"I'm sorry, Lauren. That was sort of... I mean... you must have gone through something similar."

"Well, I didn't have a sibling to spend holidays with me so I always made sure to work. When I was done with my shift, I'd join the nurses and other volunteers in the pediatric ward to celebrate Christmas with the kids who were too sick to go home for the holiday. I even got to play Santa one year when the real guy's car broke down!" Lauren smiled.

Bo's eyes went wide, "Wow... that's one skimpy Santa!"

Lauren smacked her girlfriend, "Hey! It's nothing the hospital laundry couldn't take care of, Missie! A few extra pillows and I was in business!"

"I would love to see pictures of Dr. Lauren dressed up as Santa."

Lauren rolled her eyes, "Oh boy. I'm sure there are still pictures floating around of that night."

Bo smiled, "I'll have to ask Trick."

Lauren settled her hand back over Bo's, "So tell me more about the Dennis sister's celebration."

Bo nodded, "Well, once the guys joined us, we still did Chinese but added a few new traditions. Once we'd placed the order, we'd head down to set up portable tables at Banzai Beach where the food was delivered."

"Delivered?"

"Oh yea. We were their best Christmas customers. They'd deliver and throw in something extra every year."

"Nice."

"I know, right? Anyway, we'd eat ourselves into oblivion with a smorgasbord of sushi, sesame chicken and... well... you name it, really. Then, we'd compare the fortunes we'd get in our fortune cookies. After we'd read them all, we would put them all in one of the wine bottles we'd emptied. Then we'd fold up a Christmas card that we had all signed and shove it in there, put the cork in it as tightly as possible, and then toss it into the ocean."

"Wow... that's a pretty good end to the night. Ever get a response from a bottle?"

Bo smiled, shaking her head, "Not yet and that wasn't the end of the night." She punctuated her statement by walking her fingers up Lauren's chest to her lips before placing a light peck there.

"What else did you do?"

"We're surfers, so, we had to have our annual surfing competition!" Bo smiled, waving her hands.

Lauren gave her a tight grinned, closing her eyes as she nodded once and said, "Of course you did."

"Well, we did have to burn off the food and wine." Bo replied.

"You'd surf after Chinese and wine?" Lauren asked, "I'm surprised you're all alive."

"Nah, we know better than to surf drunk. Our competition was called The Annual Tannenbaum Take Down... you know, after the 'O Tannenbaum song?"

Lauren nodded as she watched Bo smile at the memory,

"Every year we had this small Christmas tree on a stand that we would put on the front of one person's board at time. We all sat on the shore and held up scorecards made from paper plates for each ride. The scoring was based on whether or not you hung an ornament during the ride, kept previous ornaments on during your ride, kept the tree on your board, how loudly you sung 'O Tannenbaum and the difficulty of any tricks you managed to pull with the tree still on."

Bo smiled, her eyes downcast Lauren's fingers wrapped in her own, "It was a lot of fun." She paused before adding, "They were good times." Bo quieted as the memories of holidays past with her sister and their friends rushed to the surface,

"Sorry." She looked up at Lauren who was watching her intently... patiently,

"It's okay." The blonde smiled, encouraging her, "What did the winner get?"

Bo smiled, "Well, that was the best part. The person who made it to shore with the tree still on their board and the most points got first pick in the Christmas auction."

"Christmas auction?" Lauren asked.

"We never exchanged gifts. I mean, Kenzi and me did but for the group, we would all buy one unisex gift and throw it onto one pile when we got to the beach. The way it works is that each person draws a gift in order of age from youngest to oldest. The winner of the tree surfing competition always went last..."

"So they got the gift that was left from all of them on the pile? That doesn't seem like such a prize for winning."

Bo chuckled, "No, no... when you draw gifts, you can take anyone you want, including one that someone else has already taken. If you steal someone's gift, they take another one from the pile. If you got last pick, you'd have your choice of any from the pile and no one can steal yours."

Lauren smiled, "That makes winning the competition all worthwhile... and it sounds like it was a great time for everyone."

Bo smiled, "It always was. We would open the gifts all at once and then show them one at a time, finding out who bought it and why. If you wanted to trade gifts after seeing them, you could if the other party was willing. After we opened gifts, we would gather around a fire and roast whatever food Kenzi brought that year. We'd reminisce about the year and sing Christmas carols while Dyson played his guitar for us."

Bo's smile dimmed when she mentioned her old driver's name again. She hadn't seen him since Kenzi had fired him. She only knew that Ciara had been refusing his calls and any efforts he'd made to see her.

"Bo?"

"Yea... sorry 'bout that. I just..."

"You were thinking of Dyson. I noticed earlier... I'd imagine it bothers you and I understand. Have you spoken to him?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "No and I'm not going to until Kenzi is ready to see him again. She's still pretty pissed at the way he spoke to her. He showed up once so far and she had him escorted from the grounds by campus security. Ciara won't take his calls and Vex wouldn't meet him for their annual Christmas bar hopping night. He's alone for the holidays and... well, frankly... I feel responsible."

Lauren nodded, "I can understand why you might feel that way."

"Thanks. Everyone else keeps saying things like '...you're not the one who fired him...' and '... he insulted your girlfriend...' and... well, you get the picture."

"I do, but it doesn't matter what picture I see. Yours is the one that matters. Why do you feel responsible?"

Bo was quiet for a moment before she looked up and said, "I shouldn't and I'm working on that. Can we not talk about it? We're trying to live in the moment and at the moment, he's not here... but you certainly are."

Lauren smiled, "Fair enough. So why didn't you and Kenzi do your normal Christmas gig with your friends this year?"

"Well, we have the school now so we decided to just have everyone meet there and that was going to be it since everything happened with Dyson and... well, Tamsin and Ciara were going to be there, so we weren't sure how they'd feel about night surfing, but then Pops invited all of us over for their dinner and..."

"... you all accepted."

Bo nodded, "Yup. That was months ago when we made the plan and... well, to be perfectly honest, at the time I didn't know if you were every coming home again, so... well, I just made plans to go there."

"Well, here I am." Lauren smiled, "And since we're being perfectly honest, it hurts to hear that but you're right... I wasn't exactly committing to anything with anyone here, including you. I'm sorry for that, Bo."

Bo looked up at the blonde, her fingers reaching up to touch her cheek, "It's the past, Lauren. The important thing is that those months are over now. You are here, we're together again and I'm so incredibly happy about that. This year, I get to have Christmas with the Kenbo kids, my family and with you. So you see? You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the luckiest woman in the world this Christmas."

Bo smiled brightly, lifting her head to kiss Lauren gently. The blonde pulled back, looking down at the brunette,

"So, we'll have our Christmas tonight?"

Bo smiled, "I'd like that. Dinner at the Torrent home and then exchange gifts back here?"

Lauren nodded, "Are you sure you don't want to stay at your house tonight with your sister?"

Bo shook her head, "Are you kidding? My sister barely knows I exist anymore. She's all gaga eyes for Tamsin. Let's give my house to them tonight."

"Good idea. So, will I meet you at Pops and Moms place?"

Bo shook her head, "Is it okay if I pick you up instead?"

Lauren smiled and nodded as Bo replied, "I'll pick you up at six, okay?"

"That sounds perfect." Lauren smiled, her fingers running through Bo's hair, twisting the ends around her fingers before releasing it to start again.

"That feels good." Bo said, closing her eyes and snuggling in to Lauren's belly, enjoying the sensation of her girlfriend's hands in her hair, "Thank you so much for yesterday. It was a beautiful day."

The blonde smiled, "Thank you, Bo... for being patient with me. For handling me when I was hesitant and when I was having... setbacks. I'm so grateful for you and your love."

She leaned down and kissed Bo's temple before sitting back up, her fingers lingering over the brunette's lips,

"I'm going to miss you so much, Bo." Lauren spoke with a whisper, her breath catching before her eyes welled up with a flow of unstoppable tears.

Bo sat up right away as she watched the sudden waterworks trail down her girlfriend's face,

"Hey... hey... this is a happy day, right?" Bo smiled, feverishly wiping at the soft skin on the blonde's cheeks, "We still have a couple of weeks together. There's no need to let your mind float to when we have to be apart, Lauren. We're here and we're together now." She kissed the doctor's lips firmly, holding the kiss until she felt her relax. She pulled away, pressing her forehead to Lauren's, "Stay here with me, okay? Be with me... here... now... in this moment... our moment... not in some imaginary time in the future."

Lauren sighed, her breath hitching a bit as she did, "Sor-ry... I just... I don't want to think about it... but sometimes it... it just pops in my head and... I try to push the thoughts out but... shit, I feel like a needy little girl!"

Bo laughed, as Lauren pulled back and wiped her own tears away, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, when I think about having to put you on that plane, I feel the same way. Lauren, just because I'm not falling to pieces please don't think that I'm not hurting over this too. I'm just making a choice to stay in the here and now with you... make the most of every day... cram as many memories into every minute of every day that I can so I have them to hang on to when we're away from each other."

Lauren nodded, leaning into Bo's embrace.

"Sorry. I'm so mad at myself for losing months of time with you... I'm mad at myself for jumping to conclusions and taking the damn job in the first place."

"Hey... first, no apologies are necessary. I understand." Bo said, kissing the top of Lauren's head, "Second, as for the job, we're going to have to find a silver lining in that, now aren't we. We're going to come through this, Lauren... together... and stronger." She said, gripping her girlfriend's hands firmly as she said the words, "Now... are you going in to the hospital today or are you calling Trick?"

Lauren nodded, "No, he's counting on me putting in some hours today between ten and five. I told him I'd probably be there earlier." She looked up at the clock, then turned back to Bo and placed a hand on her chest, "I have to get ready soon."

Bo nodded, "Me too. The sooner we get to work, the sooner we start our Christmas together, right?"

Again, the blonde nodded before kissing the brunette gently, allowing herself to fall into the scent, feel and taste that was purely Bo. The kiss deepened, as the pair moaned into each other's mouths before the brunette pulled back,

"We can't..." Bo said, "I'd love to, but... time... we can't..." The brunette was breathless as her need grew.

Lauren leaned her forehead against Bo's, "I know... I just... I just want to be close to you... hell, I always want to be close to you." Lauren chuckled, "It's funny that a few months ago, I tried to pull away and now that I'm all in, I can't stand to be apart. My head was in such a bad space..."

Bo shook her head, "Let it go, babe. Give it time. You'll look forward to time away from me when I get grumpy over something not going right at the school or being away from surfing."

Lauren frowned, "Why would you get grumpy over being away from surfing? I thought you were okay with your decision. You have miles and miles of coastline out there to surf on. Just because you're retiring doesn't mean you can't still do what you love to do the most."

Bo smirked, pushing Lauren back on the couch. The blonde landed slightly on her side, allowing Bo access to run her hand from the small of her girlfriend's back, over her ass to the back of her thigh before she lifted her leg to pull it around her hip,

"Let's get one thing straight... the thing I love to do the most..." Bo paused to kiss Lauren's hip before lifting her eyes to meet the beautiful brown eyes she adores, "... is you." The brunette smiled as she shifted up and lowered her lips to Lauren's, enjoying another deep, heated kiss before pulling back, "...maybe I was wrong about that 'we can't' thing... maybe 'we can'... if we're quick."

Lauren allowed her head to drop back, exposing her neck as she moaned into Bo's touch, "Mmmm... you keep doing that... mmmm... just like that... and I promise you... I'll be quick."

Bo chuckled, "I can do even better."

Lauren smirked, "And if we do it together, we can be even faster."

She slid her hand down Bo's back to her hip pulling her closer. Bo moaned and replied, "We can save even more time if we move this to the shower."

"Mmmm... agreed."

The two stood, and ran off to the shower, Bo slapping Lauren's ass as she squealed and the brunette giggled as they ran.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Hi Chief. You asked to see me when I arrived?" Lauren stood before Trick, her hands deep in the pockets of her lab coat as she spoke.

"Dr. Lewis! It's great to see you. Did you have a good long weekend?"

"I did, thank you very much. And you?"

Trick nodded, "I did as well, thank you."

"So what's going on?"

"Well, first, it's nothing serious, so don't worry. You have a patient who has been waiting to see you in Room 2. She insists that only Dr. Lauren can see her because she's her special doctor and special friend. She won't let anyone else touch her."

Lauren smiled, knowing immediately who it was, "Emma? Why is she here?"

Trick led Lauren by the elbow through the hallway towards the ER, "As I said, it's nothing serious. One of the counselors brought her in because she broke open two of her sutures."

Lauren sighed, "Let me guess... surfing?"

Trick shook his head, "It was paddle boarding this time."

"Paddle boarding? I didn't know kids her age could..."

Trick shook his head and interrupted, "This little girl isn't like kids her age, Lauren. If if it's on the water, she wants to ride it, spin it, sit in it or surf it. She's fearless."

"Yea, well there's such a thing as common sense." Lauren frowned.

"She's four, Lauren."

The blonde sighed, "I know, I know."

The pair remained silent as Trick watched Lauren run her fingers through her hair and sigh before shoving her hands back in her pockets.

"Ready?" Trick asked.

Lauren nodded before she pushed open the doors, allowing the sounds of monitors and alarms to flood her mind. Emma hated these sounds and she now felt bad that the little girl had been forced to wait for her. Of course, if she weren't so stubborn, she would have allowed another doctor to check her sutures. She chuckled, turning the corner around the nurses' station as she thought to herself,

' _She's as stubborn as Bo.'_

"Here's your first patient's chart, Dr. Lewis."

"Thank you, Helen. Trick filled me in. How is she?"

"I thought she was going to cave in and take another doc a few times, but she's a stubborn one, that little girl."

Lauren smiled, "Yea... don't I know it. Thanks, Helen."

The doctor waved the chart at the Nurse before moving to Emma's bay and sliding back the curtain,

"So, how's my special patient today?"

"Wauwen!"

"Hi sweetie. I hear we were paddle boarding?"

Emma frowned and nodded slowly.

"And what did we say about your stitches and water... and about your stitches and activity?"

Emma's eyes welled with tears. Lauren bit her lip, trying to remain unphased by the tiny trail of moisture that slid down the adorable little girl's face as she spoke,

"I'm sowwy, Wauwen. Mavwick and Jacob werwa out therwa and... I couldn't not go! It's too much fun!"

It took all the restraint Lauren could muster not to laugh at the little girl, "Well, I guess we'll see just how much fun it will be once we see how much damage you did, huh?"

The truth was, having to fix the stitches may or may not be painful. It all depended on how much damage was done.

"Dr. Lewis? The van is here from Kenbo for Emma." Helen said, peeking her head in the curtain.

Lauren looked over her shoulder, "I'm just getting started, Helen. Can you ask the staff member to come in?"

Bo stuck her head under Helen's arm, "Already here."

Lauren's eyes went wide at the sight of her girlfriend's brilliant smile,

"Surprise!" She ducked under Helen's arm before the nurse dropped the curtain again, "I got to my office and someone told me I needed to send someone to pick up a naughty little girl at the hospital."

Bo looked at Emma who covered her face with her little hands.

"Don't you hide from me, young lady."

"Wauwen alweady yelled at me, Bo."

"Well, maybe you need to hear it from both of us. Paddle boarding, Emma? Really?"

"But Maverwick..."

"Maverick has been cleared to return to mild activity, but you are barely able to walk let alone stand." Bo reprimanded before moving to the young girl's side when her tears began to fall.

The brunette looked up at Lauren who gave her a hopeful look. It was a look that told Bo she had already been hard enough on the girl... time for good cop.

"Emma, look at me, sweetie." Bo took the little girl's hand in both of hers and waited for her to look up, "You know that Dr. Lauren and I love you very much and we don't want to see you get hurt. I know it's hard for you to have to sit and watch the other kids play in the water right now, but it's something you have to do right now until you're better."

"It's so hard." Emma replied, her eyes brimming with tears, "I don't get to have any fun."

Bo looked up at Lauren who nodded towards the sutures, signaling she was about to get to work on Emma's side. Taking a deep breath, Bo turned back to the young girl,

"Emma, Dr. Lauren is going to start to work on your stitches now, sweetie. You're bleeding, so she has to close everything back up. It's going to hurt a bit, but you have to promise to hold real still or she'll have to give you a needle to numb the pain."

"No! No! No needle! No needle, Bo!"

The brunette leaned down and wrapped her arms tightly around the young girl, being careful to leave Lauren space to work. Lauren waited until Bo had Emma settled,

"Shhh... it's okay, sweetie. I've got you. She's not going to give you the needle as long as you're still, okay? Can you be a brave little girl and be still for Dr. Lauren?"

"I guess."

"Okay... let's sing the banana song, okay?" Bo asked.

Emma nodded and began singing tentatively with her mentor, "Day-o, day-o, daylight come and me wan' go home. Day! Me say day, me say day, me say day-o. Daylight come and me wan' go home. Come Mr. tally man, tally me bananas..."

Lauren smiled and listened to the pair sing, occasionally stopping her work when Emma would cringe and hold her breath, then resume when Bo would give her a nod. She worked as quickly as possible to repair the damage before again cleaning he wound as she did before she'd begun stitching. She carefully covered it with a clean, sterile dressing and then pulled the young girl's shirt down.

"All done." She smiled down at Emma before standing up and peeking out of the curtain to give Helen a wave.

Bo helped Emma up, noticing that her eyes were growing heavy. Helen arrived with a wheelchair just then, handing it off to Lauren who smiled up at her girlfriend,

"That's common in children her age. When they experience something traumatic, their body's instinct is to shut down to take them away from the pain. She'll sleep soon and she'll sleep for a while."

Bo nodded with a sigh, "Well, that's at least a few hours I won't have to chain her to the dock."

She looked up at Lauren, "What am I going to do with her, Lauren? Despite my warnings, the kid is just drawn to the outdoors and water. She's so damn stubborn."

Lauren couldn't help the laugh that escaped, "Sounds like one of her mentors."

"Kenzi, I know." Bo nodded.

"I was thinking she was as stubborn as you, actually. Have you already forgotten being in the hospital?"

"Ha. Ha." Bo smirked.

Helen poked her head in and handed Lauren the discharge instructions, adding her two cents, "Kenzi says she's just like you when you were young."

Bo scowled, "How would Kenzi know? She's younger than me, so she didn't know me when I was young!"

Helen raised both hands in self-defense before leaving the bay. Lauren just laughed, "Bo, she is a lot like you... you have to admit it."

"I don't have to admit to anything." Bo said, staring at Lauren before both of them burst into laughter.

"So, how did you really end up coming here?" Lauren asked.

"When I heard it was Emma, I knew she would be freaking out unless you were here. Knowing that you left the shower the same time I did, I was sure she would be alone unless Helen or Violet were here, since the counselor they'd sent was scheduled to be off shift an hour ago. She stayed until she was sure Helen was here then had to get back since they needed the all of the vans for an ocean kayak pick up."

"So why didn't you send someone else?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, leaning in to give Lauren a light kiss on the lips, "And miss the chance to be unprofessional with you in an ER bay?"

Lauren slapped the brunette's shoulder, "Stop it. Emma's right there."

Bo looked over at the young girl, "She's adorable all passed out like that. I wish I could snap my fingers and make that happen whenever she wanted to be in the water."

Lauren nodded, "Me too."

Bo lifted the sleepy little one into her arms, "I think I'll just carry her out if that's okay."

Lauren nodded again, "That's fine, sweetie. Just be sure to..."

"I know... we'll keep her locked down. She's grounded for at least two days for starters. She's not cleared for any waterfront activity without counselor supervision. Maverick and Jacob are not counselors."

"Agreed." Lauren replied, "So, I'll see you later?"

Bo leaned over and kissed the blonde on the cheek, "You will. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Kenbo School**_

"Yo BoBo!"

"Shhh..." Bo said, climbing out of the school van before carefully opening the van door to reveal the sleeping child, "She's out cold! Let's keep it that way so she doesn't rip the stitches out less than thirty minutes after Lauren finished putting them in, okay?"

Kenzi tip-toed over to the van, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. She peeked over her shoulder and whispered, "Awww... how can you be mad at her? She's so dang adorable! I just want to pinch her rosy little cheeks!"

Bo looked over her shoulder at her sister, allowing Emma to lay down on the seat after her seatbelt was removed. She whispered,

"Her cheeks are rosy because she was crying the whole time Lauren put new stitches into the wound over her lung... her lung, Kenzi! She can't get an infection! If it spreads..."

"I know, I know!" Kenzi whispered back, waving her arms as well before putting her hands by her side and hanging her head, "I know. I left the newbie watching her."

"Shit! Greg? Kenzi, we haven't even received his clearances yet, let alone decided on hiring him. He screws up twice as much as any rookie we've ever had. He's not even supposed to be here unless he's visiting Blaise!" Bo sighed, running her hands through her hair, "Damn, I miss Dewey!"

"Me too." Kenzi replied, "But he made it to the WSL qualifying league. You remember those days... hell, I was living those days until my last competition! And Greg was here visiting Blaise, but friend Blaise had to take his shift on the waterfront which is why I thought it would be okay for Greg to watch Emma."

"So how did Blaise let Emma get hurt on the waterfront?"

"Well, I forgot to ask which waterfront he would be on. Blaise was on the sailing island while Greg was here on the surf beach with Emma. He swore they were playing in the sand one minute and Emma was in the water the next."

Bo sighed, "Yea, that definitely sounds like Emma." She looked back to make sure Emma was still sleeping, "What are we going to do with her Kenzi?"

The younger Dennis sister looked at the sleeping little girl and smiled, "You know, she reminds me of..."

"Don't say it."

"But..."

"Don't..." Bo warned.

"She's you and you know it!"

Bo threw her hands up, "Fine! She's just like me when I was a kid! Are you happy?"

"That you finally admitted you were like a mini-tornado? Yes! I always got blamed for all of the trouble we got into when I was usually just following your lead! Climbing the rocks at Mavericks... grounded... going night surfing with Donnie and Grant... grounded... taking the wave runners to the fourth of July fireworks when we found the keys that Mom had hidden when she'd told us no... grounded and extra chores for a month!"

"Hey... that one was totally your idea!" Bo argued.

"Yea, well it wasn't my brilliant idea to replace the statue of old general whats-his-face's gun with a surfboard in the main square."

"It was a symbolic gesture of my protest."

"And what exactly was the message you hoped to send? Make waves, not war?"

"Something like that. The kids at school were talking about it for months and a picture of old general whats-his-face made it into our yearbook WITH the surfboard in his hand instead of the gun!"

"Well, the only message I got was that helping Bo with her pacifist messages will get me no dinner, grounded for a week and no surfing for a month! A month, Bo!"

"Yea, well maybe..." Bo searched for a quick-witted response, "... maybe I saved your life with that stunt!"

"Saved my life?" Kenzi asked.

"Yea... maybe Poseiden would have killed you on a wave that month if you had surfed!"

"Really? That's all you've got?"

Bo shrugged, "Yea, well my mind is distracted."

"By the hot lady love who finally scratched that itch you've had for months?" Kenzi laughed.

Bo crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, "Do not cheapen my reunion with Lauren!"

Kenzi laughed, "Fine. But you did run off to see her... the first chance you got. Getting a little clingy, aren't you sis?"

Bo sighed, "I'm going to miss her something terrible when she's gone, Kenzi."

"So what's the difference between now and all the months she's been gone? No silver lining yet?"

The smile that spread across Bo's face told Kenzi all she needed to know before the words even left Bo's mouth,

"We're together again... she wants to be a couple and for the first time in a really, really long time... I think we're gonna be okay, Kenz."

"Well it's about time." Kenzi smiled, draping an arm over her sister's shoulder.

Bo was quiet as she turned to face Emma, "So what are we going to do with her, Kenzi? How do we keep this little tornado safe? This school is growing faster than we can keep up with staffing."

"Well, they just keep sending more and more kids to us." Kenzi shrugged.

Bo nodded, "And because we're accepting state funding, we can't refuse the kids they send. We need more counselors for the tougher cases, Kenzi. Hale and Ciara are so overworked and so is their staff."

Kenzi replied, "I know, Bo and so does the Judge. She's working on it with the Governor. They're sending us kids from all over the country and the great state of Hawaii is footing the bill for what's becoming a federal school. So..."

Bo turned away from Emma and back at her sister, "So what, Kenz?"

Kenzi sighed, "I don't know how you're going to feel about this, but... well... the Judge... and mind you, she did this quietly just between the two of us... suggested that maybe we need to go national."

"National? Kenzi! We can barely keep what we have going here! How will we..."

"Shhh... don't wake little T!"

"Little T?"

"Yea... Tamsin is Big T... she's little T."

"Her name is Emma... Little E?"

"No... her name is little Tornado... you're big Tornado... she's little T."

"Don't call her that. You'll confuse her." Bo argued.

"She's smarter than you think."

"I'm sure she is... everyone thinks everyone can do more than I think, just like you and the judge think we can afford... no, handle... opening up even one more Kenbo school! Are you two out of your child saving minds?" Bo's hands flailed through the air as whisper became more of a rasp.

"Bo, national school means federal funding."

"Where is our massively in-debt federal government going to get money for us?"

"The money is already there, according to the Judge. It's about shifting the allocation of funds from programs that are proving unsuccessful to this school, which has proven itself successful."

"Okay, so what's the rush?"

"Uh... I believe we just talked about how overpopulated our little world is here?"

"Yea, but if we open the schools too fast and without proper oversight, they'll fail. Then what does that do to our reputation as a school? We have to protect the Kenbo name, Kenzi. This school is our model for what can be. Let the damn feds figure out their own mess."

"You don't mean that, Bo."

"Yes, Kenzi! I do!"

"No, you don't because the minute that you remember that it's kids just like us that are in the mess the feds created, you'll start thinking rationally and more optimistically to arrive at a viable plan rather than drowning in the negative Nelly's like you are right now. If Mom and Dad were here right now, they'd kick your ass for what you just said and you know it."

Bo rounded on Kenzi and extended her arms to grip her shoulders roughly as she yelled, "But they're not here, are they Kenz!"

Bo froze, holding Kenzi's shoulders as the younger sister turned her head away, eyes closed in fear. Realizing what she'd just done, she released her sister,

"Kenz... I'm so sorry... i..."

"Bo?"

The older brunette looked at Kenzi, sadness on her face as she sighed and turned towards the little voice in the band,

"Hi Sweetie. Are you still tired?" Bo asked, climbing in next to the little girl.

"Uh-huh... sleep more."

"That's fine, sweetie. Close your eyes." Bo smoothed her fingers gently across the tight blonde curls of the child as she watched her eyes close once again. She turned back to Kenzi,

"I don't know why I..."

"They're gone Bo... they've been gone for a very long time. The problem is, they left all of the burden... all of it... the house, our Aunt, me, money, school, college... all of it... on you. I think that sometimes... rarely... but sometimes... having to care for all of these kids... well, when we get into discussions about the powers that be... you see them as Mom and Dad... adults who have left children behind that you are now responsible for and when we talk about it... well... you get... like that."

"Did you suddenly switch your major to Psych?"

"No, but I have been talking to Ciara and..."

"About me?"

"At times, yes and I'm sure you talked about me as well so we're even."

Bo sighed, knowing her sister was right, "So you both think that I have some sort of parent complex?"

"No, just a lot of residual anger towards adults who don't take care of kids or who leave kids to handle things that adults are supposed to handle. You want kids to have their childhood since you couldn't have your own and you're very protective of that... it's honorable, really."

Bo nodded, "Protective, huh?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing. It's not, BoBo."

The brunette only nodded and placed a hand on Emma's back, rubbing it soothingly as she grew restless again.

"Bo?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can I go way in my big bed?"

"Yes, sweetie. I can take you to go lay in your big bed. Come on." Bo groaned a bit as she lifted the dead weight of the little girl into her arms until her head was resting on her shoulder. She turned to Kenzi and whispered,

"How do we keep her safe, Kenz? And no more Greg."

"Agreed... and I'm sorry about that, Bo. She got hurt on my decision. It won't happen again." Kenzi closed the door to the van as Bo stepped away and headed towards Emma's residence hall.

"We need a staff meeting... maybe if we brainstorm options for some of our... special cases..." She nodded to Emma, "... that need a little more supervision we can all come up with something."

"Mom used to take you to the museum, remember? Whenever you were hurt, she'd take you to any museum and every movie she could find."

Bo looked at Kenzi, her face the picture of concentration, "You're right. So how do we get her to the museum for most of the day... and to movies?"

The pair shared a glance and together said, "Staff meeting."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"BO! If you don't hurry up, you'll be late to pick up Lauren!"

Just as Kenzi began to stomp towards her sister's room, the older sister turned the corner, putting the last earring into her ear,

"I know, Kenzi!"

"Whoa." Tamsin said, her eyes raking over her girlfriend's sister who turned and glared at the blonde. Tamsin shrugged, "What? You know I think your sister is hot and she never... and I do mean never... looks like that."

Tamsin pointed towards Bo but kept her eyes on Kenzi as she walked towards her with a smirk. Leaning in, she whispered to the younger sister,

"Besides, you know I love the wild child side of the Dennis family much, much, much, much more..." She kissed her lips lightly, trailing kisses all over Kenzi's face, neck, shoulders, and arms until she reached her hands as she continued to whisper, "... you know damn well that you are the only woman who makes me laugh... smile... yearn... want... need... the only one who keeps me... focused... directed... the only one who makes me feel... complete."

She tipped Kenzi's chin up to meet her eyes, "I love you, Kenz... no offense to your sister, but she can't hold a candle to you. She may be hot, but you are the total package for me."

Kenzi pushed the blonde back, "Yea, yea, yea... keep on groveling... we'll see where you sleep tonight."

The two parted when they heard Bo rifling through the junk drawer.

"Bo?"

"What's she doing?" Tamsin asked.

"No idea. BO! You're late!"

Bo turned back to Kenzi, tears in her eyes, "I know! I can't find it! I can't find it! I know I put it in here!"

Kenzi moved quickly to her sister's side, "No crying! It took me an hour to get your make up perfect!" She carefully blotted at her sister's face, careful to keep the lines of her smokey eyes perfect, "Now, what can't you find?"

"Lauren's Christmas gift! I can't find it! I wrapped it and everything!"

Kenzi sighed and nodded for Tamsin to tag in and take care of her sister while she walked across the living room, snickering quietly to herself.

Bo looked up at Tamsin, her eyes distraught, "You know, you really need to pull your shit together, Bobolicious." She nodded towards her girlfriend, "You gave Kenzi Lewis' present before you got on the plane to Colorado."

Bo slammed her palm against her head, "Shit! I forgot! I decided not to give it to her then..."

Tamsin nodded as they watched Kenzi pull the small box from the safe, "... because you weren't sure where you were going and decided it could wait until Christmas..."

"... at least." Kenzi added, walking back towards her sister who was frowning in her direction, "What? That's what you said. If she didn't have her shit together by December, you were going to wait longer... your words, not mine."

Bo took the offered package from Kenzi, "Thanks. I don't know why I'm so emotional, I mean... we had a great day. I spent the whole time reminding Lauren to take one day at a time and live in the moment, but right now all I can think about is that she's flying out of here after the new year and I'm going to miss her so damn much."

Kenzi and Tamsin looked at each other before the raven-haired girl spoke, "Time to reconsider your Olympic run? You could get your first three-week training session in and I'll do mine after yours."

"After the conversation we had today, you think I'll have time to leave here?" Bo asked sarcastically.

"No, but after the conversation I had with the National Education Association when you left the staff meeting, you may be finding yourself a little less stressed since our kids just might be in better hands."

"You took Rob's advice without asking me?" Bo asked.

"It was Rob's suggestion, so I looked into it. I gathered information, Bo... that's all. While I was talking to them, some ideas came to me. I wrote it all down for us to talk about it sometime when you're not really, really late to pick up your date for Christmas dinner."

"Shit!" Bo stood up, then ran back to her seat and grabbed her clutch, then turned to run towards the door, then ran back to grab the gift, then turned to run towards the door and then turned back again only to run into Kenzi who placed two hands on her sister's shoulders,

"Stop. Think."

She reached over her shoulder and took the wrap that she knew Tamsin would be handing to her and draped it around her sister's upper body. She then reached back again and took the car keys and handed them to Bo before reaching back once more for the emergency makeup pack she had packed. Handing it to Bo, she said,

"Put this in your clutch... it has everything you'll need if the waterworks turn on again. Are you sure she didn't get you pregnant and that's why you're all hormonal?"

"Ha. Ha, Kenzi."

The younger sister pulled Bo in for a hug which Tamsin joined, "Have I mentioned that I love being part of the Dennis Family?"

Bo pulled away and laughed, "Well, it's the only family you'll have if we're late to your parent's house."

"Crap! Kenz, let's get going!" Tamsin said, hustling off towards Kenzi's room to finish getting ready.

Kenzi shook her head, "We still have an hour! Bo's the one who's late because she decided to pick up her girlfriend an hour early!"

Bo looked at Kenzi, "I thought that dinner was at 6:30."

"We just told you that to make sure you'd be there by seven. You're always late."

Bo frowned, as Kenzi laughed, "Now go... luckily Lauren knows the same thing about you or she'd be worried sick that you changed your mind about the two of you by now."

"You're right... I better go." Bo said, kissing her sister lightly on the cheek before wiping the lipstick away, "Wouldn't want Tamsin to think another hot chick was kissing your cheek."

"You're not that hot... she thinks I'm hotter."

Bo called back as she opened the door, "Keep dreamin' little sister! Just keep dreamin'!"

Kenzi grumbled as she turned and stalked back to her room to finish getting ready for dinner at her girlfriend's house.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren walked to the door when she heard the doorbell ring. She hadn't heard it before so she had to laugh at the tune that played. She knew it had been Bo's doing, so when she opened the door, there was still a hint of amusement as she came face to face with her girlfriend.

Bo looked down at her dress, then ran her hands over her face and hair, "Is... is there something funny?"

Lauren laughed some more, "No... I mean... yes, but it's not you... well... it is you, or rather something you did. I just... when you rang the doorbell it was the first time I'd heard it. That was you, wasn't it... the tune?"

A broad smile spread across Bo's face as she realized the tune had the desired affect on the blonde, "Guilty as charged, Doctor Lewis."

Lauren smiled, taking Bo's hand and pulling her gently inside before closing the door and walking her towards the nearest wall. She raked her eyes over the brunette's body,

"You look incredibly beautiful." She said, her fingers moving slowly... softly... down Bo's neck, following the line down the center of her chest until they gripped the necklace, "I've never seen this before. New?"

Bo shook her head, "It was my Mom's."

"Oh? It's beautiful."

"The diamond was a promise from my Dad that he would marry her one day. He later had our two birthstones added on either side. He gave her the original necklace on the second Christmas the two of them had ever celebrated together... said it was a family tradition. Then he had our birthstones set in it for the Christmas after Kenzi was born. It was her favorite piece of jewelry next to her engagement ring. I insisted that Kenzi take that piece. I have her wedding band and Kenzi has my Dad's. It's sort of cool to have the things that were most precious in their relationship."

Lauren nodded, watching Bo's eyes stare down at the jewel in her fingers before lowering it gently back to lay perfectly on her chest once again.

"You look amazing, Lauren. I love your hair up like this." Bo smiled, moving her fingers to play with the long strand of curls that hung from the side of Lauren's temple, her other hand moving to take advantage of the bared skin the style allowed.

"So... you remembered, huh?" Lauren asked.

"What?"

"The doorbell."

Bo laughed, "Of course I did... I mean, I don't think any of us will soon forget the day you asked Kenzi and Lauren to turn up Motown, take you out for ice cream and seafood after going all James Bond on your ex in the prison visitation room. I... I don't want it to be a reminder of that last bit... I want it to be a reminder of your freedom... and maybe of me..." Bo trailed off.

Lauren raised her hand, cupping Bo's face, "It's a reminder of you, baby. And I love that..."

The blonde stepped back and took Bo's hand, spinning her under her arm, as she hit the doorbell and began to sing,

"... you ain't too proud to beg... sweet darlin'... please don't leave me girl..."

Bo smiled, "... don't you go..."

"... ain't too proud to plead, baby, baby... please don't leave me girl..."

"... don't you go..."

Bo fell into Lauren's arms giggling as the doorbell chime stopped. The two women held each other swaying back and forth until they came to a stop and looked deeply into each other's eyes, sharing a smile and a breath before they moved into a slow, sensual kiss that quickly deepened. When they finally pulled apart, Bo's eyes still closed, Lauren smiled,

"I love you, Bo Dennis... and I think this night is the one I will think of most when I'm without you in Colorado. I have a feeling the memories of this night will warm me when it's snowing there."

Bo's eyes filled with tears, leading Lauren to frown, "Hey, hey... what's this all about? We're about to have a great night together... why the tears?" Lauren asked.

Bo laughed, "Apparently we've switched positions on the whole idea of keeping our minds in the here and now. I've been a blubbering idiot for the past hour." She looked up at Lauren, "Help?"

"Awww... sweetie... it's okay." Lauren said, pulling the brunette in and holding her closely as she mumbled into her shoulder,

"Kenzi's gonna kill me."

"Why?" Lauren asked, allowing Bo enough space to turn her head to the side.

"She did my face... it took her an hour. Well, she claims it took her an hour, but it was really only about twenty minutes. You know how she loves to exaggerate."

The blonde smiled, "I do. You okay?"

"In a minute... okay?"

"Mmmm... whatever you need. We have another thirty minutes to dinner."

They stood there, feeling the thrumming in each other's chests, staying with each other in the moment... counting the moments by each beat of their hearts.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The Torrent Mansion was decked out from rooftop to mailbox with lights and bows. Santa's sleigh adorned the rooftop and made Lauren wonder what Christmas in Colorado was like this time of year. She'd only ever seen snow for the holiday when she was on the east coast for the various tournaments and internships she'd had in college and medical school.

Dinner had been full of fun, food, drink, laughter and even carols sung around the piano played by Moms. The evening had flown by and now all of the guests had been escorted into the family room where there was a grand tree that stretched its decorated bows from ceiling to floor. Once everyone was seated, a large, draped table, round in shape was wheeled into the room.

Pops took his wife's hand and smiled, kissing her cheek before addressing the group from behind the table,

"So, if you all ever compare conversations, you may have noticed that the two of us have been asking you about your fondest Christmas memories, so as a gift to each of you for all of the love this new family has given us this year, we thought we would try to help you relive those memories as best as we were able."

Moms looked at her husband before she continued, "Now, we would have sent Vex back across the pond to the UK, but he told us his fondest memories were here."

"And the same can be said for Ciara, though we did find it curious that both seemed to prefer this family of misfits over spending the holidays with their own flesh and blood so... we got you the next best thing."

Moms gave a nod towards the TV where a video began playing. The group watched as Vex shouted,

"Oi! Uncle Albert!"

They all watched as their friend's uncle spoke to him from his home in Wales followed by several other relatives. Finally, his Mum and Dad came together on the screen with his sister, sending well wishes to him. Ciara stood and placed an arm over his shoulder, handing him a box of tissues before walking with him to sit down.

Everyone smiled as Vex had his moment with his family before Ciara took the box back when she saw her family begin to appear on the screen one at a time. They all laughed as the two laughed at Ciara's parents' horrible attempts at humor. It was the going joke that the brilliant psychiatrist was wise with problems of the mind, but couldn't manage to pull together a quick quip on occasion. Usually, she was the one who 'didn't get it' when a joke was cracked.

They continued to watch the screen as the Santiago family gave their Christmas wishes, which was formal and... well, awkward at best. Bo and Kenzi shared a glance across the room, both girls well aware that their families would not be making an appearance, but secure in the knowledge that they had each other.

Bo turned to Lauren to see her sitting with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes staring blankly out of the large picture window next to the large brick mantel of the fireplace,

"Hey. Where are you?" Bo asked, placing a gentle hand on Lauren's thigh, "You okay?"

Lauren gave Bo a soft smile as she turned to look at her, "Yea. I guess... just watching everyone's family... I just..."

The blonde suddenly stood, looking up at the television, both of her hands moving quickly to her face,

"Lauren? Lauren?" She watched as an old woman turned away from the camera, "I don't know how this works. Can she hear me?"

A young man's voice was heard, "No Ma'am... she can't hear you right now, but we're recording everything you say. She will hear and see this message. You just talk to her as if you were writing her a letter."

"All these newfangled machines. Don't people use telephones anymore?" The old woman looked back towards the screen, squinting as if looking for something.

"Just speak, Ma'am. I promise she'll hear your message."

Bo stood and caught Lauren just as she began to fall back onto the loveseat they'd been sitting on,

"Lauren?"

"My God, Bo... it's my Aunt... it's her. I recognize her now... she's... my God she's so... old... she looks so... different... so tired."

Bo went to speak, but stopped when she heard the voice again,

"Well, they say you can hear me. Lauren? They say you're alive. I don't know how I can believe them. I went to your... well... no matter... but since you left for college I thought I was alone. Now these people here are telling me you're still alive."

She shook her head, eyes down as she shook her head, trying to shake out her confusion, "I'm old, Lauren. This is all very confusing. I'm not sure if this is real. It's all very confusing. All of these machines... I'm not even sure if this young kid sitting here with me is real. He says he works for some doctor but then he calls him Pop. It's like everything runs together and none of it makes sense."

"Bo..."

The brunette looked down to see Lauren's hand pawing at the air, trying to find her hand to grab onto. Bo took the hand and gripped it tight, having no intention of letting it go,

"She's alive, Lauren. She's alive and she's looking for you. That's all that matters right now."

As the feed cut off, Lauren's eyes slowly moved to Pops and Moms who looked towards the entrance to the room where an old woman in a wheelchair was being pushed into the room by a young man the blonde recognized as Pops' assistant at Torrent, Inc.

Bo watched as her girlfriend slowly released her hand and stood to walk over to the woman. Leaning down, she placed a gentle hand on the older woman's and knelt down in front of her,

"Aunt Hattie? It's me. It's Lauren. You're not dreaming. It's me. I'm alive. I'm here."

The woman's eyes went wide before welling up with tears, "Lauren?"

Lauren leaned into the hand that now touched her cheek, "It's me."

"You look so much like your Mother... I miss her so much. I was so angry with her for so long after she married that... bastard. She died and I never had a chance to tell her I loved her..." She looked up at Lauren, "I took that anger out on you." Her eyes welled with tears, "I was supposed to give you a childhood and I gave you my anger instead. I thought you died without me telling you..."

Lauren wiped her face, as the woman continued, "I love you... I always loved you Little LoLo."

The blonde's eyes filled with tears at the mention of the nickname she'd known from when she was very, very young.

"It's okay, Aunt Hattie. I was quite a handful." Lauren said, laughing.

The older woman smiled, "Yes you were and we didn't have a whole lot in common except movies and our love for women."

Lauren's eyes went wide, as the older woman laughed, "Do you think I never noticed the way you used to look at Tina Rosetti?"

The entire room laughed, drawing the attention of the two women. Lauren looked over her shoulder and caught Bo smiling at her. She extended her hand, inviting Bo to come over to join her,

"Aunt Hattie, I'd like you to meet Ysabeau Dennis. She's my new Tina Rosetti."

The old woman looked up at Bo, her face growing stern, "Are you good to my Little LoLo?"

Bo knelt down in front of her girlfriend's aunt, "It is my mission in life to be good to your niece, Ma'am. It is my mission to make sure she feels loved... cherished every minute that we're together so that when we're apart, she still carries that feeling with her."

"A poet, are ya?"

The brunette's eyes went wide as Lauren laughed at her Aunt's spunk. It was nice for the blonde to see she hadn't lost her tough edge in her old age.

"No Ma'am, just telling you how it is."

Hattie looked closely at Lauren's hand, "Well, I heard this song the other day in the lounge. They roll all of us old folks in there during the day so we can sit and play checkers, stare at the idiot box or out a window. This dark skinned woman with legs that go on forever was on TV and she was singin' a song that you aut listen to if you want to replace Tina Rosetti."

Bo looked at Lauren for any hint that her Aunt might be joking, but immediately turned her attention back to the old woman's voice,

"Hey! I'm over here! That woman said 'if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it'... I don't see no ring here, Izzy-Bo!" She said, sliding her reading glasses up onto her nose to look at Lauren's finger more closely.

Bo looked over her shoulder at Kenzi and nodded. The young girl stood and moved out of the room as Bo turned back to the older woman,

"I understand your concern and out of respect for Lauren's privacy, I'll not share any of our history unless she chooses to share it with you. But what I will say is that we have had a long journey in a very short time. Our love has been tested, Ma'am. It's stood up to injury, death, liars, thieves, separation and all sorts of interference from the outside world. Despite all that we have been through... despite the fact that we still both have our moments... we are here tonight... stronger than we've ever been."

Kenzi passed by Bo, mostly unnoticed by anyone in the room as the brunette gave her speech. The one person who was acutely aware that she had passed was Bo, because her younger sister had used her slight of hand skills to pull off their famous bait and switch as she spoke.

"Lauren I had planned to do this later during our own Christmas, but since your Aunt is pressing the issue of how serious I am about us, I think I best help to reassure her right here and now."

"Bo, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. You and I now exactly where we're headed in life, so please don't think that I have any doubts about..."

The brunette lay a finger across Lauren's lips, silencing her, taking a moment to look into her eyes show she would know that she needed to just let her speak,

"I have no doubts, you have no doubts... hell, most of the people in this room have never had any doubts even when we did but your Aunt has just come back into her life and I want her to know and see what everyone in this room believes with all of their hearts as we do. I want her to know that you and I are the real deal... that I will never give her cause to worry that you are in anything but the best of hands. That you are loved by a heart and soul that will cherish and treasure you all of my life."

Bo looked down and took Lauren's hand in her own, "I want her to know that every minute of every day that I am lucky enough to look into your eyes, that I will never see fear when you look back at me, because I will never give you cause to fear me. I want her to know that you will only ever see and feel love, understanding, trust, support and security for as long as you'll have me... I just happen to hope that will be for the rest of my life."

The brunette reached up to cup Lauren's cheek, placing a light kiss on her lips before trailing her fingers down to the two necklaces now hanging from the blonde's neck. Separating the chain that held her gold medal replica from the new chain that her sister had hung there moments earlier,

Lauren looked down, "Wha- Wha- Where did that come from?"

Bo smiled, looking up at Kenzi and Tamsin who were right behind Lauren, watching, "You can thank Kenzi's days teen angst years for that slick trick. The important part is what's on the end of the chain."

Bo slipped her hand down to reveal a diamond ring hanging from the chain, "I know we haven't talked about it and I know that we are about to be separated again, but I couldn't allow you to leave again without making sure that you were clear on my intentions for you, Doctor Lauren Lewis."

They heard a gasp and looked to see Lauren's Aunt holding her hands up to her mouth, her eyes wide, "I'm so sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment... you're a doctor? You made it?"

Bo and Lauren laughed as the blonde replied, "I am and I did, Aunt Hattie... thanks to years of you working three jobs and teaching me perseverance."

"I taught you that?"

Bo looked at Lauren and smiled proudly, "You certainly did, Aunt Hattie. You have no idea how that one trait has seen Lauren through some of her darkest days."

Hattie tapped Bo on the shoulder, "I'm sorry, dear... continue... you had just called her Doctor." Aunt Hattie looked at Lauren, "She's got a very sexy voice, LoLo... I like her."

Lauren blushed as Bo and the room worked hard to stifle their laughter at the old woman's remark before the brunette continued,

"You saved my life on that beach, you saved my life in the hospital, you saved my life in Rio, you knocked sense into me so many times I've lost count and... well... Lauren... you saved my heart from a lifetime of emptiness. Without you, I was walking through life numb to the possibility of real, honest, true love. With you, I'm reborn... I feel... I feel new and I want you to feel that way with me. Lauren Lewis, will you promise me that some day... maybe not now... but that you will some day consider putting that ring on and committing to a life with me?"

Lauren smiled softly at Bo before leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips, "Kenzi, please take this necklace off of me so I can put this ring on my finger."

The younger Dennis didn't need to be told twice as she undid the clasp with one hand, keeping hold of the chain, allowing the ring to drop into Bo's waiting hand. Lauren held out her hand to Bo,

"Don't back out now." She smiled.

Bo shook her head, "I'm never backing out, Lauren. I'm yours."

"And I'm yours, Ysabeau."

The pair fell into a soft kiss that deepened, drawing a roar of applause and cheers from the room until Aunt Hattie slapped the pair on their shoulders,

"Stop you two! You'll give an old woman a heart attack."

Bo smiled, kissing Lauren gently on the forehead before helping her to her feet. She looked up at Pops,

"Well, if I know you, the surprises aren't over yet."

The older man replied, "You're right about that, my dear."

He clapped his hands together and moved to wheel Hattie over to the loveseat where Bo and Lauren resumed sitting. The blonde leaned her hand over, taking her Aunt's and whispering,

"I can see why you thought this was a dream. I can't believe you're here."

They turned their attention to where Pops was now speaking once again,

"Bo and Kenzi, you know that I wish I had a way to bring your Mother and Father back to you, but what I can tell you is that a group of people have teamed up with Torrent, Inc. to turn your old family home into the first new branch of the Kenbo School, pending approval from the two of you. The main schoolhouse and residence building is financed, as is most of the waterfront construction. We are hoping that the state will fund the rest. The group, however, does wish to protect the original brand since you have other products attached, so they would like to name the school after your parents. It doesn't have to be decided now... or even next week."

He walked to Kenzi and Bo and handed them a file, "Here is everything you need to know to make your decision. The Judge will help you with any questions you have."

"She's on the funding committee..."

"And look... these are all of Mom and Dad's old surfing buddies!" Kenzi exclaimed.

Pops and Moms wrapped an arm over each other's shoulders and smiled before Moms explained,

"They heard about what you were doing with the brand through a surfing competition, which... well, if you look it up on the Internet, it leads you to the school and... well, let's just say they understood what you were trying to do for kids immediately."

Pops added, "Oh, and a man named 'Animal' wants you to know he's sorry he lost touch."

Bo and Kenzi looked at each other and wiggled their fingers before shouting, "Wooga, wooga, wooga, wooga, waaaaaaaa!"

The pair laughed and laughed before looking up to see everyone staring at them with wide eyes. Kenzi shrugged,

"What? Haven't you guys ever seen Animal's secret greeting before? It's one of a Maverick surfers' best kept secrets!"

Kenzi looked back at Bo and the pair busted out laughing once again before they closed the folder and Kenzi said,

"Thanks, Moms... Pops. Bo and I promised each other no shop talk tonight, so we'll look at this soon. This whole expansion thing has BoBo a little freaked out... too many decisions at once, ya know?"

"Got it." Pops replied, "So, on to our finale then!"

He moved to the mysterious table and gripped the cloth that was covering it while Moms moved to grip the other side of it as well.

"The one thing that all of you had in common as one of your favorite traditions was the 'O Tannenbaum Surf Competition and Gift Auction. We couldn't very well completely remove such a fond tradition, so we've decided to improvise."

He nodded to his assistant who opened the four double-doors that attached to the great room, revealing a device that resembled a surfboard of sorts.

"Viola!" Pops yelled, pointing towards the board before picking up a tiny Christmas tree on a stand and placing it on the end of the board.

Everyone stood, but before they could move, Moms pulled the cloth from the table and yelled, "Viola!"

The group turned to see a table full of gifts with fortune cookies topping each ribbon.

"Ohmagosh! Pops! Moms! This is Amazeballs!" Kenzi exclaimed, moving to the table before following the rest of the group towards the surfboards.

"I believe it's fortune cookies, first, correct?" Pops asked.

Bo smiled, "It is, Pops. This is perfect! What is it?"

"Oh, a buddy of mine owns a party supply store. He has all sorts of things like inflatable obstacle courses, moonbounces, mechanical bulls..."

"Mechanical bulls?" Bo and Kenzi asked in unison, laughing.

"Well, this device is actually a mechanical bull base with a surfboard on top instead of a bull. The control panel over there will be handled by my assistant, Bruce who will use a consistent pattern so as not to give anyone a disadvantage... well, except for the elderly and maybe Lauren since she has the least amount of surfing experience..."

Bo and Kenzi turned back with Lauren towards the sound of the older woman's voice as she spoke to the blonde,

"You surf?" Hattie asked her niece.

Lauren smiled, pointing up at Bo, "Well, Bo and Kenzi are both professional surfers so I'm learning. Oh, this is Kenzi and this is Pops and Moms daughter Tamsin. She's Kenzi's girlfriend."

"We've met." Tamsin smiled, nodding at Hattie who smiled broadly at Tamsin, "I've told her all about our gold medal Olympics and our National Championships. She was happy to know all of those bruises on your body from diving for balls paid off."

Lauren smiled, "They certainly did, Aunt Hattie."

"Good." She looked up at Bo, "So... a professional surfer, huh? How are you ever going to afford to keep my LoLo under a roof? Are you just after her doctoring money?"

Bo went to defend herself, but Lauren stepped in and shook her head at her Aunt as she spoke,

"Aunt Hattie, let me restate that for you. Bo just won the WSL Championship..."

"Oh, a winner who's a beach bum... even better!"

Lauren frowned, "Aunt Hattie, please listen and don't disrespect my girlfriend..."

"...Fiance..." Kenzi interjected, pointing to her own ring finger to remind the blonde.

"Right... now, Aunt Hattie, she just won the biggest competition in surfing and was invited to compete in the Olympic games. The championship won her more money than I would see working as a doctor for five years. In addition, she owns and runs a school for orphaned children called the Kenbo School... a school that she and her sister built from the ground up. They're being offered the opportunity to open up more schools, from what I've heard tonight, though I don't know much else about that yet." She turned and gave Bo a long stare before turning back to her Aunt, "Maybe you'd like to come and see it tomorrow?"

She gave Bo a long glance as if trying to measure her up before she looked at Lauren and smiled, "Oh, honey... I don't want to put you out."

"I live in a very nice home here, Aunt Hattie. You're family and I have plenty of space. Where are you living?"

"I'm not quite sure. Years ago, I... well... I get a little forgetful sometimes. Anyway, I was living in an apartment back in California and apparently I started a fire. No one was killed or anything, thank goodness, but they didn't see fit to renew my lease. The state came in and said I needed assistance so they put me in that home I live in now."

Lauren frowned, shaking her head, "Aunt Hattie, I'm sorry I didn't come looking for you. I was just talking to Bo about you yesterday. I explained that... well... from my point of view, you'd run off... at least, that's what Nadia had convinced me of in college."

"Nadia?"

"She's my ex and she's..."

"She's the woman... the police officer... she's the one that came to the door that day... the one that told me about your accident... she told me that you had been killed in the accident."

Lauren gripped Bo's arm... hard... before she spoke to her Aunt, "Well, I can assure you that she was quite wrong. I am here... you are here and we're both okay."

Hattie laughed, "Oh, child, I am far from okay but for now, I'll settle for the fact that we're together and I've had the opportunity to meet your friends."

Lauren smiled, "The Torrents have been family to me for years, Aunt Hattie. They've taken great care of me as is evidenced by the fact that they worked so hard to reunite us on this special night."

Hattie laughed, "I'm afraid I've grown quite tired, LoLo. I think it's time for me to head off to bed."

"Where are you staying?"

"Well, your Pops said that I would be staying here tonight. They have people who work here who can help me with my needs and he said there is a man who plays tricks who has a friend named Helen who has a Nurse named after a flower who would come and help me in the morning. It didn't make much sense to me, but then again, most things don't these days... 'specially when I'm tired."

"It's okay, Aunt Hattie. I know exactly what Pops meant and you will be in good hands here. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Lauren looked up at Bruce who smiled and came to wheel her Aunt off to one of the other workers present for tonight's event. She leaned down and gave her Aunt a kiss on the cheek, but noticed the woman had fallen asleep as quickly as she had said she was tired.

Bo wrapped an arm around the blonde and whispered, "Are you okay?"

She turned and looked up at Bo, "She had it all planned before we even met, didn't she? You heard her... as soon as I went to college. It was before we'd met. She stole more than ten years from us, Bo. She allowed me to believe my Aunt had deserted me."

Bo nodded, "She knew she couldn't wait until you were older, Lauren. It was all part of her manipulation. You entered college younger than everyone else. Less life experience means more naïve and she knew it and took advantage of that. It was not your fault. It's who she was. If she made you feel like you were all alone in the world, it would be easier to convince you that you needed her."

Lauren stood silently, leaning on Bo, "She thought I was dead... all of those years I thought she'd run out on me and she thought I was dead. I never looked for her... I never even tried... I just took Nadia's word for it. Just one more thing to be sorry about."

Kenzi interjected, "She's not... sorry, I mean. She's happy, Lauren. Is that the woman you remember from your teen years?"

Lauren looked at Kenzi for a long moment before she smiled, "Actually, no. The woman I was just with was the woman from my childhood... the woman that was my Aunt when my Mom was Dad was still alive."

"So maybe the two of you have come back into each others' lives at the perfect time? From the looks of it, she's going to need you now... and you'll have someone to give you away at your wedding... Sis." Kenzi winked at the blonde who smiled.

"Thanks, Kenzi." Lauren smiled, "That was just what I needed to hear."

"Great. Can we open fortune cookies now?"

"Absolutely." Lauren smiled before the three women turned back to where the rest of the group was already picking their fortune cookies.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren walked in the front door to her house, tossed her house keys in the basket and her clutch on the table before kicking off her shoes and walking right to the couch to lie down.

Bo walked into the house and laughed at the blonde who was just a little bit tipsy from too much wine, not to mention she was complaining from how much her feet hurt from surfing in high heels.

"My feet are killing me!" Lauren said, "Please rub them for me?"

Bo plopped down on the couch and immediately had the blonde's feet on her lap. She laughed and began rubbing,

"You know, I told you surfing in high heels was a bad idea."

"Your little sister challenged me. I had to establish my place in the hierarchy of the Dennis family."

"You lost." Bo laughed.

"Technically, that's not true. Bruce used the exact same pattern and I fell off ten seconds before her. Calculate the total number of years surf experience she has versus my months of experience and I win."

"That actually is a very good point." Bo smiled.

"Besides, I won the big prize of the night."

"Actually, Tamsin won the big prize in the auction."

"She won and auction prize, but I won Miss Ysabeau Dennis... see?"

Lauren held out her hand to reveal her shining engagement ring.

Bo kissed the ring and smiled, "I see. But I think I'm the one that got the real prize."

"You won a toilet bowl brush."

Bo smiled, scooting up next to Lauren, "And you do love a clean commode."

"Then what did you win?"

"I won every inch of skin attached to this ring." Bo replied, kissing down Lauren's neck and pulling the strap of her dress down until it exposed her breast, "... every delicious inch of skin..."

She was just about to take the nipple into her mouth when Lauren rolled away, sliding onto the floor.

"Hey!"

"I didn't get to give you your Christmas present yet." Lauren smirked, crawling away from Bo.

"Well, at least I get to watch your hot pants move." Bo smiled, staring at the blonde's ass.

She eventually stood and ran for her bedroom before running back out into the living room with three boxes. She handed them to Bo,

"Open the biggest... well, none of them are particularly big, but the biggest of them first."

Bo smiled and did as she was asked. Lauren watched, her feet moving back and forth rapidly in anticipation of the brunette's reaction. When Bo lifted the lid, her eyebrows knitted together, which Lauren was expecting.

"Envelopes?" Bo asked.

"Open one." Lauren said, biting her lip.

Bo opened one and peeked inside, her eyes going wide. She then opened another and another and another,

"Oh. My. God! These are all plane tickets to Colorado!" Bo smiled.

"No, they're round trip tickets to and from Colorado! Unfortunately, I do have to send you back home! I already cleared all of the dates with Kenzi and Tamsin to make sure everything will be covered. Of course, with the new schools, there might be some issues, but they're all transferrable."

"Lauren, this must have cost you a fortune!"

"It would cost me a bigger fortune in therapy if you weren't there very often." Lauren said, quietly.

Bo stood and crawled down to the floor, wrapping her arms around the blonde, "Thank you. This is an incredible gift!"

"And the transfer includes reversing the direction, so if you ever want to give me one, I can come this way."

"Perfect! If I get hung up here, it'll work out great that way!"

Lauren smiled, "It will... we just have to get through the week. There's a ticket for every weekend until next Thanksgiving... not that I expect you to make the flight... I mean, I can definitely... I mean my weekends are always open, so it may be easier... if you want, I mean... for me to come..."

Bo reached out and stilled Lauren's lips with her fingers, "Lauren. It's okay, sweetie. I get it. We'll figure it out as we go and move the flights around as we need to, okay?"

The blonde smiled, "Okay."

Bo loved the look in Lauren's eyes right now. She'd missed that look... the sparkle. It was like she was coming back to life again and she got to witness it,

"God, I love you Lauren Lewis."

Giving a shy smile and a quick downward tilt of her head, the blonde could only nod in reply before looking back up at Bo, "Okay... Open the next one... no, the bigger one first."

Bo nodded, smiling at her fiancé's excitement and opened the gift Lauren had suggested she move to next. She tore through the wrapping paper, taking glances at the blonde's face so she could watch the shades of excitement as they appeared until she got to the box and opened it.

"Another box?" Bo asked.

Lauren giggled as she watched Bo unwrap the box inside of the one she'd just opened.

"Okay, now let's see what's inside." Bo pulled open the lid on the box only to find another box. She looked up at Lauren, giving her a mock pout, "You're really revving up the level of intrigue here, Doctor Lewis."

"I'm nothing if not a mystery, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a mystery and you love me for it."

Bo laughed, "Life with you sure has been filled with surprises."

"Some with which we both could have done without, I'm sure." Lauren's eyes dimmed and Bo hated it. She knew Nadia was close tonight and she fully intended to push her out of their space... out of this house where she no longer belonged.

Bo placed a light hand on Lauren's, "Hey, without those surprises, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn just how strong our love is. We're here... together... despite everyone and everything that tried to tear us apart."

Placing two fingers gently under her chin, she lifted Lauren's eyes to meet her own, "I won't regret a second of the journey to becoming your wife, Lauren... I won't do it. I've learned things about you... hell, I've learned things about myself – sometimes, things I never wanted to really look at, ya know? You and me... we've had the opportunity to really see what we're made of. It was raw and hard and emotional, but I think we know each other in a way that most couples never get to see."

Lauren slid towards Bo, laying her head in the brunette's lap as Bo continued while running soothing fingers through her hair,

"I wonder how many couples get to live a life that begins with every single skeleton - quite literally - being pulled from the proverbial closest and brought to the light of day right in front of their partner without consent... without the time to process what was happening. Even more, what couple could possibly survive all of that and still have the chance to continue to love each other?"

Lauren rolled over and looked up at Bo who answered her own question, "Us."

"Us." Lauren replied, closing her eyes as Bo's lips met her own, reminding her of what she had... of what her future was. When she felt the cool air of her home hit her skin, she opened her eyes to see Bo smiling down at her.

"Us, Lauren. You and me." Bo's smile widened.

Suddenly, Lauren sang, "Just the two of us. We can make it if we try, just the two of us... you and I."

Bo smiled, "Bill Withers... not Motown, but it passes."

"I'm so glad you approve." Lauren replied basking in the moment for a little longer before reaching down and handing Bo the box she'd been working on, "Gift... open... now."

Bo gave her a mini salute, "Yes, Ma'am. Please the wife... it starts even before we set a date, huh?"

Lauren gave her a slap, "Open."

"Okay, okay... let's see..." She worked at the wrapper only to find another box, "Really? Well, the next one has got to be the gift. They can't get much smaller."

Lauren laughed, watching until Bo finally got to another box. She turned to Lauren again,

"Ugh... you're exhausting me with the suspense, woman!"

She worked off the paper until she got to a tiny envelope. Looking at Lauren she opened it, pulling out a key,

"To your heart?"

Lauren laughed, "You've already got that, sweetie. You've had that for a very long time." She looked down and took Bo's hand before looking up at her, "You've always known how to handle me."

Bo shrugged, "You're forgetting a few moments in there. I haven't always handled you well, Lauren... actually, strike that... the problem was that I didn't handle myself well in dealing with you and I'm definitely not proud of that. I'm just grateful that you were able to handle my poor handling of you. Can you handle that?"

The both laughed before Lauren replied, "Well, apparently I didn't always handle your poor handling of me either. I am living in Colorado, remember?"

Bo looked down at the box in her hand, "Ooooh... now I get it..." Bo laid down propped upon her elbows, box in her hands facing Lauren so she was mirroring her position, "This... " She turned the key between them, analyzing it, "... is the key to your apartment in Colorado."

"Ding, ding, ding!" Lauren placed a finger on her nose, "Johnny! What do we have for our winner?"

Lauren reached down and handed Bo the last box, and answered, "Well, Johnny... we have what's in box number three!"

Bo laughed at her fiancé's game show host impression and opened the last box. It was smaller than the last but not too small. Bo wasn't sure what it could be, so she opened it quickly, curious as to what else Lauren could possibly have done to bridge the gap in the distance they were about to experience as a couple over the next fourteen months. Finally, she opened the lid to expose to bracelets... more specifically... two bracelets made entirely of beads, with one bead being a different color on each. She looked up at Lauren,

"Thanks, sweetie. The stones are beautiful."

Lauren chuckled, seeing the hint of disappointment on her lover's face. She knew it would require some explanation,

"Well, if you look more closely, you'll notice several things. First, that there are two of them, so... pick one... your favorite."

Bo looked confused, but did as she was asked, "Well, you know I can't resist black."

Lauren laughed, "Don't be so enthusiastic."

"No, I really..."

"Bo, you don't have to pretend. You're less than enthused, but look at those black stones more closely for me, please? They're more precious to you than diamonds."

Putting on her geologist's hat, Bo looked more closely... and then closer before her eyes went wide,

"Ohmagosh! This is Hawaiian Basalt! I mean... it can't actually be guaranteed that it's native to our country... I mean, you can find it elsewhere because we're not the only island... I mean... the only island with volcanoes, but this is... it's basalt fashioned into beads! This is amazing that it's..."

Lauren smiled, her heart light as she watched the scientist in Bo come out full force. She's only ever watched her at work once. She'd been in Pops' office in the trailer near the geological sight where Bo was working on tracking the lava flow of her active volcano. Pops had invited her to watch on the monitoring screen and the blonde had become completely enraptured watching her then-girlfriend in her element. Now, she sat here watching not only the visual, but being privy to the audio as well.

"Is this what I sound like when I geek out on my science?" Lauren asked.

Bo blushed, stopping her mini lecture on the indigenous rock of Hawaii, "Sorry... it's just that... well, I tend to get a little carried away..."

"I sort of expected it. Actually, I was looking forward to this reaction. It's adorable and I'd hoped that I picked the right stone for you."

Bo sighed, "I'm sorry I was less than enthusiastic at first. I should have known that there was more to it than a string of beads."

"The green..."

"Oh... Lauren... it's... I didn't... gosh, I'm such an idiot! It's peridot! The Hawaiian Diamond! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this... I mean... it's Hawaiian, right?"

Lauren nodded, "Our friend the jeweler only uses Hawaiian stones, so yes... it's definitely from our island."

"Our island? This stone is derived from Olivine crystals eroded from ancient volcanic rock formations!"

Bo glanced over at Lauren's bracelet, "Wait... our bracelets are..."

The blonde smiled as Bo finally realized the association between the two pieces of jewelry,

"It's a new thing called a distance bracelet. You have a single piece of mine and I have a piece of yours." Lauren replied, pointing to the lone basalt stone among the olivine crystals of her own bracelet.

She took the black, beaded bracelet with the single green stone in the center from Bo's fingers and unscrewed the clasp before laying it across Bo's wrist and screwing it tight again. Flipping Bo's wrist over, she pointed to the two sterling silver cylinders on either side of the clasps, each with a word engraved on them. The brunette looked more closely and read the engraving, her voice quiet,

"Always hope."

She looked up at Lauren, her eyes brimming with tears, "Thank you, Lauren."

The blonde's eyes watered in response to the flood of emotion on her love's face. She replied,

"Thank you, Bo... for being a constant reminder to me that I will always have something to hope for in my life."

Lauren twirled the two cylinders over revealing a small diamond in each, "These two diamonds... actual diamonds, not 'Hawaiian' diamonds... well... I know it was a bit forward of me and... well, I wasn't sure how you would feel about it, but... one diamond was my promise to you... my lifelong promise to you and I'd hoped that the other would represent you reciprocating that promise..."

The blonde twirled the cylinder over and over in her fingers before Bo finally spoke, chuckling first,

"Do you really have to ask if I reciprocate the intended promise of your gift? You're wearing the engagement ring I gave you last night, Lauren."

The blonde let out the breath she'd been holding and laughed, "Of course... I just... wow... I mean... I've had these boxes for over a week and I was afraid of you saying you couldn't make that promise and... all of a sudden I was back to when I'd first bought them, so... well..."

Bo laughed, "You're adorable and I love you. We don't have to make a decision about the when, the how or the where of any of it right now, but we'll be together and we'll be married one day, Lauren. I'm not going anywhere and no distance will allow me to forget my commitment or love for you."

The blonde smiled, "Me too. So you like the bracelets?"

"Are you kidding? You had a bracelet made from indigenous Hawaiian rock for a woman whose passion is the rock that comes from the volcanoes she studies in Hawaii. Beyond the materials, you made it significant to everything about us. I absolutely love it, Lauren and I will not take it off unless I'm surfing."

Lauren smiled, "I'm glad you like it."

"What do you say we slip into something a little more comfortable?"

"PJ's?"

"I was thinking more like naked Christmas... with some midnight Rocky Road ice cream? Bo asked.

Lauren smirked, "Naked ice cream in the privacy of our back yard?"

"So it's our backyard is it, now?" Bo asked.

Lauren reached around behind Bo, her fingers deftly seeking out and finding the zipper at the top of her black, form fitting dinner dress. She leaned in and took Bo's lips in a luxurious kiss while she slowly... sensually... slid the metal piece down her long back, her hand coming to settle low on her hip at the small of her back before she broke the kiss.

"I've wanted to peel you out of this incredible dress all night. While I am grateful to whomever designed this beautiful piece of clothing that shows off every single perfect bump, line and curve of your delicious body, it is time that said designer step aside and allow me to see you as nature intended you to be..."

She pulled back, and dropped the two thin shoulder straps off of her shoulders, allowing the dress to fall to the floor, revealing a black lace bra and matching panties. She cupped the perfect breasts that were practically spilling from the cups, her thumbs stroking the fast-hardening nipples that were straining to breach the fabric.

"They do not like being kept cooped up like this. I really wish you wouldn't keep them so confined. It's just not right." Lauren scowled as she pinched the front clasp of the bra and released the heavy flesh, ignoring the material that fell to the floor.

Bo watched as her lover's eyes darkened, desire flooding her face before her hands and mouth were everywhere. Closing her eyes, Bo could only offer herself to the blond, giving her whatever she wanted. Denying her would mean denying herself the pleasurable sensations that only Lauren's touch could provide.

She felt herself being nudged backward, before she heard a frustrated groan. Before she knew what was happening, she opened her eyes to see Lauren gripping her hand and pulling her quickly to entrance to the terrace, flicking off the light switch to allow additional privacy. She led Bo to the covered gazebo and pulled her close in front of the outdoor love seat.

"I sat out here yesterday..." She panted as she knelt before Bo, hooking her fingers in the black lace of her pantie and pulling them down slowly, trailing kisses behind the fabric as she went, "... kudos to whomever picked the outdoor furniture. I love the deep cushions of the sofa and love seat. They're very comfortable and... roomy. I do want you to be comfortable, Bo."

She stood before Bo and gently directed her to lay down on the love seat. When Bo went to put both legs on the ground, she stopped her and shook her head,

"Please... leave one foot on the ground and... if you wouldn't mind..." She gently lifted Bo's other ankle from the cushion and raised it up over the furniture back. Stepping back, she lowered the side zipper on her dress as her eyes traveled down Bo's naked form, enjoying the full view of her center the position allowed.

For her part, Bo's eyes fell on Lauren's fingers slowly stripping her bare. It was a privilege to see her lover like this... she would always see it as such. She was well aware that this Lauren... the one who knew her own mind, needs and desires... had never allowed another woman to look up her like this. This Lauren was Bo's and Bo's alone. Not Nadia, Mia or any other woman who had come before her had ever been freely given what Lauren now shared with her.

Bo watched as Lauren knelt beside her and trailed her fingers up her lowered leg to her thigh. She ran her hand back and forth over her upper thigh before dipping her fingers between her legs to pull the leg further away from the one now elevated on the seat back. Slipping between the two legs, the blonde placed one hand on either side of Bo to support her weight and moved to kiss her gently... thoroughly.

Hands traveling across Lauren's strong forearms, Bo allowed her fingertips to trace the outline of the strongly defined musculature before moving to the upper arms of her lover,

"Lauren..." Bo whispered into the blonde's ear, gripping her face with her hands to pull her attention from her breasts and torso, "Kiss me... please..."

Eyes intent on boy's, she kissed her lightly, pulling back so she could trace the soft lips of her lover with a gentle fingertip. Bo lifted her head slowly, taking the digit into her mouth and sucking on it, her tongue circling the tip of her finger before taking it fully into her mouth once again.

"Bo, I love you so damn much. I wish you could feel what I feel... I've never allowed myself... I've never trusted anyone enough to let myself..." she lowered her eyes, shaking her head before looking back up at the brunette, "...I feel like my heart will just burst with how full it is... ever since I let you in and let go of the what if's..."

"I know, Lauren... I can feel it, baby. It's okay." She took Lauren's face in her hands, "I think I understand exactly what you're giving me... something no one has ever been permitted to have from you and I promise you, Lauren... I'm not going to hurt you... you can trust me with your heart."

She shook her head and gave warning, "Good, because my heart is now fully in your hands. There is no turning back for me. Be gentle, Bo... hold it carefully and I will do the same with yours."

"Lauren..."

Bo couldn't finish... she didn't want to finish... she wanted to Lauren to know what she knew... to feel what she felt... beyond a shadow of any doubt that this was it for her... she was all in and she wanted Lauren to know that her heart was fully in Lauren's hands as well.

She took the blonde's lips, crashing their mouths together, deepening the kiss almost immediately. Lauren placed a foot on the floor, grinding her center into Bo's pulling back to let out a moan of satisfaction when her lover's teeth took hold of a pert nipple. Their pace quickened, their bodies glistening with a light sheen of sweat yet tiny bumps covered their skin as the cool winter breeze flowing across the island cliff through the landscaping met their joined bodies.

With their eyes locked on each other, Lauren's hand pressing down on Bo's chest, her fingers in the blonde's mouth while the other hands kept a tight grip on her hip they were frozen in time when their climax hit and their cries filled the night sky. When the moment ended, Lauren fell forward onto her lover's body, strong arms immediately wrapping around her, pulling her impossibly close.

"Tighter, Bo... hold me tighter... please don't let go."

"Never, Lauren... even when you get on that plane... I'll never let you go."

Lauren turned her head, flipping her hair back behind her, bringing her head to rest on Bo's shoulder. She ran her fingers over her lover's kiss swollen lips while she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

"You okay?"

Bo smiled, "Absolutely. I don't think I've ever felt closer to you than I do right now."

Lauren smiled, her fingers trailing to the necklace still adorning Bo's chest, "Me too." She fingered the necklace again, "Do you think that your Mom and Dad would have approved?"

"Of us?"

Lauren rolled onto her back, still laying across Bo's body. Holding up her left hand, she ran gripped the ring between her fingers and straightened it out,

"Of us getting married."

Bo nodded, "Kenzi and I talked about it... I mean... a while ago."

Lauren turned her head to look at her fiancé, "How long ago did you buy the ring?"

"Uh... I bought it before Rio."

"Oh, Bo." Lauren quickly flipped over, moving to Bo's side and propping her head up on her hand, "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Bo asked.

Lauren shrugged, her hand moving to trace the skin along Bo's collarbone, "You've been thinking of marrying me for a very long time. I can't imagine how it felt to have me grow so distant... to hear me say I wanted us to see other people."

Bo took Lauren's hand into her own and brought it to her lips, kissing the fingers before pulling it to her chest and holding it there firmly. She looked back up at Lauren,

"None of that matters anymore."

Lauren scowled, "Of course it does. Everything you went through matters to me. I already know what I was thinking and feeling, but the truth is, I can only guess about what it was you were thinking and feeling. I was an open book to you... well, I am now because you pried it all out of me."

Lauren laid her head on Bo's shoulder, "Now that I think of it, I don't think I ever once asked you how you felt while everyone was so focused on me. I just assumed you were feeling anger, disgust or indifference... hell, it's why I took the job offer. I assumed you were going to dump me and that I should just go."

"Well, you know better now, don't you." It was a statement, not a fact and Lauren nodded in reply.

Bo turned on her side and propped her head up on one arm, pulling Lauren closer so she could lay on her back on the cushion.

"Still... were you okay back then? I mean... I know you weren't okay, but... how did you... why didn't you take the ring back?"

Bo looked at her wrist and smiled. Turning it over until the clasp was facing up, she took Lauren's finger and traced it over the words she'd had engraved on the silver. The blonde smiled,

"You always had hope?"

Bo shrugged, "Not always, but when hope was fleeting, I'd surf... sometimes just paddle out beyond the breakers and just lay on my board."

"What would you think about?"

"I guess my go to thoughts have always been things my Mom taught me."

"So there's more than you've already told me? More than we read in her letter and book?"

Bo looked up into Lauren's eyes, "I suppose my Mom is exactly the woman your Aunt Hattie would have been for you had she not gotten lost in the anger she mentioned tonight. By the way, your Aunt is quite a sharp one. She's got spunk. I like her."

Lauren smiled, "She likes you."

"I'm not so sure about that. I'm just a deadbeat surfer, dontcha know?" Bo laughed.

"Yea, well I didn't want to tell her that some of your millions are because you're a trust fund brat."

They both laughed before Lauren asked, "So, what words of wisdom from your Mom helped you get through your hopeless days with me..." she rolled over, pushing Bo back onto her back, "... you know... the ones when you were floating alone on your surfboard in the middle of all that ocean?" She kissed Bo on the lips and pulled back, propping up her head,

"Something she used to say to me after my Dad died and I missed him so much that I would just ride my bike to the beach and sit on the beach. I refused to ride my surfboard for weeks after her died. It wasn't the same without him."

Lauren watched as Bo fell into the memory of her Father's death. She'd seen it before and while she knew It was something that would always be a sore spot for her lover, she also knew it was something that would take her far away from her for the rest of the night and she wasn't about to let that space come between them,

"Hey now... don't you go getting lost in those dark thoughts from your childhood."

Bo looked up at Lauren, "Do I do that?"

Lauren nodded in reply, "You do... anytime you start remembering what you've lost you sort of get stuck there and I lose you... sometimes for days."

Bo looked at Lauren, then up at where the palm trees were swaying in the breeze, stars peeking through when they would part just far enough to let the dark sky through.

"Bo?"

She looked back down at Lauren and smiled, "I finally get it."

"Get what?"

"Something my used to say... something that played over and over against in my head... I would say it, but I never truly understood it until now."

"Care to share?" Lauren asked, pushing Bo's hair back off her shoulder so she could trace her shoulder.

"She said 'I'm not what I have done, I'm what I have overcome'... whenever you were distant... whenever I thought of my Dad, I always focused on the loss which would lead me to go to work. I thought it I had nothing else, at least I would have accomplished something... done something with my life. The problem is that diving into doing, didn't help me to overcome my grief of loss of my Dad. It didn't help me to overcome the loss of hopelessness I felt over losing you."

"And now?"

"And now I realize that I was able to overcome my Mom's death because she left her lessons behind. My Mom left me Kenzi and a legacy... a goal and something to continue... a woman to become. My Dad... I was younger and I didn't have those memories of him to help me overcome the loss of him."

"Maybe you did."

"What do you mean?" Bo asked.

Lauren shrugged, "Earlier today when I mentioned looking for my Aunt, I had all of this anger and regret. I was coming from a point of view that had been planted in my mind... a perception of betrayal and mistreatment. But when I saw her... when I looked in her eyes and saw the look on her face, all of that just fell away and she was the woman I knew when I was five. Isn't there something you remember of your Dad from when you were young beyond surfing?"

Bo tucked her arm up under her head and thought for a moment as Lauren settled on her chest, pulling Bo's arm over her shoulder. She waited patiently until Bo said,

"I remember one time when we were at the beach. I had to find five different types of seashells for a school project and identify them from an encyclopedia."

"Oh, the wonderful days before the Internet."

Bo laughed, "I used to love books when I was a kid. My dad's study at our house had a bunch of old leather books... classics. It made the whole room smell like leather."

"So what happened with the seashells?"

"Oh... sorry, got a little sidetracked."

Lauren kissed her cheek, "You do that, it's one of the little quirks I love about you. I love watching how your mind works. So... the seashells?"

"Right. So I found three and then I couldn't find two more. I looked and looked until my Dad said it was time to go back home for dinner. I told him we couldn't leave because I still needed two more shells. He took me by the hand and walked with me telling me there were millions of shells if we just walked a while, he was sure I would find one that would catch my eye and be perfect for my project."

Lauren chuckled, "My Aunt would have dragged me home for dinner. She never would have had that kind of patience."

Bo smiled, "My Mom and Dad were incredibly patient with us. Maybe it was just beach life, but there was never really a clock on us except for the school day. Otherwise, we did what we wanted for as long as it took. Anyway, on this particular day, we walked for another thirty minutes and I still couldn't find one. I started crying and told him I'd failed, but he wouldn't let me give up... he never let me give up."

"I saw that lesson in the hospital and when you first started to surf again. I practically encouraged you to give up, but you wouldn't hear of it. You stuck to your Dad's life lesson... you never quit."

Bo smiled, "That was how he taught us surfing. Whenever we would fall and want to quit, he would say, 'Now Ysabeau... when life knocks you down, roll over and look at the stars, take a deep breath and remember for as many stars as there are in the sky, there are that many ways to accomplish something... once you figure out which way to try next, roll back over and try it again.'... that was my Dad."

"Smart man." Lauren replied, "Do you remember anything else he taught you?"

"We never lose. We either win or we learn and learning isn't losing."

Lauren smiled, looking up at Bo, "I like that one. You should put that on the wall at Kenbo."

"Ohmagosh! You're right! The new school! It's at my hold home! If we open that building, we should totally have quotes from my Mom and Dad hanging everywhere."

"And make the school logo a symbol of hope?" Lauren suggested.

Bo smiled, "I like the way you think, future Mrs. Dennis."

"I like that."

"That I like the way you think?"

"No, that you just called me Mrs. Dennis."

"Lauren, I would never expect you to give up your name for me."

"My last name is part of my past... you are my future and carrying the Dennis name is something that will signify hope and promise to future generations of children who came from broken homes just like us."

"Still... giving up your name... I mean... You're Dr. Lauren Lewis... the famous Dr. Lauren Lewis... the Olympian."

"And you'll be the family Dr. Ysabeau Dennis." Lauren replied.

"Not until the Professor signs off on my Ph.D. and that may be a while."

Lauren smiled, "Come on."

"What?"

"Come on." Lauren stood, offering her hand to Bo.

"But I'm not done with your... nakedness."

Lauren smiled, "And believe me, I an no where near finished with yours either. We can come back out here, but it is getting a bit chilly now that the wind is kicking up a bit."

"Well, it is winter." Bo replied, standing to take Lauren's hand.

"No, winter is what's waiting for me in Colorado, so warm is what I want until I step off of that plain... warm in your arms now come on."

Lauren led Bo inside and closed the doors behind them, locking them and setting the home alarm. She walked over to the little artificial Christmas Tree that Tamsin had dropped off earlier in the week and pulled a package from beneath. Turning around, she handed it to Bo.

"The Professor sent this to you."

Bo opened the envelope to find a leather folio. Opening it, she found her Doctoral Certificate,

"He rushed it through. It was supposed to take years to do this." Bo said quietly.

"Well, between the building of your own school and the construction of fifteen different surfboards that are already selling off the shelves faster than your little factory can make them... well... he said you've more than proven yourself worthy of the title. Congratulations, Doctor Dennis."

Lauren saw that this was an emotional moment, so she decided to lighten things up a bit, "As for what he told me about you saying you had wanted to avoid the pomp and circumstance... no... that's not right... he said you referred to it as the pomp and 'unfortunate circumstance' of having to wear a gown that made you look like you were nine months pregnant, had no boobs and no ass. Really Bo?"

Lauren looked at her disapprovingly, but Bo defended her position,

"What? It's true. You sit at those ceremonies for hours to watch people you don't know get diplomas but only after listening someone else you don't know talk about something you don't understand. I think that earning a doctorate means I've become important enough to not have to serve time at a ceremony to get the degree handed to me."

"So that lame excuse is how you would have defended your dissertation? You could have gone to the ceremony, Bo. I would have gone with you and the Professor would have gone. Getting something you worked so hard for is deserving of a little pomp even if you don't want the circumstance."

"It's a piece of paper and I hardly worked so hard for that reason. I worked that hard because I loved what I was doing."

"And the Professor? Isn't he worth more than just a piece of paper?" Lauren asked.

"No! Of course not! He's like my Great Uncle!" Bo replied, "And I sent him a gift because I felt guilty for not letting him have a ceremony here and give me a present."

"You got him a gift?" Lauren asked, surprised.

Bo's shoulders dropped, "I am not completely insensitive, you know."

Lauren laughed, "I do know. What did you get him?"

"I got him a teaching certificate for the State of Hawaii, his residency paperwork, driver's license and..." She looked up at the clock on the wall, "... right about now, he should be laying his head down in a new bunkhouse built specifically for the Head Teacher of the new Outdoor Education Center."

Lauren's eyes went wide, "Where did you get..."

Bo smiled, "I know a Judge, remember? She wants Kenbo and Kenbo needed a favor."

"My future wife has a future in politics."

"Actually, your future wife has a little sister whose past involved a lot of unsavory characters who taught her how to wheel and deal. She, in turn, passed those lessons on to her big sister."

"It would have been interesting to know the Dennis sisters when they were young. You two must have gotten up to all sorts of trouble."

"Mmmm... you have no idea how much, my luscious lady lover. Now... are we going to continue what we started out there or are we just going to talk about the mail under our little tree?"

"Well, the first bit was naked Christmas sex. I supposed you do deserve pomp and circumstance sex."

"Now that is a very fortunate circumstance." Bo said as Lauren pulled away from her and began pulling the pins from her hair, allowing it to fall around her shoulders.

Bo watched as Lauren winked and began to walk back towards the bedroom, pausing at the entrance to the hallway to turn and face her before disappearing from view.

"That woman is going to be the death of me... but it's a death that is going to feel so. Damn. Good." Bo said, chasing quickly after her fiancé.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **All quotes are revised from #imandaily because I was too lazy to pull out the leather books on my shelves... if I did that, I'd be forced to dust them all. For more, visit her hashtag on Twitter!**_

 _ **To all of my much beloved, pervy little lovelies, I hope this satisfies your itch for smut in this story. It's not as raw as FOW, but they're just reconnecting. Need to keep it real. Now I'm off to buy all of you fluffy pink handcuffs for Christmas!**_

 _ **Much love! Cuddles x**_


	17. Chapter 17: Until We Meet Again

_**A/N:**_ _Just one more chapter left for this one. If I don't post again before the winter holidays, Happy Merry to all of you of all cultures and faiths! May the holiday season bring you love, health and happiness throughout the new year. Best wishes, Cuddles_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 17: Until Our Paths Meet Again**_

"Doctor Wauwen!" Emma came running towards Lauren, taking a flying leap into her arms.

"Whoa there, little one. No pick ups until you're fully healed, remember?" The doctor looked up at Kenzi and smiled, getting a nod in return as they both listened to Emma's reply.

"But I getting my stitches ouwt today so can't I jump nowa?"

Lauren smiled, plucking at the little one's nose, "I'm more worried about how it will feel if I catch you and put my hand where your stitches are. Don't you think that would hurt a little? You're still bruised, baby girl." Lauren pressed lightly around the area earning a flinch from the little girl.

"Ouch."

"See? Doctor Lauren is usually right, Em." Kenzi warned.

Lauren smiled as she slid the stool to the end of the examination table so Emma could climb up. She carefully placed Theodore the Bear and Jeffrey the Pet Rock next to her before she laid back and pulled up her shirt.

"I'll need you on your side, kiddo." Lauren said, moving to bring the sterile tray over with a lamp.

"Will it hurwt?"

"It shouldn't. You'll feel a little tug here and there, but it shouldn't cause you pain. If it does, you tell me, okay?"

"Okay. Kenzi will you hold my hand?"

Kenzi ran around the table and took a seat in the chair in front of Emma, "You've got it champ. Just don't squeeze too hard. I can't afford a broken hand from all of that 4-year-old strength you have!"

"I can't bweak youwa had silly."

"I sure hope not!" Kenzi smiled.

Lauren turned on the lamp, pulled on her gloves and used an alcohol swab to clean the area, then began snipping at the row of stitches.

"I'm surprised Bo didn't bring Emma today." Lauren said quietly, her eyes never leaving her work.

"She's still in the meeting with the Judge." Kenzi replied, "I finished my meeting with the guys from the State about twenty minutes before she had to leave to be here or someone else would have brought her."

"What did they think about the facility?"

"Dunno. They just nodded a lot. I was actually surprised at how much time they spent observing classes. They took a lot of notes, talked to a bunch of the staff members. It felt like a job interview."

Lauren stopped and looked up at Kenzi, "You don't sound too happy."

"We said we would only do this if we could do it our way. Those big wigs from the state just make it seem like they're here to decide what they are and aren't going to let happen. Not one of them was involved in anything we did here and now they're all up in our grill about the new school that is supposed to be modeled after our parents' dream. They don't know our parents."

Lauren pulled the last stitch from Emma's skin before putting down her surgical scissors and swabbing the area once more. Giving it a last look, she pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the biohazard container. Looking down she saw a small amount of blood coming from the end of the incision. She pulled the light closer and pulled at the skin, making sure it was superficial. Once satisfied, she put an adhesive strip over the wound and pulled Emma's shirt down.

"All good, kiddo."

"Weally?"

"Yup! Now, go see Nurse Violet. She has a lollipop with your name on it. Make sure you tell her I said you were a good girl and didn't cry once."

Emma reached up and hugged Lauren before running out of the room. Lauren looked up at Kenzi,

"So is Bo talking to the Judge because she's not happy?"

"She got much of the same from the group she took to the waterfront areas, outdoor rec center, workshop and emergency training facility. Can you believe they actually asked to see her training center and then wanted her autograph?"

Lauren shook her head, "Hmmm... priorities."

"Yea, well at least that means they're at least partially human under those suits."

"So how do you guys feel about it? I mean... are you leaning towards a yes for the new school?"

"The proposal was for four new schools by the end of the year. We said one a year for four years."

Lauren nodded, "Bo was afraid they'd want to move too fast."

"You mean half-assed. They're only looking at the facility. They think they can build everything at the same time and open them all at once. They have no idea what it took for us to train the staff."

"But if you're using retired teachers, that's less training, right?"

"Well, we've hit a snag there. They're collecting pensions, so their hours are limited unless the state government is willing to create an exception to policy for these schools."

"It would just make sense to do so. They're giving them free waterfront housing – room and board, plus a stipend for spending - in exchange for an 8-hour workday. It's not like they're going to be collecting huge paychecks."

"Finding the staff is still questionable. I'm not sure how teachers would feel giving up their retirement to work with kids again."

"Well, if the Professor is any indication..."

"The Professor! Why didn't I think of that before!" Kenzi stood, hands on top of her head, "College professors! We can bring anyone in from any profession, give them an emergency certificate to teach and use the Professor to help them get their teaching degree while they work for us! I've gotta go, Doc."

Kenzi ran out of the room, but popped her head back in, "Thanks, Hotpants!"

Lauren smiled and said thank you to the empty room before picking up her cell phone to check if Bo had sent her a text about the meeting yet.

"Nothing. I guess our plans for tonight are going to be delayed."

Lauren sighed and stood, grabbing Emma's chart on the way out. She got to the Nurses' station where Helen and Violet were talking to Chief McCorrigan. Handing off the chart, she smiled,

"Anything else?"

"I told the Nurses not to give you anymore cases. I know you'll want to say your goodbyes and clean out your locker since you won't be back before you leave. Take the last half hour of your shift to take care of things."

Trick turned to walk away, "And Lauren, this isn't goodbye. I know you'll be back. I'm still not taking your name off of the staff roster. You'll always have surgical privileges here."

"Thank you, Chief." Lauren replied with a smile, extending her hand to her mentor.

"Thank you, Lauren. Because of your work here, this E.R. runs like a well-oiled machine now. Because of your work here, our doctors and nurses now have effective and innovative treatment and surgical protocols in place to give our patients the best chance at survival."

He released Lauren's hand, "Personally, I'll miss you, Lauren. You're like a daughter to me... you always have been."

The blonde smiled, lowering her eyes, "And you've been a mentor and father-figure to me, Chief. Thank you. I'll stop by whenever I'm home."

"We'll hold you to it." Trick said with a smile before he headed off to one of the bays to see a patient.

Lauren turned to Violet and Helen, "Well, ladies. I guess this is it, huh?"

"For now, Lauren." Helen warned before walking around the desk and giving the Doctor a hug. Violet followed doing the same.

"I'll miss you, girls telling me what to do all day."

"Like you listen to anything we say." Violet replied, laughing.

Lauren smiled, jamming her hands in her coat and making the awkward turn to head down the hallway, through the courtyard and to the locker room. While walking through the courtyard, she paused and sat by the fountain with the statue of Alika, the hospital's namesake. Staring at the face of the face of the young boy, she whispered,

"You know, I've spoken to you ever single day since coming to this state... well, this hospital, anyway. When I moved to Colorado, I missed you. I know it's odd... I mean... I talked to your photo in my locker or this statue of you, but I've always somehow felt your presence here... like you were watching over my hands... guiding my scalpel. Coming back here... talking to you again... it helped. I'll miss you."

She sat for a while looking around the garden, committing everything to memory before standing and heading off to the locker room. She had packing to do and didn't have time to dwell for long.

Once in the locker room, she sat on the bench and stared up at her locker. Opening it, she looked up to see the picture she'd put there the first day she'd started,

"Hi Again." She stared for a bit, looking into the eyes of the child, "Are you trying to tell me something?"

She was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone in her pocket, so looked down to see a text from Bo. She smiled, opening the message,

 _Bo: Hey, I know you're probably running late. Kenzi's back. Told me you were still there._

 _Lauren: Just packing up now. Meeting?_

 _Bo: We'll talk about it later... just stressed. Mind if I surf before dinner?_

 _Lauren: Not at all, I'll do some packing._

There was a pause for a bit longer than usual, which found Lauren kicking herself for mentioning anything to do with her leaving tomorrow night. Bo had been a bit quiet for the last few days and although she had been all smiles and laughter, Lauren could see that her smile didn't reach her eyes. She was putting up a good front, but the quality time they'd spent together over the last three and a half weeks had given the doctor insight into all of her fiancé's quirks and tells. She looked down to see another text and opened it,

 _Bo: Any chance you'd come surf with me? Chilly, but I do know of a surf shop that sells the gear you'd need._

 _Lauren: Will the owner give me a discount?_

 _Bo: I'm sure you could work a deal... maybe trade favors with her._

Lauren laughed before she replied,

 _Lauren: And the nature of those favors would be?_

There was a long pause, which the doctor fully expected. She was pretty certain that Bo was probably blushing right now as she fought with herself over whether or not she was bold enough to send the reply Lauren knew she would give if they were in person. Her eyes went wide when she received her answer,

 _Bo: Of the sexual nature, of course._

 _Lauren: Well, I never! I am not that kind of girl!_

Lauren chuckled, wondering what Bo's reply to her southern belle act would be. She soon had her answer,

 _Bo: That's not what she told me._

Lauren laughed and replied,

 _Lauren: I'm shocked that she would kiss and tell!_

 _Bo: Oh, I know all sorts of things about you, Doctor Lewis._

 _Lauren: Good. That means you'll know how to push all of my buttons._

 _Bo: And I will push every. Single. One._

Lauren's face flushed red as an ache shot to her core,

 _Lauren: See you soon. Usual place?_

 _Bo: Usual place. Bring warm clothes 4 after._

 _Lauren: Not looking forward to being cold._

 _Bo: Fireplace when we're done?_

 _Lauren: Sounds perfect. Just the 4 of us tonight, right?_

 _Bo: As promised. Tam and Kenz are picking up take out._

 _Lauren: Italian?_

 _Bo: Of course._

 _Lauren: Will we see Mav and Em?_

 _Bo: After dinner. They want tuck ins._

 _Lauren: Great. Gonna miss those little nuggets._

 _Bo: They'll miss u. Now get your ass over here!_

 _Lauren: Coming!_

 _Bo: Not yet you aren't, but you will._

Lauren laughed and pulled her backpack from her locker. She pulled all of the things she wanted to keep at home from the unit and put them in the bag, before removing her lab coat and hanging it neatly inside, taking a moment to run her fingers over the embroidered hospital logo.

Looking up at the photo, she said, "Watch over them."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Doc, are you sure you want to go out there?"

Lauren shrugged, "I told her I would."

"Yea, but that was before she realized how cold it is. She told me to make sure you knew it was really, really cold. The sun will be down soon and so the water temp is definitely nothing to laugh at."

"Are you sure she won't be disappointed?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi smiled, "I'm sure she'll be relieved that you didn't turn yourself into something out of the movie _Frozen_ for the remainder of the night, although I'm sure she would have been happy to warm you up."

Lauren smiled, "Well then, is it okay if I just sit over there with you and Tamsin or did you want alone time?"

"We want us some Hotpants time. We'll have plenty of alone time and BoBo time after you leave tomorrow night."

Lauren gave her a tight smile. The whole idea of leaving was really beginning to settle in. She walked with Kenzi over to where they were sitting on the rocks watching Bo surf. Once settled, they all just watched her in silence.

Lauren thought back to when she used to hate watching Bo surf, but that had all changed now. She wasn't sure when it changed, but she recognized that she no longer felt the fear that she'd felt for such a long time. Sitting here watching her was just... well, it was pure beauty. The grace, rhythm and creativity of her lover carving across the top of a wave amidst the orange, red, pink and yellow ribbons that painted the evening sky was simply stunning.

"You good, Lewis?" Tamsin asked.

Lauren turned to her friend and smiled, "I'm good, T. Sorry, I zoned out."

"Nah. She's something special to watch on a surfboard."

Kenzi nodded, "There's something about my big sis on a wave. Bo Dennis can be imitated, but she can never be duplicated. The surfing world is losing one of the great ones and they know it... it's just too bad Bo doesn't realize that she's just getting started."

Lauren looked at Kenzi, "Do you really mean that?"

The younger sister nodded, "You saw her pulling new tricks out of her ass at the championship, Hotpants. She's doing things that no one has ever done before. She's just starting to let her creativity show." Kenzi nodded towards the water, "Look at her. She looks free. She's in the zone. It's a shame, really."

"Should I talk to her about it?" Lauren asked, watching as Bo took a rest out beyond the breakers.

"We've all talked to her about it, Doc. It's in her hands now. I'm just glad she got back on a board today. She needs to do this or she gets grumpy."

Lauren nodded, but in her mind, she was replaying Kenzi's words over and over again... 'we've all talked to her about it, Doc'... Kenzi was wrong. Lauren knew she was wrong because she was the one person who hadn't talked to her fiancé about returning to surfing. She looked up and smiled, making her decision. She set her eyes on the profile of the lone surfer sitting atop her board against a now red-orange sky.

"Beautiful." She whispered.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Sitting on her board, Bo felt a shiver run through her body. She really should go in. It was getting really cold and the sun was almost down, but she needed to rein in her emotions before she went ashore to Lauren.

She concentrated on the rhythm of the water beneath her, closing her eyes and relaxing her mind. It was peaceful out here. It was the one place that Bo could always retreat to when her world seemed to be spinning out of control, because it was the one place she felt in control. Many people, including Lauren, would think that idea to be incomprehensible considering the sea could not be controlled, but for Bo, the waves... these waters... were like a best friend.

Getting back out here tonight had been the best thing for her mind. She'd had two stressful meetings and while the Judge had managed to calm her down a bit, she still had her reservations about opening the new school in the other four proposed states. She and Kenzi were both worried that in their absence, a new agenda would be created at those schools. They both felt very strongly that if they were going to put their brand on the new places... or more importantly, their parents' names... it needed to be under their control.

The Judge had seemed to understand her concern and promised her oversight, but Bo had learned that her friend's judicial power only extended so far. If that family hadn't backed out of the adoption of Emma, she would no longer be with them – the judge would not have been able to stop it.

She looked towards the house and saw the silhouette of three women by a large fire on the shore. She paddled into position, looking over her shoulder to find her ride home. Popping up, she allowed herself to experience the sensation of floating atop the water for one final time before settling in to spend the rest of the night with Kenzi, Tamsin and Lauren.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren watched as Bo cruised towards shore, her board pushed by the rush of water behind her. She loved watching the brunette surf, so kept her eyes on her, wanting to commit the vision to memory. As she popped off the board and picked it up all in one motion, she jogged to shore. Lauren couldn't stop her gaze from traveling down the toned body of her fiancé as she peeled off her wetsuit, revealing a bikini that caused a rush of heat to charge straight to the blonde's core. Swallowing hard, she committed that view to memory as well, reminding herself to spend tonight mapping out each and every inch of the brunette's sculpted body. Sleep, after all, is over-rated. Besides, she could always sleep on the plane since she was pretty sure it would only take the closing of the aircraft's door to make her want to hide from the world.

As Bo approached, Kenzi and Tamsin stood to go back to the house to pick up the final items for dinner, allowing Bo and Lauren some time to say hello after their day apart.

Bo moved right to her fiancé, bending down to place a light kiss on her forehead, "Did you bring me a towel?"

Lauren's eyes were fixed on the cleavage that hung mere inches from her face as Bo stood over her. She stammered in reply, "Uh... um... I did, but..." she licked her lips, "... are you sure you want to rob me of this... god... spectacular view?"

The blonde cupped both breasts, leaning in to kiss the glistening flesh spilling over the top of the bikini top's cups. Bo laughed, leaning down to whisper in the blonde's ear,

"Well, if you really love my breasts as much as you say you do, you'll give me the towel."

The doctor looked up at the brunette, confused, "What does a towel have to do with my love for your breasts?"

"Well, it's freezing out here and if I don't dry off and cover up, I'm going to freeze my tits right off." Bo laughed, placing her hands over the blonde's to still them.

"I see..." Lauren's eyes were stuck on the aforementioned firm, voluptuous mounds of flesh, her fingers intertwining with Bo's while her thumbs remained free to stroke the hard, erect peaks that confirmed the brunette was quite chilly in the cool night air.

Taking mercy on her lover, she stood, kissing each breast one last time before reaching behind her to grab a towel. Wrapping it around Bo, she pulled her close, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to warm her.

Leaning her head on Lauren's shoulder, Bo sighed, "How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?"

"You lived after drowning, remember?"

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. Well, we'll always have a great 'how did you meet' story at parties, eh?"

Lauren laughed, "That is true. Now, come on. Let's get you over here by the fire. I brought you your favorite baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt." Lauren smiled, walking with Bo closer to the fire where Tamsin had set up chairs earlier.

She opened the beach bag she'd brought down and tossed Bo the sweats, then pulled on her Kenbo hoodie. She then sat down in her chair and watched as her fiancé covered herself,

"It's sad to lose the best view on the beach." She pouted, her eyes catching a last glimpse of her fiancé's firm, toned ass before thick material was pulled up and over it.

Bo laughed, pulling the towel off her shoulders before picking up the hoodie, "No pouting, lover. You can play with the girls as much as you want after dinner."

"You're no fun." Lauren whined, pulling her legs up onto her chair and wrapping her arms around her knees.

Bo walked slowly over to the blonde, rolling he sleeves of the hoodie around each of her hands as she walked. When she moved in front of her chair, she knelt down and tossed the body of the garment behind Lauren's head, pulling her face into her the heavy mounds of flesh,

"You have one minute before my sister and her girlfriend get back out here."

Lauren's eyes went wide as she quickly reached both hands into the cups of her fiancé's bikini tops and pulled the breasts free. Palming one, she took the other in her mouth, moaning at the sensation. Dropping one breast free, she quickly shoved her hand into Bo's sweat pants before the brunette could protest.

The blonde's fingers were deep inside Bo before she knew what was happening. She watched as Lauren greedily devoured her hardened nipples while three fingers pumped in and out of her. Bo would have loved to tell Lauren how embarrassed she was that she was on the verge of climax in what was about fifteen seconds, but she really could have cared less. Lauren was taking her... possessing her... and it felt so damn good.

As she sensed the brunette's climax approaching, Lauren pulled her in for a searing kiss, swallowing her scream as she fell over the edge. Bo fell forward her head coming to rest against Lauren's as she caught her breath. The blonde delicately pulled her hand free before giving each breast a soft peck and tucked them away, one at a time, settling them into their respective cups of the bikini top while Bo watched her.

Lauren reached behind her to grab the sweatshirt. She smiled readying the garment to be pulled over Bo's head,

"Arms up!" She laughed.

"Don't get my head stuck Wauwen!" Bo imitated Emma as she put her arms over her head and allowed her fiancé to pull the sweatshirt down over her head.

As the brunette's head emerged beneath the hood, Lauren kissed her gently on the lips while she lowered the waistband over her hips,

"I don't think I've ever come that fast in my life." Bo smiled, wrapping her arms over Lauren's shoulders, "I think I like take-charge-Lauren."

"Well, I do love a challenge."

"Challenge?"

"You told me I had one minute."

"To fondle my breasts!" Bo laughed.

"Well, if you could read my mind, you would have known your breasts were just the appetizer."

Bo smiled, "Apparently." She leaned in and kissed the blonde, her tongue sliding over her bottom lip before she pulled back, "I cannot wait to return the favor."

"Mmmm..." Lauren smiled, slipping her hands beneath Bo's sweatshirt to feel the skin at the small of her back, "There are so many things I want to do with you right now."

"Me too, baby..." Bo said, just as her stomach let out a loud growl. The pair laughed, "But I think I need some calories to burn first."

Lauren smiled, "I'm hungry too and we did promise your sister and Tamsin some time tonight."

Bo kissed her gently, "We have all night to devour each other, baby."

Lauren's eyes teared up, "It'll never be enough time, Bo."

"Aw, sweetie..." Bo pulled Lauren into a strong embrace as she quietly sobbed.

"What have I done?" She mumbled into the material covering Bo's chest.

Bo ran her fingers through soft blonde strands of hair, "What you had to do at the time. We'll be okay, Lauren. I promise you we'll be okay. I will wait for you, baby. Besides, we've got a ton of plane tickets. We can see each other next weekend if you want, okay? Please don't cry, sweetie."

As Bo continued to console her fiancé, she looked up over Lauren's shoulder when she heard her little sister's voice,

"Mamma's got her meat! Hot off the grill, ladies!" Kenzi called out to the two as she approached carrying a large tray. Tamsin trailed behind her with a tray in one hand, her other towing a cooler of drinks behind her.

Lauren quickly pulled back, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, as Bo looked up at Kenzi with glassy eyes. The younger sister stopped short, pausing until her sister gave her the all clear to come and join them.

The pair moved into the circle, Kenzi's eyes looking quickly at a teary-eyed Lauren before she signaled to Tamsin to talk to her friend. The blonde sat on the other side of her friend,

"So... Lewis. Do you remember that time when we lost in the semis of that summer tournament when we were in college?"

Lauren stared at the fire, her fingers wrapped tightly around Bo's as she nodded.

"You were so upset. It was the first time I'd ever seen you cry and man did you ever cry."

Lauren wiped her face before replying, "You called me Baby Lewis for a month."

"Yea, I did. So if you don't want me to start calling you that again, you need to dry those tears, Doc. We both know that you'll be so busy this week doing your science stuff that you'll barely remember to get dinner, let alone miss Bo. Besides, you'll see your little hottie next weekend if I know the two of you and that pile of plane tickets you have."

Lauren smiled and nodded, her fingers digging in to Bo's hand.

"So, I'm starving! What's for dinner?"

Kenzi rubbed her hands together excitedly, "I used this new marinade on the steaks! It's sooooo good!"

Tamsin laughed, "Translation... Kenzi already had one steak."

"Hey! It was just a little one. I've got a high metabolism!"

Lauren and Bo took the plates from their friends, followed by a fork and a beer, each responding with a nod and a quiet thanks. Kenzi watched as the two took their first bite, their eyes going wide as they turned to each other, then Kenzi,

"Good, huh?"

Bo wiped the juice that dribbled down her bottom lip, "My. God. Kenzi this is amazing. It's moist, tender, juicy and the flavor is... wow."

"Lauren?" Kenzi asked.

They all looked at the blonde whose eyes were closed as she chewed, "Lauren?"

"So. Good." She finally replied, "This may be better than sex." She winked at Bo before blowing her a kiss.

Tamsin and Kenzi looked at each other, and then back at the blonde, as Tamsin replied, "Then you're doing it wrong. I mean... the steak is..."

"Hey! She's kidding! We do it just fine! Go sit down and eat." Bo said, slapping Tamsin before she sat back down and dug into her plate.

After a long silence, Kenzi spoke carefully, "Okay, so... well... before we get our party on, can we just agree on what's happening tomorrow? I'm assuming the two of you are sleeping in late, spending all sorts of lovey-dovey time together in the sack and then going door-to-door so Lauren can say all of her goodbyes. What goes down after that?"

Lauren looked at Bo who remained quiet and stoic. She sighed and turned to Kenzi,

"Actually, I've already said my goodbyes to everyone. After we eat, I'm going over to the residence hall to tuck in Emma and Maverick, and then we can do whatever you and Tamsin have planned for the night. Tomorrow, yes... Bo and I would like some alone time in the morning through lunch. Then I wanted to swing by the Torrent Estate so I can say my goodbye to Tamsin's parents."

Lauren paused looking up at her friend who nodded and went back to pushing her food around her plate. Looking over at Kenzi, she noticed the young goth was, to her surprise, doing the same. Glancing over at Bo and seeing her mimicking the actions of the other couple, she dropped her fork,

"Okay you three... that's enough. We all knew this day was coming. I will not apologize again for the mess I created in all of our lives by taking a job. It was a rash decision, but it's done and nothing can undo it. But I will not sit here while the three of you mope around on our last night together. You are the most important people in my life, but if this is how you're going to be, I'll go hang out with the kids where I'll at least get to have fun playing Candy Land and watching Sponge Bob!"

She stood waiting for a reaction... a reply... but none came.

"Aarrgh!" She stood up, wiping her plate into the trash and walking away. She could hear someone calling her name, but her body was on autopilot.

It took a few minutes for her to realize she was actually running now... she was on the road that led towards town and away from the Kenbo Community. Her pace quickened, a strange anger building up inside of her... was it anger? Her mind raced with emotions as her legs began to burn from the pace she was keeping. When her lungs began to burn, she slowed to stop. Throwing her hands in the air, she looked up at the sky and cried out,

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Her chin dropped to her chest as she stood, breathing heavily trying to still her mind. Finally able to move her feet again, she walked to the side of the road and sat down on the sand looking out towards the ocean. Staring out, she realized this would be the last night she got to look at this view each night before bed. Her evening view for at least the next fourteen months would be snow and snow-covered mountains.

She heard the familiar engine before she saw the light cast over the sand by the headlamps of the old Chevy Camaro. She smiled, shaking her head. Of course Bo would come. They'd agreed no more running from each other... Bo had meant it.

"Well, at least you're hiding in plain sight." Bo said as she walked up to the blonde.

"It wasn't my intention to hide." Lauren replied.

Bo sat beside her, "No, it was your intention to run and I thought we agreed no more running from things that upset you."

"I wasn't upset. I was frustrated and I didn't run from you... I was running off my frustrations."

Bo nodded, "In your bare feet?"

Lauren looked down only just realizing that her feet hurt. She'd pay for that tomorrow, "Not my best idea for running footwear, I'd have to agree but it worked."

"Hey." Bo said, placing a hand on Lauren's arm.

"I felt guilty that all of you were sad about me leaving."

"Lauren, it wasn't our intention..."

"I know, Bo. It wasn't this trip that bothered me. Seeing you all like that made me realize that you all must have felt... gosh, I don't know what you must have been feeling the first time I left. I didn't call or text... I just cut you all off."

"Not Tamsin. Well, not completely, anyway." Bo corrected, though she wasn't sure that she'd helped the conversation.

"I'm sorry I ran off, Bo. I just couldn't stand sitting there watching all of you picking at your food. I mean... Kenzi was picking at her food! Kenzi!"

Bo laughed, "That is funny, especially since the food really was very good."

"It was really good." Lauren said.

The two sat in silence side by side for a short while before Lauren leaned over, laying her head on Bo's shoulder.

"I'm going to miss this view."

"Yea, the snow-capped mountains in Colorado are nice and all, but I have to agree that this view is much better. Although you do have tons of stars in your night sky."

"It is very clear... and crisp."

"I think that's the most surprising part of all of this to me. You actually chose to go somewhere cold."

"I definitely wasn't thinking that climate thing through at the time. Believe me, I've realized that mistake many, many a chilly nights."

"Well, if you ever want me to come warm you up on one of those chilly nights, just leave a plane ticket behind and I'll be there in a jiffy when you call."

Lauren smiled, hooking her arm into Bo's, "Thank you."

"For what?"

Lauren shrugged, "For just being you."

"I am very good at being me, it's true."

Lauren chuckled, "I'm going to miss you, Bo. I'm going to miss this... just sitting with you and doing nothing but making small talk. The thought of getting on that plane is killing me... I just need you to know that I really don't want to be there. I want to be here with you... more than anything, I want to be here with you."

Bo kissed the top of Lauren's head, "Well, that's certainly nice to know. I mean, I'd hate to think that you said yes to marrying me, but would rather live apart."

"So... about that... when were you thinking of getting married?"

"Well, obviously not right now. I mean... we'd need to be in the same state for at least a weekend, right?"

"Does location really matter? I mean... I'm marrying you because of what I feel in my heart. That doesn't change just because we're not living together."

"I hadn't really thought about it that way, but I guess you're right. I told you... no pressure as to the when. I just wanted you to know that I was in it for the long haul, Lauren. There is no one else and you don't have to worry about me while you're away. I mean... I'll definitely have my moments, but as long as I know you'll pick up when I call or text me back, I'll be okay."

"You won't run off to find some cute little surfer girl to warm your bed at night?"

"My bed is not the one that will be cold."

Lauren laughed, "Okay, so maybe I should rephrase that question."

"No need. I got what you were asking and no, I won't run off to find some cute little, tall or other-sized surfer girl."

Lauren felt Bo tense, "I'm sorry I asked, Bo. I mean... I was just kidding, really."

"Were you? I mean... are you worried about me meeting someone else? Because if you are, just talk to my sister and her girlfriend about when you were gone. Honestly, it was like someone threw a switch and turned off my heart."

Bo lifted Lauren's chin so she was looking at her, "I promise you, Lauren. Your heart is safe with me. Please trust my promise to you."

She ran her thumb over the band on her fiancé's finger and placed a light kiss on her lips.

"We should get back to your sister and Tamsin."

Bo nodded and stood with the blonde, "We good?"

Lauren shrugged, "For now."

"For now?"

"Honestly, I'll put on the brave soldier face, but inside I'm struggling with leaving. I'm sorry. I know you want me to live in the moment, but..."

"It's okay... I'm struggling too."

"You are?"

"Of course I am, Lauren. The love of my life is getting on a plane tomorrow. I know we have all of those plane tickets, but we both have jobs to do in our respective locations and with the possibility of the new school and all of the winter sports athletes coming to you in January, we're not always going to be able to take off on a weekend let alone a weekday. It's just... of course I'm struggling."

Lauren smiled, "Well, then what do you say we struggle together rather than trying to fake it until we're at the airport."

"Agreed." Bo smiled, opening the car door for Lauren, "Now let's go have some fun."

"Fun sounds great, but if Tamsin and Kenzi are tip-toeing around us, they're going to get a piece of my mind." Lauren said, her voice filled with a new determination that made Bo smile.

"You tell 'em, Doc." The brunette laughed as she pulled onto the road and headed for home.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Their bellies were full and the fire was dimming. The night had been filled with laughter and stories about Lauren's clumsiest moments as recalled by Tamsin. Kenzi had chimed in with stories of Bo's early struggles in the professional surf world, leaving her sister blushing in her futile attempts to defend her cycle of failures on the way to the top. Of course, the couple did not sit idly by taking attack after attack from the other two. They each took their shots at their own memories of the pair.

Eventually, the laughter dulled to random chatter about the decisions they had yet to make about the new school, Tamsin's new place as CEO of Torrent Enterprises as Pops wanted to step back a bit and work more at the school and Kenzi's upcoming trip to the training center as an Olympian in the spring.

Lauren had become silent quite some time before the conversation ebbed like the waves at the end of a storm. Eventually, only the occasional crackle of the fire was heard amidst the background noise of the gentle breakers at the water's edge.

"So, what time are you guys heading to the airport tomorrow?" Kenzi chanced, earning her a glare from Bo and a roll of the eyes from her girlfriend, "What? I mean, I figured why should we all be avoiding the obvious conversation killer in the non-existent room."

Bo and Tamsin both sat staring at Lauren, hoping she didn't take off running again at the mere mention of her trip home tomorrow, but instead were surprised when the blonde looked at them and gave a tight smile before turning to the younger Dennis,

"It's okay, Kenzi. I mean... it's inevitable, right? We all knew I was going back. No sense ignoring the ticking clock, right?"

"Exactly!" Kenzi said, glaring back at her sister and the other blonde.

"My flight leaves at six, so Bo and I were going to head over to the airport around three. You're both welcome to come if you'd like." Lauren offered.

"Nah... goodbyes suck... especially since I'm finally starting to like you again."

"Kenzi!" Bo snapped, but Lauren placed a gentle hand on her forearm.

"It's okay, Bo. I deserve much worse for all I put everyone through." She looked up at Tamsin and Kenzi, "T, I promise I won't be putting you in the middle of anything ever again. Now that I realize what Bo was going through, I'm sure our conversations put you in a tough position with everyone. I'm sorry, old friend. I asked too much of you."

Tamsin shrugged, "You know that I'll always be there to do as you need, Lewis... even when I don't agree."

"Yea, well... if it makes you feel any better, you were right... again."

"Of course I was... just like I said." Tamsin smirked.

"Wait... again?" Kenzi asked.

Lauren smiled and shook her head, "She means, she was right about Nadia, she was right about working with Evony, she was right about Mia, she was right about Tess and, most importantly, she was right about your sister."

"About Bo?"

The doctor smiled a shy smile, taking a quick glimpse at her fiancé before squeezing the hand she was holding and looking up at Kenzi,

"That she was the first right thing I'd done in my love life for as long as she'd known me. What did you call her?" She asked Tamsin.

"Your one and only." Tamsin smiled, giving Bo a wink.

"You really called me that?" Bo asked.

"Oh, come on! You'd have to be blind not to see the chemistry between you two."

The pair looked at each other, Bo leaning in to Lauren and smiling as she thumbed the ring she'd put on her finger,

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence." The brunette smiled.

"Yea, well I'm just sorry my friend is such an idiot that it took her... geez, I forget how many tries... to get it right with you. Look, the bottom line is that Kenzi and I are just really happy that the two of you are happy. Of course, we'd rather that you be living in wedded bliss by now in the great state of Hawaii with your favorite couple, but at least you're finally on the right track to get there."

"If you make it through fourteen months of tears and drama." Kenzi mumbled.

Tamsin and Bo both turned to Kenzi at the same time, "KENZI!"

She shrugged, "What? I'm just sayin'..."

Bo put her hand up, effectively stopping her sister from saying any more. She stood and nodded towards the ocean,

"Anyone up for a surf in the baby pool?"

"That's hardly a baby pool." Tamsin said, pointing over her shoulder.

"It is right now... clear as glass and the curls are long and easy." Bo analyzed.

"I am." Lauren smiled, standing up next to her lover, "Can we long board?"

Bo leaned over and kissed the blonde's cheek, "Whatever you want is yours, lover."

"Well, wait until you're alone for what she really wants." Kenzi snarked before turning to her girlfriend, "Come on, lady lova. Let's get our long boards on."

"It's cold!" Tamsin replied, frowning.

"That's what that wet suit I bought you is for. No whining. Your best friend in the whole wide world is leaving tomorrow and you've done nothing but complain about it, so you're spending every minute you can with her before my sister steals her away to do unmentionable things to her."

Lauren got hung up on Kenzi's words about her best friend complaining. She turned to Tamsin,

"You actually admitted you're going to miss me?" Lauren asked with a smirk.

Tamsin grumbled as she climbed to her feet, "I may have mentioned something to that affect once or twice."

Kenzi slapped her and turned to Lauren, "It's more like every time your name comes up in conversation which is every time she goes to work because Pops asks about you. You also come up every time she goes to the surf shop and sees your Moms and when she goes to the Back Bay to teach the tadpole water safety class where Emma asks about you. Of course, Maverick always tracks her down and asks when you're coming too."

"But I've seen them every day." Lauren asked, confused as to why the kids would be asking Tamsin about her.

"Yea, but you're not here for breakfast." Kenzi winked.

Lauren blushed knowing that any mornings she hadn't been at the hospital had been spent in bed with Bo. Thoughts of Bo's hands on her rushed through her mind, causing her breath to hitch before she could respond, but Bo was there to fill in the gap in conversation,

"Well, why don't you guys get the boards out and get dressed. We're going to head over to put the kids down and let Lauren say her goodbyes. See you back here in thirty?"

Kenzi laughed taking Tamsin's hand and leading her towards the newly built shed that now housed the surfing equipment, "Yea, like those two are going to let you leave? We'll surf. If we see you before we head in to start movie night, we'll see ya. If not, the movie starts promptly at ten!"

Bo nodded as the two walked away. She turned to find her girlfriend staring off towards the Back Bay and the residence halls just beyond,

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"This is going to suck, huh?" Lauren asked, though she already knew the answer and was dreading it.

"They're a resilient little pair. Come on, they'll be wondering where we are."

Lauren nodded and took Bo's hand. The brunette kissed her knuckles before the two set off towards the bridge across the Back Bay.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren stood between the two twin beds while Bo tucked Emma into one and Maverick into the other. There was very little space between the wooden bunks. As the older boy had explained it, moving into Emma's room hadn't been enough to stop the nightmares. When he moved their beds closer together and held her hand across the space between them, she rarely awoke at night. Bo had explained that she'd seen no harm in it, especially since it was helping Emma to get some much-needed sleep.

The blonde watched as Bo kissed Emma on the forehead before leaning over to her protector and doing the same,

"I'm not sure if I've told you lately, but I am truly grateful to you for all you do for Emma. I'd be lost without you, Maverick... and so would Emma."

Lauren smiled as she saw the boys' face flush at Bo's compliment.

"It's what big brothers are supposed to do, right Bo?"

Bo smiled, pulling the covers up around his shoulders, "Well, I've only ever been a big sister, but I'm pretty sure they're just about the same thing."

"Now remember, I'll be over tomorrow night to have dessert and a bedtime story. You guys be good tomorrow. Good luck on your test, Mav. The Professor told me you should ace it!"

Maverick smiled, "He sure made me study long enough. I think I even know stuff that I didn't have to study!"

Bo smiled, "Knowledge is power, kiddo."

He rolled onto his side and settled his head into his pillow.

"Okay then, I'm going to give you guys some alone time with Lauren. See you tomorrow."

Bo gave each child one more kiss before standing and placing a gentle hand on Lauren's upper arm as she walked from the room, her eyes settling on the blonde's tight smile long enough to know this was going to be hard on her.

She stopped in the doorway and turned back to see Lauren pushing Maverick's bed over so that it was right against Emma's. The boy laughed at the ride she gave him and laughed even harder when she jumped over him to lay between the pair. Taking one of each child's hands in her own, she kissed their little fingers before she began,

"Once upon a time, in a land of cold and snow, there was a little girl named..."

"EMMA!"

Lauren laughed, "Okay, her name was Emma. She had a brother named..."

"MAVWICK!" Emma yelled, smiling at Maverick who laughed at the younger girl.

"Okay, so the brother and sister are Emma and Maverick. One day, the two decided they wanted to go outside and build a snowman..."

Bo smiled as Lauren glanced up at her, grinning from ear to ear. She blew the blonde a kiss and headed off to check on the rest of the kids in her assigned dormitory, leaving the three to have their last bedtime story together.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren had just brought the bedtime story to its happy ending when she heard a sniffle coming from her left. She turned to see a tear trailing down Emma's cheek,

"Hey. What's going on? It was a happy ending, right?"

Emma sniffed again, "But you'rwa going away to the waand of cold and snow tomauwow and I'll miss you so much, Wauwen."

Lauren pulled the young girl to her, wrapping her in a gentle embrace, "I promise you I'll call you, sweetie..." She looked over at Maverick, "...both of you. I swear it won't be like last time. Bo said we'll use Skype or FaceTime every week. We'll see each other, sweetie. Please don't cry. You're gonna make me cry too."

Maverick snuggled into Lauren's side, the three holding tight to each other for a long while.

"Do you wanna go, Lauren?" Maverick asked quietly.

Lauren sighed before pulling back so she could look the youngster in the eye as she spoke,

"I don't, Mav. I really, really don't. But I signed a contract and if I break it, I could get in a lot of trouble, not to mention losing my license to practice medicine."

"Yea. I guess that would be bad."

"It certainly would."

"Wauwen?"

"Yes, Emma?"

"Can we come and visit you?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, unable to speak as she thought about the fact that Maverick could be coming to Colorado and leaving her behind if Bo made the decision to allow him to continue with his snowboarding career... that is, if he chose it as well.

"Can we come with you tomauwow?" Emma asked.

"Oh, no honey. You have school and I have to work. I promise you that we'll see each other soon."

"But not tomauwow?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie. But I'll tell you what. While I'm gone, I'm counting on you to get up on the front of Bo's surfboard, okay?"

"I ohmost stood up today!"

"Really?"

"Weally! Right Mavwick?"

"She got up to her knees. She did really good."

"Wow. I'm so proud of you, Emma!"

"I proud of me too!"

As Lauren and Maverick laughed, Emma tapped the blonde on the shoulder before she whispered,

"Will you be my Mommy?"

Lauren's face froze, her eyes traveling to the figure which had just arrived in the doorway. Staring at Bo, she gradually moved her eyes to Maverick who asked,

"Yea. That would be really cool. You and Bo could adopt us. That way we could stay together."

"Uh... well..."

Bo interrupted, "You guys are still awake?"

Maverick and Emma's eyes turned to Bo's, "Sowwy, Bo. We were just talkin' ta Lauwen." The little girl explained.

"And what were you talking about?" Bo asked, looking at Lauren and giving her a small smile. She was well aware what they were talking about since she had arrived in the doorway just before the kids had asked the question.

"Emma and I asked if we could all be a family." Maverick explained, though Bo could see the hope in his eyes.

"Well, I think that's a conversation for one of Lauren's visits when we have all had a good night's sleep. Besides, if you want the two of us as parents, you're going to have to wait for us to be married first."

Maverick sighed, "But you guys haven't even set a date yet! It'll take forever!"

Lauren watched as Bo's face contorted into what appeared to be a mix of deep thought, sadness and frustration. She sighed, knowing that her having to leave for Colorado was making life tough on the three people she loved the most.

Her face was pulled by the sound of Bo's voice,

"Okay. We'll talk about this later, kids." Bo replied sternly as she lifted Maverick's covers, encouraging him to lie back down. He did so, allowing her to pull the covers up and pull them snugly around him.

She stood, taking a few steps back and crossing her arms over her chest as Maverick's voice released his deepest concerns,

"But Lauren leaves tomorrow! And what if the Judge finds us parents before you guys get married? They'll split us up!"

Lauren stepped in after a long pause, seeing that Bo's eyes were fixed on the floor spanning the distance between her and the young boy. She turned to him, placing a gentle hand on his chest,

"Hey! No one is going to let that happen, Mav."

She smiled softly and brushed his hair from his face,

"The Judge knows the two of you want to stay together and Bo knows it too. You just relax and let the adults worry about all of that, okay? Both of you."

She looked at Emma,

"But you won't be hear to worwy about us."

Lauren swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes closed to hold back tears at the little girl's words,

"I know, sweetie, but I'll be in touch with Bo every day and you have to know that she, Kenzi, the Professor, Dr. Mansfield, Pops, Moms and even Tamsin will fight for you and Maverick. You know that, right?"

Lauren wiped away a tiny tear from the youngster's face before wrapping her in a gentle hug,

"You have to trust that everything will work out, Emma."

"My mommy used to say that and she left me."

Lauren looked up at Bo, whose eyes were filled with tears that were released with the words from the tiny child in Lauren's arms. She turned and walked from the room leaving the blonde with no recourse but to fend for herself.

She pulled back and tipped the small chin up so her eyes met her own. Lauren's heart broke at the sadness in those big beautiful eyes that usually held so much joy and happiness when she would see her playing on the beach or finding a new seashell on the beach that was in the seashell book that Lauren had given her for Christmas.

"I'm sorry your Mommy left you, Emma. I wish things could have been different for both you and Maverick."

She looked over at the older boy as she spoke. His eyes matched the sadness in Emma's, but she continued regardless,

"I don't know why things happen to the people we love, but sometimes they do. But I have always believed that no matter where they are, that our families still love us and are watching over us."

Lauren paused before adding, "Maybe all of our Mommies are together somewhere right now and they are the reason we all found each other."

"Bo's Mom too?" Maverick asked, his voice projecting towards the hallway where he could see Bo standing. The brunette looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

Lauren nodded before looking over her shoulder towards her lover to give her a wink. She turned back to the kids,

"Yes, Bo's Mom too. Some how, some way, things always have a way of working out. Someone very special to me taught me that you just have to have hope. Can you guys do that or us? Have hope?"

"Yes." The two replied in unison.

"Okay then, it's time for bed. How give me good-bye hugs. I promise you I'll be back before you know it. Besides, we'll talk tomorrow night."

Maverick released Lauren and laid back down, "Can we FaceTime if I need homework help?"

Lauren nodded, "Absolutely. Just make sure you get an adult's permission and figure out the time difference, okay?"

Maverick smiled, "Right. You'll be on the Mountain Time and we're on the Hawaiian-Ala... ala... what's it called?"

Lauren laughed, "Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time. You just need to know that I'm three hours ahead of you, so try not to call me after your bedtime because I'll probably be sleeping like you should be right now!"

She gave each child a tickle before moving from between the two and slipping to the doorway. Her hand on the light switch, she smiled at the two whose hands were now joined,

"Take care of each other... and take care of Bo for me."

The pair smiled before Maverick replied, "We will, Lauren. Don't worry about her, okay? If she's sad, we'll cheer her up."

"Thanks kids." Lauren sighed, knowing the pair would do their best to keep their promise, "I'll see you both soon. Be safe. I love you both."

The pair replied with their own words of affection before the blonde doused the light and pulled the door closed, leaving it open just a crack.

She turned towards her fiancé and held out her hand, "Ready to go?"

Bo nodded, taking Lauren's hand and walking beside her, allowing the blonde to lead the way back towards where their friends would be waiting. She knew she should apologize for leaving Lauren to speak with the kids, but knew if she tried to speak, her emotions would betray her allowing tears to come forth like an erupting volcano. Instead, she followed obediently, allowing the blonde to be strong enough or the two of them for now.

As they stepped out into the evening, they were greeting by veil of stars and a cool, crisp breeze. They walked in silence across the sand towards the bridge, allowing the sounds of the water and wind to fill the air. Eventually, they reached the middle of the bridge where Lauren pulled Bo to a stop. She released her hand to pull reach into the pocket of her sweatshirt. Turning to Bo, she took her hand and placed a quarter in her palm. Bo's eyebrows knitted together,

"What's this?"

Lauren smiled, "When I went to visit my Aunt this morning, she reminded me of when I was young. There was this lake we used to go to as a family, but there were two days that she and I always spent together. We would take the canoe to a tiny island that was about a five-hour paddle away from our cabin. I think it was so my Mom and Dad could have some alone time, but my Aunt would neither confirm nor deny my suspicion. Anyway, our canoe was loaded with food, water, bug spray and a tent along with some other necessities. We'd pitch the tent, play in the water for a while before we would make a fire to roast hot dogs on a stick and then have S'mores for dessert before bed."

"Sounds great." Bo said, "I'm glad you're starting to remember some of your better childhood memories."

Lauren nodded, "Me too."

The blonde nodded towards the coin in Bo's hand before turning to the additional quarter she now twirled in her own fingertips,

"So, the next day after we woke up, we'd cook breakfast over an open fire and then explore the island, looking for Osprey nests and any other wildlife we could find."

"So... science geek from birth, huh?"

Lauren nodded, giving Bo a shy smile, "Guilty as charged."

Looking out towards the water, the blonde continued, "Anyway, after we'd spent the day as scientists, we'd set back out to head home but before we did, she would handle me a quarter and grab one for herself. We would walk to the old wooden bridge that swung over a small creek that ran through the island. Together, we would close our eyes, make a silent wish and toss the coin into the water below."

Bo smiled, "Did your wish come true?"

Lauren nodded, "I was really young. I had a different wish every year, but yes, most of them came true. The last wish I ever made was to become a doctor so I could save my Mom..."

"Well, I'm sorry you couldn't save your Mom, but if what you told the kids earlier was true, your Mom must have been watching out for me the day I drowned... she made sure we found each other."

Bo looked at her fiancé and smiled, "So are we going to throw these quarters in and make our wishes?"

"Wish first, quarter second... that's apparently very important according to my Aunt." Lauren laughed.

"Okay then... close your eyes and make your wish."

The pair closed their eyes tightly, both making a wish. Bo opened her eyes moments later to find the blonde staring at her,

"Did you make your wish."

Lauren smiled, "I did... I was just watching you finish yours. Ready?"

Bo nodded and counted down from three at which point the pair tossed their coins to the water below, watching to see them drop into the darkness.

Lauren looked back to Bo, extending her hand, "Movie time?"

Bo smiled, "Well, the second half of the movie, anyway."

The pair laughed, knowing that Kenzi would have something to say about their lateness. In truth, neither was worried about the jokes that were about to befall them. It would just be nice to be around their other favorite couple until the hour forced them to part ways.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren stood by the large picture window, her naked body wrapped in the light blanket that had fallen from the bed during the third or fourth round of lovemaking between her and Bo. She looked back at her lover who looked calm and content as she slept. She leaned against the pane of the glass, a smile tugging at her lips as a sense of peace filled her very soul.

If someone had told Lauren Lewis a year ago that she would be engaged to Bo Dennis, she probably would have laughed, holding onto a great deal of doubt that something like that would ever come to pass. Now, here she was, wearing Bo's ring after traveling a rocky road to happiness. Lauren was not hiding her head in the sand... she knew they still had a rough patch to go, but hope was now her guide... a hope that came from the simple fact that for the first time in her life, she was truly in love and loving Bo felt like the most natural thing on earth.

Looking outside, across the horizon, she took a deep breath and relaxed as she exhaled. Life had certainly thrown her all sorts of curveballs in the past six weeks. Not only had her Aunt re-entered her life, but she had also managed to mend her relationships with Bo and the other members of her makeshift family. Lauren smiled at the thought of Maverick trusting her just a little bit more... enough that both he and Emma wanted them to be a family. She knew Bo was upset by the reality that adoption wasn't possible right now, but she hoped in time that she could give the brunette and the two young children what they wanted... a family.

Lauren thought back on the time she'd spent with her Aunt since Christmas. It had surprised her that she had forgiven the elderly woman so easily, but finding out she'd been caught up in the same trap set by Nadia didn't leave her much choice. How could she punish a woman for doing to her what she had done to Bo? It would be sort of hypocritical. Anyway, she'd enjoyed their time together. Her Aunt was once again the woman she remembered fondly from her childhood. Lauren was unsure it was from the dementia or her stepfather's absence, but regardless, she was grateful the time that remained for them could be time they would both enjoy.

Walking back towards Bo, she paused at the foot of the bed. Leaning up against the tall bedpost, she smiled. Being with this woman, whether in the same room or many mountains apart, she was all she would ever want or need. This woman was her home regardless of where she would lay her head for the next fourteen months.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo rolled over, throwing her arm across the bed, using her other hand to push the mass of hair from her face. Feeling around, she opened one eye to find the other side of the bed was empty. Startled that Lauren would leave the bed, she sat up quickly, and searched the room before looking back at the vacant pillow to find a yellow hibiscus and a note. She smiled and leaned over, propping her head up over the petals to take a light sniff before lifting the salmon colored stationary,

' _Good morning my love, I wanted to go for a final run on the sand before I'm banished to the snow trails of Colorado. I made fruit salad with all of your favorites. It's in the refrigerator. Of course, there is also blueberry pancake batter, which I plan to pour on a nice hot griddle for you when I return. Get up, take a shower and sit out back with your bowl of fruit. It's absolutely beautiful today and the sun deserves to see your beauty. I love you, Bo... so very much. See you soon, Lauren. XO'_

Bo smiled, gently gripping the stem of the flower and carrying it to the bathroom with her. Pulling open the door, she stopped and burst into laughter when she saw the counters covered in Hibiscus and the mirrors barely visible beneath what looked like fifty yellow Post-It notes. Tearing one off the reflective glass, she read,

' _Wondering if the sheet came with you to the bathroom or if you're standing there naked in all of your glory right now...'_

She chuckled and tore another one down,

' _Don't forget to wash behind your ears...'_

Her laughter grew as she read another,

' _Last night... the feel of your body against mine... was heaven on earth...'_

Bo bit her bottom lip as the memory traveled from her mind throughout her body. On reflex, she covered her mouth when a short groan left her throat. Shaking out the thought, she pulled another note from the mirror,

' _Your love will always keep me warm... even in snowy Colorado...'_

"Awww..." Bo smiled. Re-reading the message, she said quietly, "... me too, Lauren... me too."

The next one read,

' _Near or far, you are always in my heart... always.'_

Bo's throat tightened as emotions rushed in, "You're killin' me here, Lauren."

She sighed and moved to the shower, but stopped, shaking her head as she pulled yet another note from the faucet,

' _Oh how I wish I were the bar of soap you were about to use...'_

Bo bit her bottom lip before sticking the note to the outside of the shower door and turning on the water. She waited until it was the perfect temperature before stepping into the warmth. Before closing the shower door, she looked back into the bedroom at the empty bed and sighed. Shutting the door, she closed her eyes, allowing the drops to move at will, washing away the few tears that had escaped and, regretfully, the scent of her lover. She loved the smell of Lauren and would miss the way it calmed her until she saw her again. Bo thought to herself,

" _Maybe Kenbo should launch a body spray called Lauren."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

The sound of the ocean was usually something that could relax Bo Dennis no matter how unnerved she might be, but right now as she sat in the high grass on the cliff behind Lauren's home, she found little to no solace in the rhythmic crash of the waves on the shores of her favorite surf spot below. Looking out across the blue waters of Banzai Beach, her mind was filled with thoughts of Lauren... mostly of her impending departure. It was getting harder and harder not to think about it... worry about it.

She needed to be strong today for Lauren. She needed to remember that she could pick up a plane ticket and fly there any time... well, except for the fact that right now her school was about to grow if she and Kenzi gave the okay. She would have to be home and she would be working long hours as well.

Looking up the coast, she thought back to her days with her team out on the water. She gave a small laugh at the thought of how many wipeouts she'd experienced in her early years. She would watch video after video of the pros and then try to duplicate their efforts... try being the operative word. Kenzi, Vex and Dyson would yell out corrections and advice to her. It used to frustrate her to no end. There was too much noise in her head back in those days. Between their voices, the sound of the waves, the chaos of being wrapped up in the current and slammed against the sand and reef below... and the sound of her voice when she promised her Mom that she would make sure Kenzi went to college.

She had the weight of the world on her shoulders in those days. Bo sighed, remembering when she'd finally gotten some relief. It was when she'd met Fitz. He had turned it all around for her... not just by giving her the shack for shelter or by investing in her career, but by helping her to bring out the best version of Bo Dennis. He helped her to find her soul, reminded her of the lessons of her parents and taught her the ways of his homeland. He taught her the ways of the sea and, more specifically, her home beach of Banzai.

She allowed her eyes to travel to the volleyball courts where she'd first watched Lauren play from her wheelchair. Things were so different back then. It was hard to believe all they had been through and all that a future together now promised. The question was, could she wait for it? Fourteen months was a long time to be apart. Looking out to the breakers off shore, she thought to herself... maybe it doesn't have to be that long...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Lauren stopped about a quarter mile out from her home under the shelter of the trees that lined her old stomping grounds. Sitting down on the bench by her former practice court, she looked to her right, zeroing in on the very spot where Bo once sat. The brunette hated being stuck in that wheelchair, but she wasn't about to let it stop her from coming out to watch her play.

"You're always been stubborn and persistent..." She smiled, as she whispered into the breeze, turning her eyes towards the sea. She sighed when she took in the rocky area where she had pulled her fiancé's limp body onto shore, "... thank Poseidon. If you weren't stubborn and persistent, you might now be alive today."

Lauren had come to love this particular spot. She had never really taken the time to enjoy the scenery. If she were being honest, the truth was that Lachlan never allowed the time. Of course, she now knew just why that was, but still, in the past month, she had come to this spot at the end of every run. Each time, she noticed something new... something that had likely always been there that she'd never seen before.

Today, she noticed that when she looked up at the overhang in the distance, she realized that she could see the trees that surrounded her home and just a bit of the roof, but she knew that she couldn't see this bench from her home. Today, she was also aware of the way the breeze carried the scent of the surrounding rows of Hibiscus towards the very spot where she now sat.

How had she never smelled one of her favorite flowers before?

Looking back at the court, her thoughts turned to the many laughs she and Tamsin had shared over their careers together. She loved playing with the other blonde... loved knowing that she could always trust her with her deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets. Tamsin had become her best friend despite Lauren's best efforts to push her away once the trouble with Nadia had begun back in college. She didn't want to drag the blonde into the swamp that was her life, but Tamsin was much like Bo in that she was stubborn and persistent.

Lauren smiled, thinking of her friend. She was happy that she had found love in Kenzi. Truth be told, they were perfect for each other. She laughed thinking of the many times she'd had a chance to see the pair interact. It was one hysterical one-liner after another that left anyone in earshot sharing the smiles and laughter that the couple exchanged.

It was sad to know that she would not be around to get her daily dose of mirth from the lovers.

She looked back out to see and thought back to their victory at the Olympics. She shook her head as she realized that it had taken her this long to realize she'd missed playing as part of Team USA... of Team LT. Was she really ready to retire? Did she really want to retire? Did Tamsin want to retire or was she just doing so because Lauren wanted to?

She sighed looking at the frayed edges of the base of the net. Maybe she wasn't ready to retire. Maybe Banzai Beach could still pull out a few more championships and another gold medal...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

After Lauren had arrived back at the house, she had made breakfast for Bo. The two shared a plate as well as talk of what they would do during their time apart and the times they would try to make contact each day. They talked about everything from airport arrangements to their mutual feelings on phone sex. They laughed and cried, all holding on to each other as much as possible, each touch reminding them that it would soon be their last for some time.

Lauren had just placed the last of her bags by the door when Bo noticed the antique hourglass clock on the end table had run out of sand. She sighed and walked her lover to the car, helping her to carry her luggage.

They drove in silence to the airport, each one lost in thought as each held tightly to the other's hand. Once inside, they clung to each other, watching the people walk by. Neither was willing to chance a glance towards their partner, fearing the waterworks would begin prematurely.

When Lauren's flight was called for boarding, Bo visibly tensed, her fingers gripping the blonde's hand more tightly. It was then that Lauren finally turned to her,

"Bo, it might seem like we're going to be apart for a really long time right now, but I promise you we'll see each other soon."

Bo's eyes filled with tears as the blonde turned to take both of her hands in her own. The brunette looked up at her fiancé,

"God, Lauren... I'm so sorry... I just... I can't... I can't stop..."

"It's okay to cry, Bo. I know exactly how you feel, baby." Lauren said, her own eyes brimming with tears to match her lover's, "We're allowed to cry. We're two women in love who are being pulled apart by shitty circumstances. We're entitled to have our hysterical moment."

Bo laughed as Lauren took her lips in a passionate kiss, their bodies pressed impossibly close before the second call came for the blonde to board. Lauren pulled back, her eyes closed, her tongue tracing the taste of her lover on her lips. When she once again stared into the dark chocolate orbs of one Bo Dennis, she smiled, gripping both sides of her face,

"Never forget that I love you with every fiber of my being, Ysabeau Dennis. I will carry you in my heart, mind and soul every minute of every day and pray to the heavens that you will do the same. Now turn around and walk away. Don't look back. I don't want you to have to watch me get on that plane..."

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo. I'm the one that made this choice. My decision is the reason we're being forced to part right now. I'm the one that should watch you walk away."

Bo shook her head, "I can't walk away... not until I have to... not until I can't see you anymore... I want to stare at you for every moment I possibly can. Please... let me stay... let me see you look back one last time and smile at me the way you did the first time we kissed."

Lauren kissed her firmly one last time. Her eyes filled with all of the unspoken words she couldn't push out between the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She bent down and picked up her carry-on bag, kissed Bo gently one last time, allowing her thumb to travel back and forth over her bottom lip before turning and running towards the gate.

Bo fell back into her seat as the tears rolled down her face. She watched as Lauren handed the woman her ticket and walked to the door of the landing that led to the plane. She froze, her back to Bo.

Time stood still as the brunette waited for her to turn around, but the blonde just stood there, her head down, her feet planted firmly in place. Bo stood and took two quick steps towards her lover before they quickened to a jog, then a sprint. The woman tried to stop her, but Bo shrugged her off and reached for Lauren's shoulder. Turning her gently around, she saw the tears streaming down the blonde's face,

"It's okay to cry, you know." Bo smiled before pulling her to her and holding her tightly for a long moment. She pulled back, whispering in her ear, "I love you so much, Lauren Lewis. Go now... be great. Call me when you land because I'll miss you too much if you don't."

The blonde nodded and gave Bo a weak smile, "Go on, sweetie. We'll talk soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"See you sooner than you think."

Lauren smiled, "See you sooner than you think."

The blonde turned and headed down the walkway, not looking back. Bo opened her mouth to call out to her, but thought better of it. She sighed, placing her hand on her hips.

"See you sooner than you think."

Bo turned and stormed past the check-in station, then headed out of the airport, wiping her face dry with some force. She opened the door to her beloved Camaro and then slammed it shut, peeling out of the parking lot with all of the thrust the engine could muster. As she headed down the highway, she pressed the call button on her phone,

"Candy?"

"Yes, Boss?"

Bo sighed, "I told you not to call me that."

"But it's who you are."

"Whatever. Call a meeting of the Board of School Directors."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Yes, Boss." The secretary replied.

"Don't call me that!"

"Yes, Boss."

Bo shook her head as she heard the call disconnect. Focusing on the roadway, she began processing her plan in her mind, but quickly realized there were a lot of details she'd forgotten. Her phone rang through the speakers of her car. Knowing who it was, she sighed,

"Yes, Kenzi?"

"A meeting? Now? Really, Bo? What's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow morning."

"I've made a decision, Kenzi. It's going to impact everyone, especially you and in turn, Tamsin. I want everyone there. But before the meeting, you and I need to talk. I need your help..."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 **Colorado, Olympic Training Center**

"Your recovery is coming along much more quickly than I'd anticipated. You'll be exited from physical therapy next week and cleared for full workouts by the month's end."

The young woman's face lit up as she listened intently to the report of her progress,

"That's great news, Dr. Lewis. Did you tell coach yet?"

"I did, Bree. He was happy to hear you'll be returning to the slopes soon."

The young downhill skier smiled, "He's not the only one happy to hear that."

Lauren smiled, as she finished the athlete's chart with a final signature, "I'm sure."

Closing the chart, she stood from the stool, "You can check out with Charlie at the front desk. She'll set up your next appointment in two weeks."

The girl slid down from the table, "Thank you so much for all you've done to get me back on my feet, Dr. Lewis. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you and your staff."

"We do what we can, Bree. We do what we can."

Lauren smiled, opening the door and leading the girl out to the receptionist's desk. Handing off the file to the secretary, she instructed,

"Two weeks, Charlie. Please call down to the PT facility and ask Robert if Bree is still on schedule to be exited in two weeks. If so, we'll need a progression plan to get her back on the slopes."

The blonde nodded, "Yes, Dr. Lewis. Your next patient is here. It's a little unusual, but the woman insists that she's one of your summer athletes."

"Oh?" Lauren asked, curious as to why one of the summer games athletes would be here now. Most only came to the training center for pre-season since the next Olympics wasn't for another three and a half years.

The secretary nodded, handing Bree her appointment card. The young athlete waved to Lauren and headed for the door while Charlie turned to Lauren,

"The girl was sort of... well... forget it. She's in the waiting room."

Lauren frowned at her secretary, "Charlie?"

"You don't like when I judge, so I'm letting it go."

The blonde doctor smiled at the younger woman, "Well, I'm proud of you for restraining yourself, but how about a little less restraint and a little more heads up about what I'm walking into when I see this so-called athlete of mine?"

"Fine. She was a bit of a bitch... or maybe just demanding... and rude... well... look, she just seemed like she owned the place."

"Well, that doesn't sound like any of my athletes, but there are a few I haven't met from the summer program."

"Well, this one was demanding to see you. When I told her you were booked for the day, she said you would see her and that... get this... I should put her at the head of the line."

"Oh really?" Lauren said, closing another chart she'd been reviewing, "Well, put my next scheduled appointment in room three and the one after that in four."

"That would be Cappy and then Jet. Cappy is just here to get cleared to return to full workouts. His PT and the strength and conditioning coaches are all on board. Jet has some swelling again."

"Yea, I spoke with his coach and Dr. Corea."

"Oh, crap! I'm so sorry! Dr. Corea called you about an hour ago. I'm so sorry, Dr. Lewis." Charlie said, shuffling some notes around until she found the phone message for Lauren.

The blonde shook her head as she read the message, "You really do need to use the bulletin board I gave you to arrange your notes, Charlie. It looks like Dr. Corea has already looked at the MRI. It all looks clean, but she's going to drain the knee again. A minor setback which Jet will definitely be unhappy about, but as I always say..."

"Better now than in the six months before the games." Charlie finished for the doctor.

Lauren smiled and nodded, "You're learning, Charlie..."

"Well, maybe she should learn not to keep your sister-in-law waiting!" 

Lauren's head snapped up at the sound of Kenzi's voice on the other side of the counter. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of the brunette bundled up like she was in the Yukon, her gloved hands on her hips.

"Nice try, but Dr. Lewis isn't married." Charlie snapped at the visitor.

Lauren shook her head, "It's nice to see you too, Kenzi."

The young surfer eyed Charlie, "So you didn't bother to give her the paper I gave you?"

"Oh... right..." Charlie rooted around in the notes and pulled out the folded piece of paper, "I was supposed to give you this, but lacked the proper form of motivation from the giver."

The blonde eyed Kenzi as she spat out her reply while handing over the message to Lauren. Kenzi's eyes traveled to the doctor's face who was smiling down at the now unfolded paper,

"You need better help, Hotpants."

Charlie's eyes went wide, "Her name is DOCTOR Lewis! Who do you think you are?"

Lauren placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder, "It's okay, Charlie. She really is almost my sister-in-law. She's Bo's sister."

"YOU'RE Kenzi Dennis?"

Waving her hands from her head to her toes, Kenzi replied, "In the flesh, kid."

"I'm not a kid." Charlie frowned, "And you're rude no matter who you are."

"Rude? Well, I never!"

Lauren moved quickly to the door, not liking where the conversation between the two was headed,

"Come on, Kenzi." She escorted the brunette into the back area and turned to Charlie as she pointed the young Dennis towards her office, "Send my patients back. If I'm not out in five minutes, send in Cara to do vitals."

"Yes, Dr. Lewis." Charlie said, "I'm sorry about the things I said... I mean... since she's Bo's sister, but she really was rude."

Lauren smiled, "Kenzi is... an acquired taste. She grows on you."

Charlie watched as Lauren walked away to join her guest. Turning back to her work she mumbled,

"She'll grow on me like a fungus."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Stepping into her office, Lauren closed the door, "Kenzi? Is everything okay back home?"

"Sure, Doc. It's all good! I just came up for my first training session, so I thought I'd stop in to see you."

"You mean you wanted to stop in to check up on me?"

"What? Moi? Of course not?" Kenzi said, while acting mildly offended.

"Come on, Kenzi. My office is not exactly close to the surf center." Lauren said, sitting in her chair and crossing her legs.

She watched the younger girl as she tore her eyes from the view of the snow-capped mountains to sit in the chair next to the doctor's desk.

"Nice view."

"Not as nice as yours." Lauren replied.

"Really? It's all about perspective, Lo-Bug! Nature is beautiful no matter where you are. I haven't seen snow in a very long time. It's beautiful... cold, but definitely amazing."

"Yea, well there's one thing missing."

Kenzi nodded, "You guys just saw each other the weekend before last."

Lauren shrugged, "I've been here for three months and we've seen each other three times. It's not enough. Our schedules go together like oil and water."

"Yea, well that will change in a few months when Bo has the new school running according to her standards."

The blonde spun her chair around and stared out at the mountains, "My girlfriend's standards are incredibly high. I doubt any school you two open will ever run according to her standards if she is not present on the campus."

"Well, first of all, she's your fiancé... at least, that's what I've been led to believe. Second, as we speak, your lovely wife-to-be is in her fifth day training the one and only Dr. Kevin Rondell to head the school."

Lauren spun her chair back towards Kenzi, her face showing her surprise, "Kevin is going to run the school in California?"

Kenzi smiled brightly, "Yup. The original California boy who grew up just down the street from Bo and I is headed home with his wife and son. Apparently, they've wanted to move back for quite some time. Kevin heard Bo was opening the school and applied for the job."

"But he's your right hand man at Kenbo Hawaii. Who will..."

"The Professor is assuming the position until Maverick is old enough to hold it." Kenzi laughed.

"Is that so?" Lauren smiled.

"I wish you would have been there, Lo-Lo. We'd been through the first four interviews to fill the unexpected opening when Maverick walked in dressed in a suit and tie with his hair slicked back off his face... and flip flops, of course..."

"...That boy hates wearing shoes." Lauren laughed.

"I know. Anyway, he handed us each a copy of his resume and then sat in the chair across from us."

"His resume?" 

Kenzi laughed, pulling a copy of the document from her pocket, "I brought you a copy along with the picture your lovely secretary gave you out in reception."

"I love getting Emma's artwork in the mail. Thank you for bringing that."

Kenzi smiled, nodding towards the wall that held all of the little girl's drawings, "Are you just going to replace the wallpaper with Emma art?"

Lauren smiled and nodded, her eyes roaming over the colorful wall, "It's the most beautiful art in the world from where I sit."

She cleared her throat and swallowed hard, blinking away the tears that had momentarily threatened to fall. She picked up the resume again and began to read,

"Waterfront instructor, huh?"

Kenzi laughed, "He did teach Emma the basics of getting on the front of someone's board."

"Waterfront rescue?" Lauren asked.

"The shed is technically along the water and he did save Emma when the surfboards fell on her."

Lauren smiled and laughed, before her brow creased with worry, "Criminal investigator?"

Kenzi frowned, "He's been spending time with the Judge... insisted on seeing the case files on his sister. Lauren... you should know... the FBI closed the case... they turned it over to missing persons."

Lauren nodded as if she were already aware of the news, "I had a feeling they would be doing that sooner than later."

"I think we all did. We just didn't want to admit it."

The pair sat in silence for a moment before Lauren turned to the brunette, "Have you and Bo made any progress on finding your cousin?"

Kenzi shrugged, "Honestly, I don't think she wants to be found. I mean... the Dennis sisters are not that difficult to find if you want to find them... especially if you're related to them. I mean, one word to one of the tabloids and she'd be front page news, right?"

"That is true."

"Besides, you and Bo were front cover of one in the same month that Tamsin and I were front cover of another. If she wants to find us, she'll find us."

"And you're okay with that?" Lauren asked.

"I have to be." Kenzi shrugged, "On the bright side, we get your Aunt instead. She's quite the little whipper snapper."

"Yea, she is rather feisty." Lauren chuckled, "I hope she's not causing any trouble."

Kenzi shook her head, as she wrapped her legs beneath her in the chair, "Actually, Trick has taken on her case. Apparently he has a new resident in the geriatrics who your Aunt is madly in love with... well... most days, of course."

"I don't think she loves anyone every day." Lauren laughed, "But she is a very different person from the one I had stored in my teenage mind."

"She's hysterical. She's got a comeback for everything I throw at her." Kenzi laughed.

Lauren tossed Maverick's resume on her desk, "So... why are you really here, Kenzi?"

"I really am here for my scheduled physical and orientation program. Of course, I am also here because Bo asked me to check in on you... you know, see for myself if you're really okay?"

Lauren hung her head and spun her chair back out towards the view. She sighed as the familiar longing for the view of the Back Bay at Kenbo during sunset flooded her heart,

"I miss Bo... terribly. I never goes away. I feel it all the time. I keep telling myself that I'll get used to it, but if that's true, what would that mean? I don't want to get to a point where I don't miss her... I don't want to be used to this place without her. I really wish she would come out of retirement. At least then I know she would have to get on the plane to fly out here."

Lauren froze, realizing that everything she'd just said would likely be reported back to her fiancé,

"Sorry. I didn't mean that to sound..."

"...Like exactly what it sounded like? Newsflash... you miss my sister. Nothing I'm not used to hearing about in the reverse back home. You're pissed that she got on a flight to California instead of the flight she was supposed to take to Colorado on three different weekends. Well, honestly I don't blame you for that. I told Bo I would go to Cali, but you know how she is with this, Lauren. It's my parents' legacy on the line and this company's entire future depends on the reputation of this school."

"I know, Kenzi." Lauren sighed, "I don't mean to sound so self-centered."

"I totally understand, where you're coming from. I just want to make sure you remember the power of the press in California. If Kenbo's name gets tied up in negative government stories that have to do with the governments' management of kids..."

"... I get it Kenzi. I really do. I just... well, I just don't understand why she has to do it all. You are a full partner in the company and have just as much to lose. Besides... you're the one with the business degree. I just don't understand..." Lauren sighed, standing up from her chair in frustration. She ran her hands through her hair until they landed on her hips,

"You know what? Forget it. It is what it is."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she misses you... badly... annoyingly so. There are two topics of conversation these days... school and Lauren... in no specific order at any moment of the day. The other day we were working on the costs for the monthly equipment order... at least, I thought that's what we were doing. It turns out, we were talking about the costs of plane tickets to Colorado from California and back to Hawaii. The girl gives me whiplash half the time."

Lauren sighed, turning to face her, "I'm sorry you're stuck in the middle of the mess I created by taking this job, Kenzi."

"It's all good, Lo-Lo. Hopefully you guys will find some sort of rhythm... soon."

Lauren nodded, "Well, I've got to go see my patients."

"I'm off to meet my team. Do you want to do dinner tonight?"

"If you can handle going late? I'm pretty booked today."

"Whatevs."

"Thanks. I'll text you, okay?"

Kenzi nodded, "Okay. See ya later, Hotpants."

"See ya, Kenzi."

Lauren watched as the younger Dennis sister left her office. She stood for a moment before she turned to face the view of the mountains. It was cold and dark here... it was doing nothing for her soul and missing Bo was harder than she thought it would be. Sighing, she turned to face her desk once more.

"I'm not letting this distance destroy us again." Lauren said with renewed determination before she picked up the phone, "Charlie? Get me an outside line... I know... I'll be in to see them in a minute... outside line please... thank you."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi walked into Lauren's office just after seven that night. The blonde had told her to meet her there at five o'clock, but her practice had run overtime and then she'd gotten lost on her way back to her hotel.

"Hey. Where's Lauren?" Kenzi said to the receptionist.

Charlie looked up at the brunette and shrugged, "You're late. She left."

"Left for where?"

"She didn't say."

"She didn't say?" Kenzi's voice was raised.

"Is there an echo in here?" Charlie snarked.

"Hey! I'm on the clock here and I'm already late. Lauren told me to meet her here and now you're telling me she's gone? We had dinner plans."

"I know... I know everything about her schedule. I'm her secretary."

"Okay smarty-pants. Then where is she?"

"Check your messages. She left you a text."

"My phone is dead!"

"Sucks to be you."

"HEY! This is important! Where the hell is Lauren?"

Charlie chuckled. She knew Lauren would be mad, but she was enjoying dishing out just a bit of what this woman had given her earlier in the day.

"HEY!" Kenzi snapped her fingers in front of the girls' face.

"Yes?"

"Look! I have a surprise waiting for Lauren and I don't need you screwing it up! Where is she?"

"Airport."

"Airport?"

"Is there an echo in here?" Charlie laughed.

"Seriously! She's at the airport?"

"Yes!"

"Where is she going?"

"Home."

"When?"

"She left when you were supposed to be here. She was going to have you drive her to the airport, but when you didn't show, she left you this and hitched a ride with one of the athletes."

Charlie handed Kenzi an envelope.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this!" Kenzi asked, frantically opening the envelope. She read quickly, "Shit! She went home?"

"Didn't I already say that?"

"AARRGGHH!"

"What?"

"BO IS HERE!" Kenzi yelled, crumpling up Lauren's note about where she was headed and throwing it in the trash.

Charlie stood, "WHAT?"

"BO IS HERE! SHE'S HERE IN COLORADO! She came here to surprise Lauren!"

"Well, that's easy... just tell her to fly home!" Charlie replied.

"You don't understand! Bo came out of retirement! She's going to surf again. She's moving to Colorado to be with Lauren!"

"WHAT?" Charlie asked.

"I SAID..."

"... I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID! You don't understand! Lauren just handed in her resignation in Colorado! Dr. Mansfield arranged for another doctor to take over sooner than planned."

"Sooner than planned?"

"Dr. Lewis has been planning this for months... as soon as she got back here, she had a meeting with Dr. Mansfield..."

"... So that's why he had to fly back here without notice."

Charlie nodded, "Where's Bo?"

"At the restaurant where I arranged for a romantic table for two. Shit! I can't believe this! When is Lauren coming back?"

"Did you not hear me? She RESIGNED! She's moving back home!"

"NOW?"

"NOW! Geez! I sure hope Bo is smarter than you!"

"HEY!"

"Sorry. That was rude of me."

Kenzi sighed, "It's okay. I've been rude too. Shit! Now what?"

"Dunno. These two are exhausting."

"I know, right?" Kenzi agreed.

The two stood standing in their respective spots for a long moment before Kenzi looked at Charlie who shook her head,

"I got nothin'."

"Me either. I guess I'm going to go tell Bo the good and bad news."

"Do you think she'll still surf?" Charlie asked.

"No idea. Why?"

"Well, it's just that... the way that Lauren described her surfing, she's like a goddess or something."

Kenzi smiled, "Yea, my big sis is something special on a board."

Charlie nodded, "Speaking of your big sis, I guess you'd better go update her on what's going on?"

Kenzi nodded in return, before heading towards the door with a wave, "Later."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tamsin waved her hands over her head, "I'm over here Lewis!"

Lauren waved back, hauling her three suitcases, briefcase, physican's bag, backpack and purse on the luggage cart.

"Dang, Lewis! You sure did pack heavy for a weekend!" Tamsin smiled.

"I'M STAYING!" Lauren smiled, throwing her arms around her best friend's neck whose mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Uh... staying? Wow! That's awesome!"

"Aren't you happy?" Lauren asked, disappointed with the blonde's reaction.

"Of course I am... just surprised is all." Tamsin replied, loading the luggage into the trunk while she looked around for any signs of her girlfriend and her sister. She pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text...

' _Lauren called to have me pick her up at the airport... in HAWAII! WTF! Where are you and Bo?'_

She got into the car, sliding into the driver's seat. She paused looking at Lauren, wondering what she was supposed to say about Bo. Did she see her? Did they fight? Is that why she'd come here? Why would Bo and Kenzi stay in Colorado if the plan went... well, as planned? What the hell was going on?

"So... where to, Lewis?"

Lauren was practically bouncing in the seat as she spoke, "Right to Kenbo. I want to tell Bo the good news!"

"Good news?" Tamsin asked.

"I resigned! I'm moving back to Hawaii... permanently!" Lauren beamed, clapping her hands together rapidly.

Tamsin's eyes went wide, "Uh... wow... that's really... something."

The blonde started the car. Checking her phone for a reply and seeing nothing, she put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking space thinking of what she would say about Bo's whereabouts. California... right... California!

"Uh... about Bo... she's not back from California yet."

"She's still there?" Lauren asked, disappointed.

Tamsin nodded, hating that she was lying to her best friend but she didn't want to take her anywhere that someone would let the truth slip. She definitely had to keep her away from Maverick and Emma... they would most likely spill the whole thing to Lauren.

"So... your place?" Tamsin asked.

"I guess that would make sense then. I'll unpack and then head to the hospital to beg Trick for my job back."

Tamsin smiled, thinking about how she would have to call Trick while Lauren was unpacking so he didn't give anything away.

 _ **Meanwhile... in Colorado...**_

Kenzi ran into the restaurant and sat down across from Bo, "Shit! You're not going to believe what happened!"

"Kenz? Where's Lauren? I thought..."

Kenzi gulped down Bo's entire glass of water, "Lauren was right. This place really does make you thirsty."

"The altitude makes you thirsty, not the restaurant. Now where's Lauren?" Bo asked.

Kenzi put the empty glass down and waved both of her hands between them, signaling Bo to give her a minute to catch her breath,

"You're not going to believe this, Bo."

"Try me. Where. Is. Lauren!"

"Hawaii."

"WHAT?"

"I know, right?! Apparently, she had the same idea you had at the same time you had it! She's been planning moving home for months just like you've been planning on moving here!"

"Wait! You mean... while I was doing all of the paperwork and planning to come out of retirement, she was doing all of the paperwork to leave the training center?"

Kenzi nodded, "Yup. Apparently, she and Mansfield have been chatting."

"That dirty dog! He didn't tell me!"

"I guess the Doc swore him to secret." Kenzi replied.

"Okay, well... I guess we're going back to pack and head back home! Come on!"

"Don't you think you should call her first?" Kenzi asked.

"Nah. I wanna surprise her." Bo smiled, throwing down a tip for the waiter for his time before heading towards the door.

Kenzi shook her head, "Because the first surprise went so well, you want to try again. Great." She pulled out her phone to see a text from Tamsin. Replying, she told her about surprise number two, hoping her girlfriend wouldn't kick her ass for pulling her into this mess to begin with.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tamsin was sitting out back at Lauren's house while her friend unpacked. They had spent the rest of their time together talking about all that had been going on with her parents move back into semi-retirement including Tamsin taking over the reins at the company. As they spoke, she realized that would be a perfect segue into making a call to Kenzi to find out what was going on, so as the conversation dwindled, she told Lauren she had to check in with her secretary for anything she needed to know that had happened in her absence. In truth, Tamsin was going to do just that before calling Kenzi. She didn't want to walk into any Friday disasters without a proper heads up about what was going on.

Tamsin had explained to Lauren that she had been forced to call Pops on a few occasions for advice and assistance. While he had no problem helping his daughter out as she transitioned into the position of leadership, Tamsin didn't want to have to rely on him. Lauren had laughed, reminding her friend not to be so stubborn about asking for help, but Tamsin had argued that she had been the same way until recently. They had both finally agreed that Pops would always want to know what was going on at the company until the day he died, so Tamsin should never feel badly about asking him for help. Surprisingly, Lauren was the one who finally admitted that asking for help doesn't mean you're weak or needy, it means you value the people in your life. She even went so far as to say,

' _It means that we're all human and the diversity and beauty of humanity are the very imperfections that lead us to need help... it's what binds us to one another... especially those we are closest to throughout our lives.'_

It was then that Lauren had asked Tamsin to give her a ride over to see her Aunt's since her car was down at the Kenbo School. The blonde had agreed, since she needed a distraction for her friend anyway and excused herself to make her phone call. Now she was waiting for Kenzi to pick up, but there was no answer. Her text message had simply said that she needed her to call her ASAP. That was over an hour ago.

It wasn't unheard of for Kenzi's battery to be depleted. Tamsin was used to lending her phone to her girlfriend. Hell, half of the Kenbo employees just called Tamsin at night, assuming Kenzi's phone was dead... most often, they were right. She couldn't fault her lover though. She was handling the school and business marketing, finances and purchasing while also trying to train for the coming new season. Add in the Olympic training check-ins and Tamsin wasn't sure how she ever saw the younger woman.

She decided to check her email and catch up while she waited for some word from Kenzi or Bo. She smiled when she saw an email from Kenzi of Bo sitting at the table in the restaurant waiting for Lauren. She looked nervous. Looking at the time stamp, she realized the picture was sent at six o'clock. She had picked Lauren up from the airport at nine-thirty. It was closer to ten-thirty now. Where were they? Obviously Kenzi would have told Bo that Lauren... wait... what would Kenzi have told Lauren? Did her girlfriend know that Lauren had come home? Lauren had told her that she left before seeing Kenzi for dinner, but that she couldn't reach her... shit. Was Bo thinking the worst?

Standing up, she paced back and forth. What should she tell Lauren? Should she tell her the truth? That Bo was in Colorado and not in California? If she told her, then Lauren would be freaking out until they finally got through to them.

Tamsin quickly pulled up Bo's phone number and called her... straight to voice mail. Shit. The blonde paced some more. Lauren had a right to know what was going on... she was going to be pissed.

"There you are! Everything okay at work?"

Tamsin looked down at her phone, all but forgetting the conversation she'd had with her secretary,

"Uh... yea. All good."

"What's wrong?" Lauren asked, seeing the distressed look on her friend's face, "You miss Kenzi, huh?"

"Uh... yea... I mean no... I mean, of course I miss her. I always miss her when she's away but that's not the problem. Look... Lauren..." She looked up to see her friend's concerned look... the one she had when Tamsin was hurt on the court or a child arrived in her E.R. Tamsin hated that look. She sighed,

"Sit down, Lewis." Lauren didn't budge, so Tamsin moved closer and pointed towards the chair behind the other blonde, "Please."

"It's Bo, isn't it. Something's wrong. I've sensed it since we got home. What's wrong? Did she get hurt? Was she surfing? OhmyGod! Her plane!"

"No, no, no... it's nothing like that, Lauren. I mean... I really don't know if..."

"God!" Lauren shot up from her seat, hands on her face, but Tamsin shook her head and gripped her shoulders, forcing her back down into the cushion.

"Lauren, stop! Give me a chance to get my thoughts together to explain!"

The blonde nodded in reply, her sad yet hopeful eyes firmly planted on her friend's. Tamsin pulled a chair from the nearby table and sat down across from Lauren,

"Look... I'm not supposed to tell you any of this. Bo wanted it to come from her and only her."

"It's over. She decided she can't do this... do us... the long distance. But I'm here!"

"Lauren! Geez, give me a chance to finish! Bo loves you and she's not going anywhere! Well... she did go somewhere, but it's not where I told you!" Tamsin sighed, holding up a hand as Lauren went to speak, effectively stopping her so she could continue,

"Please play dumb when Bo tells you all of this. I'm caught in the middle with Kenzi... again... and I don't want her getting upset that I gave away her grand secret."

"Okay." Lauren said, confused.

"Months ago... right after you left... probably even before that, Bo started thinking about the fact that she was never going to survive fourteen months without you. So she began the process... and apparently it's a long one... of getting her proverbial shit together so she could be with you in Colorado. Of course, the opening of the new school in another state didn't help her plan to come to fruition... frankly, the woman has been working her ass off non-stop."

Tamsin sighed, thinking of the mini intervention that she, Ciara and Kenzi had been forced to have with Bo. She was sick with the flu which was rare for the brunette, so everyone knew it was because she was running herself ragged. At the meeting, she and Kenzi had finally come to blows... an event that Tamsin knew had been brewing for some time.

Kenzi had expressed her anger over Bo continually treating her like a child. She also explained that when Bo would say that she needed to be on site at both schools, it made Kenzi feel as if she weren't good enough to run a school that she co-owned. Any argument Bo had made after that had no legs and eventually, Kenzi won out. Since then, Kenzi's new title was co-director and the pair had grown even closer. There were times when Tamsin would sit and watch the two working together and was jealous that she'd never had a sister. Then she would think of Lauren and realize that on and off the court for years, she and her best friend were as close as sisters could be.

Tamsin was pulled from her thoughts by her friend's hand on her own, "T, what's wrong?"

"Uh... sorry. I was lost in thought for a second there." She scowled, "That was weird. Anyway... where was I, Lews?"

"Bo was working her ass off?"

"Right. Kenzi was named co-director of the schools in the company and my parents took over the marketing department. Your snowboarding friends are going to be launching a line of Kenbo snowboards. They're using their name as part of a deal they made for Bo and Kenzi's financial backing. The boards styles will be named after them... and Maverick, of course."

Lauren smiled, "Of course."

"Anyway, you can hear all of that from Bo later. Just no that she did all she had to do to rearrange her responsibilities so that she didn't need to be here or at the Cali school but once or twice a month."

"But how? I mean, surely Kenzi doesn't want to have to do all of the work..."

"Kenzi actually does want to do all of the work right now. She wants Bo to have a chance to enjoy life for a while. She is well aware of all that Bo has given up for her over the past ten years so that she could have a roof over her head and food in her belly."

"Even if the roof was just a shack?" Lauren laughed.

Tamsin smiled, more out of relief that her friend was finally relaxing into the conversation,

"Anyway, the big news is that Bo decided that she wanted to come out of retirement and be 'the face of the WSL' with Kenzi as they had requested."

Lauren's eyes went wide at the news, "Well, that's quite the surprise."

"Well, that's not the biggest surprise. Lewis, I'm sorry I lied to you, but Bo made me promise not to let on what she had planned."

"Tamsin, it's okay. I won't tell her you told me about the changes she's making."

"No, Lauren. That's not it."

"What?"

"Lauren, she didn't just make changes... she was making a move... a geographical relocation."

Tamsin shook her head, mentally berating herself. Bo was gonna kill her for telling Lauren this news. But really, she thought, _'Did I really just say geographical relocation?'_

"T, are you telling me that Bo is moving to California to be at the new school?"

Tamsin chuckled, "Actually, I'm telling you that your favorite surfer girl left yesterday on a flight to Colorado. Her first stop was her physical at the Olympic Training Center... the same appointment Kenzi had to make. This morning, they both had fitness testing at the surf center."

"But I did all of the physicals for the surf team. Bo wasn't there."

"Yea well that was Dr. Mansfield working a little magic for your girl." Tamsin sighed, "Lauren, Bo's plan was to move to Colorado. She didn't know that you were planning to move back here."

"WHAT?" Lauren shouted, her eyes wide as she stood, towering over Tamsin.

"Well, you didn't tell me you were moving back here. If you had, I could have told you to wait or... or something."

"So are you telling me that Bo is in Colorado right now and not in California? Are you telling me that I just packed my bags and moved back home, taking a flight AWAY from the very person I was coming HOME to see?"

"Uh... well... I guess... uh... yea."

Lauren sighed, pulling out her phone.

"I already tried that." Tamsin said as her friend held the phone to her ear, her face filled with anger, "But... you just go ahead and call if you want."

"Straight to voicemail." Lauren replied, throwing her phone on the chair behind her.

"Look, Lauren... she wants to surprise you."

"Fine. Take me to the airport."

"What?"

"Take me to the airport! I'm flying back to Colorado to see my girlfriend."

"Do you mean fiancé?"

"That depends on if she's still alive after I see her! I can't believe she didn't tell me all of this!"

Tamsin stood, "Why? You didn't tell her about your intentions to move back home."

"I've been planning it for months. I wasn't supposed to leave for another month or two, but today was just... seeing Kenzi, I just... it was time, so I grabbed one of the tickets Bo had given me and hopped on the next available flight."

"Thanks for that, by the way... leaving my girlfriend stranded there."

"She's not stranded, Tamsin. She has a return flight and a nice dormitory to stay in with a full cafeteria that will more than satisfy your girlfriend's dietary needs no matter how incredibly enormous they may be."

"Hey! Not nice!"

"I'm sorry, but we all know that she eats twice her weight in food every day. I just don't understand where it all goes! She's a walking, talking, scientific anomaly."

Tamsin smiled, "She is... and she's all mine."

"Well, I wish I knew where mine was! Why isn't she answering her phone?"

"Dead battery?" Tamsin asked as she felt her phone vibrate. She looked down and read the message, her face neutral.

"What is it?"

"Just a work thing. Do you still want to go see your Aunt this late at night?"

Lauren nodded, "She doesn't sleep well, so I'm sure she'll be awake. If not, I'll just check in with the staff on her health and sit with her for a while. Besides, I can use the distraction until I can get through to Bo. Will you let me know if you hear from Kenzi?"

Tamsin put an arm behind her back. Crossing her fingers, she replied, "Sure thing. Let's get going then. I have some things I have to get done for a meeting tomorrow."

Lauren smiled and nodded as the pair headed back inside to prepare to leave.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Where the hell is my luggage?" Bo snapped, her hands running through her hair to gather the long locks up into a messy ponytail.

Kenzi shook her head. Her sister had been on edge ever since she'd heard that Lauren had flown to Hawaii. This whole surprise was falling apart, so she decided to text Tamsin and let her know what was happening. Using her nifty pick-pocketing skills, she lifted Bo's phone and shot off a text.

 _Kenzi: Hey lover. Don't reply to this. Bo is freaking out and I don't want her to get a message meant for me. We're at the airport. I'm guessing doc called you for a ride, so we won't bother you for one. I'll be home as soon as we find Bo's luggage. See you there._

She sent the message and, when she was sure it had gone through, deleted the message from Bo's phone. Then she waited, sitting on her luggage while she tried to block out the sound of her sister's angry voice. This was the worst, best surprise ever.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kenzi tossed her keys in the basket and moved immediately to the couch leaving her luggage by the door.

"TAMSIN!" She called out towards the bedroom, but received no reply, "Shit."

Reluctantly, she stood and walked back over to her backpack. Taking out her cell phone and charger, she walked back to the couch before plugging it in and turning it on. It didn't take long for a string of texts and emails to hit the device.

She scrolled through the messages until she found several from Tamsin. Reading through them all, she started to connect the dots... the most important being that she was at Lauren's house and the doctor was with her Aunt.

Taking advantage of Bo's absence, she called her girlfriend, knowing that it was now up to the two of them to bring this couple together once and for all.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Bo?"

Maverick sat up, wiping his eyes.

"Sorry to wake you, buddy. I just wanted to check in on you guys."

He looked over at Emma who was holding tightly to his hand, "She had a bad dream. I just put her back in her bed a few minutes ago."

Bo came to sit on the bed next to Maverick, her eyes following his to the little girl now fast asleep in the bed clinging to the newest member of her stuffed animal family... Penny the Penguin. Slowly, she untangled the fingers that were clinging to her surrogate brother's and tucked the hand under the covers.

She then turned back to Maverick, "Okay. Why don't you try to get some sleep now, big brother? You've got two tests tomorrow."

"I hate tests on Fridays."

"I know what you mean. Fridays are supposed to be fun days."

"Hey! Why don't you make a rule that the teachers can't give us tests on Fridays?"

Bo chuckled, "Because the teachers make the rules when it comes to the course curricula. I'm afraid you'll just have to muddle through, Mav."

Lying back, he snuggled under the covers allowing Bo to pull them up around him once again,

"Bo?"

"That's my name!" She laughed, plucking the tip of his nose.

"Why are you here? I mean... did Lauren not want you to..."

"Now don't let your imagination run away with you. Lauren and I are absolutely fine. We've just had a little communication error. Apparently, she was flying home for the weekend."

"Did you tell her you were moving to Colorado? Did you tell her that I decided on surfing?"

"No and no... I'll tell her I'm coming to Colorado when I see her and your career choice is all yours to share."

"Are you sure she won't be disappointed? I mean... we won't get to see each other as much as if I stuck with snowboarding. I just... well..."

"It's okay, buddy. Like I told you, we both just want you to be happy."

"I just can't leave Emma, Bo."

Smiling at the caring young boy, Bo smiled, "I understand, Maverick and I'm sure Lauren will to."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She smiled, "Now get some sleep. Lauren should be here in the morning and I want you well-rested for your tests."

"Ugh." He huffed and settled under the covers.

Bo placed a light kiss on his cheek and headed out into the hallway. She sighed, stretching her arms over her head as she listened to the sound of silence. It had always amazed her how quickly these halls filled in the mornings with kids darting back and forth between their rooms and the bathrooms. As fast as the morning activity begins, the entire building empties out and the classrooms and waterfronts roar to life.

She sighed, knowing this move was going to take its toll on her heart and soul, but Lauren was worth it. It was only fourteen months. When she missed home, she would call or look at the security camera footage to check on the schools and the kids. Maverick already planned to wave at the camera with Emma every night at eight their time. When she missed the ocean, she would go to the Surf School and train in the wave pool. After seeing it today, it was more amazing than anything she could have imagined.

The pools she had used in Brazil and the ones she had built here were dwarfed in comparison to the one the WSL had built in Colorado for the Olympic Training Center. Sure, it wasn't Hawaii, but maybe she would add some blow up palm trees and bring in some bags of sand to give it an island feel.

She laughed at her thoughts as she walked out of the building's side door to an incredible view of the Back Bay. Looking up at the dark, star-filled sky, she spoke softly to her parents.

"I'll miss this place and I'll miss Kenzi, but you both know she's all grown up now. It's time for her to fly and she can't do that if I'm always taking charge and holding her back. It's better this way." She said, tears filling her eyes, "I have to go, Mom... you know I do. I have to do this. None of this matters without Lauren here. I'll be back one day soon and we'll build a life and a family here."

She strolled along the boardwalk that lined the edge of the building. She followed it all the way around the water where it finally meandered over the bridge and across the small causeway to the beach on the other side. She followed the path to the Emergency Management Training Center and smiled. The facility, equipment, curriculum and personnel were not completed and the program was up and running for about seven weeks. She couldn't wait for Lauren to see the waterfront alive with active drills during the day. She couldn't wait to observe Lauren teaching a lesson to the students.

She paused, knowing it would be quite some time until that happened since neither of them would be here. She sighed, folding her arms across her chest as a cool breeze pushed through the light sweater she had worn beneath her winter gear. Winter... snow, ice and cold... she could do this... for Lauren, she would do this.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was after midnight when Tamsin finally arrived at the residence of the Dennis sisters with Lauren in tow. She found Kenzi asleep on the sofa still fully clothed including the parka she had bought for her trip.

Nudging her awake, she whispered, "Kenz?"

"No."

Lauren laughed as Tamsin persisted,

"Kenzi."

"Not tonight."

Lauren laughed harder, "Wow. How do you ever get lucky?"

Tamsin looked up at her friend, twisting her mouth and tilting her head, "Ha. Ha."

She looked back down at her sleeping girlfriend, "Kenzi, Lauren is here."

Her eyes flew open and she sat up, "Where?"

"Wow. Nothing for your lover, but all of that for your future sister-in-law?"

Kenzi wiped her eyes, "My future dead sister-in-law." She spun around when she didn't see Lauren in front of her. She stood and walked towards the doctor, her finger pointing,

"You stood me up and in turn, stood up my sister! Do you have any idea what we've been through tonight?"

"Uh... actually, I do. I flew here only to find out that Bo was with you when you came to see me today. Any reason you didn't TELL me my fiancé was in Colorado so I wouldn't have booked a flight to come here?"

"Hell-o... it's called a surprise! She was waiting for you in a classy restaurant dressed in her sexy, sexy black dress. It took me over an hour to do her hair and makeup! You blew it, Doc!"

Lauren shook her head, "Well, if you had told me, I wouldn't have hopped a flight here, Kenzi! You chose to keep the secret after telling me how much Bo was struggling with our separation. I chose to do something about what my fiancé was going through! Besides, you were late! You told me you'd be back to my office by five o'clock!"

"So I was a few minutes late! You couldn't wait?"

"My flight was leaving at six, Kenzi and it wasn't just a few minutes! I called Charlie from the airport right before I got on the plane! It was six o'clock and you still weren't there!"

"Details, details!"

"And I called and texted you at least ten times!"

"My phone died!"

"Wow... I'm so surprised!" Lauren said sarcastically.

"HEY!"

All three women turned to see Bo standing in the entrance to the living room, her hair disheveled and shorts twisted as she wiped her eyes until they fell on what she thought was a dream,

"Lauren?"

The blonde smiled, moving quickly across the room. She took Bo in her arms and held her tightly. Tamsin and Kenzi watched the shock on the brunette's face slowly dissipate when she finally realized it was really Lauren. She wrapped her arms around her and, saying nothing else, pulled away and led her to the bedroom.

Kenzi turned to Tamsin and held up her hand. Giving the offered limb a smack with her own, the blonde sighed,

"A much deserved high five. I don't know how those two could ever survive without us."

"They couldn't if they tried, T-Bear. They couldn't if they tried. Bed time."

"Mmmm... sounds good to me."

She gripped Kenzi's ass cheek and gave it a squeeze causing the raven-haired girl to yelp.

"Oh no you don't. You've gotta work harder than that for this, T-Bone."

Kenzi said seductively as she walked away from the blonde with a wink.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo found herself slammed up against the bedroom door. Her head was thrown back as her lover trailed kisses down her neck to her chest, pulling the shoulder of her tank top down to reveal her breast.

Palming the heavy globe with her hand, Lauren took a very hard nipple into her mouth and sucked, earning her a low moan from the brunette. She pulled away and looked up into dark chocolate orbs,

"Sorry I ruined your surprise. We could have been doing this all weekend until your flight back if I had just waited two lousy hours."

"Mmmm... you always did have a problem with patience. It's why you took the damn job in Colorado to begin with... lack of patience."

"True." Lauren said, working the other strap off Bo's shoulder to give equal time to the other breast.

"And we would have had more than a weekend to do this." Bo added as she watched Lauren's mouth work its magic on her chest.

"Mmmm... you were staying longer than just the weekend?"

"I was staying permanently." Bo replied, causing Lauren to stand up straight, her mouth hanging open. Using two fingers to push up on the slack jaw, she gently forced the blonde's mouth closed, "Actually, I was staying for fourteen months in hopes that we would then be making our home together in Hawaii."

She wrapped her arms around Lauren's waist and pulled her close, kissing her softly on the lips before trailing kisses down her cheek, behind her ear and down her neck.

"Uh... Bo?"

"Mmmm."

"Bo."

"Mmmm... what?" Bo said, refusing to stop her progress.

"Bo. We need to talk." Lauren said, pulling back from her lover.

Bo's face showed a mix of hurt and sadness, "Do you not want me with you?"

"No, no! Bo, what I mean is... well... I quit my job. I came here today... I mean, to Hawaii because I was coming home... to you."

The two stood staring at each other for a long moment, foreheads pressed together, hands gripping each other's faces and necks before both of them burst out laughing. Bo pulled Lauren to her, holding her closely while they laughed,

"Only we could screw up a reunion. So, you flew home to come live with me and I flew to you to live with you... on the same day?"

"Apparently... well, technically, you flew in the day before me." Lauren replied, "I've been planning this for months. I wasn't supposed to be released until two weeks from now at the earliest, but after I talked to Kenzi, I was reading messages from my secretary and had one from Dr. Mansfield that he had someone who was interested in the position and was flying in with him. I booked my flight and called Kenzi to meet me for an earlier dinner."

Bo laughed, "And of course, her phone died, so she never got the message."

"I couldn't miss my flight. I'm sorry I left you waiting for me in the restaurant... and all dressed up in your sexy, sexy dress. You must have looked amazing."

"We'll re-enact it one of these days on our honeymoon."

Lauren smiled, "And what a memorable evening that would be. So, you were seriously ready to move to Colorado?"

"Well, I took the WSL's deal which gave me a reason to be in Colorado for the next fourteen months... well... three years, really."

"Are you going to quit now?" Lauren asked.

Bo shrugged, "Would you want me to?"

"I would expect you to do whatever makes you happy and you could expect me to be right behind you, pushing you to achieve all of your dreams, Bo. What do you want to do?"

"Well, since you've been gone, I've been surfing a lot. There was no pressure... only me and the waves having fun and playing together."

Lauren laughed, "I love that my fiancé's best friend is the waves at Banzai Beach."

"Actually, I wasn't at Banzai when I decided. I was right here on our beach. I dunno, Lauren... it just felt... fun and free and, well, I realized that I missed it."

"Surfing or competing?"

Bo laughed, "That remains to be seen, but I definitely miss pushing myself to do things no one has done before. Kenzi was right about the fact that I've still go more to do in my sport to lift the quality in the women's sport, so..."

"I get it, I really do."

"Do I hear comeback for Team LT in your voice?"

Lauren smiled, "I don't know. The difference between me and you is that I can't achieve my beach volleyball goals without my partner."

"You could always get a new one."

"I would never play without Tamsin. She is the period at the end of my sentences."

"Actually, I think she writes the sentences. That line shot you have is definitely the period... or, more like the exclamation point."

Lauren blushed at Bo's words, "Well, that is quite flattering, thank you."

"So... what now? Colorado or Hawaii?" Bo asked.

"Well, we'll both be unemployed if we move to Colorado now."

"That would be bad. Of course, I could open the Kenbo Ski School." Bo laughed.

"Well, if Maverick went back to snowboarding, that could actually be a real possibility. There's orphaned children in the mountains of Colorado too."

"That's true, but you'll have to talk to Maverick about his snowboarding dreams." Bo replied.

"Is he ready to go back to it?" Lauren asked.

"We agreed he would talk to you about his decision when he saw you in person, so I'm afraid I'll have to plea the fifth here."

Lauren smiled, "Okay then. So... we're staying in Hawaii?"

Bo nodded, "I guess so... with a side trip to Colorado and California once in a while."

"Wow. We're practically world travelers." Lauren laughed.

"Well, if we both go back into competition we will be! We'll have to extend some of those trips so we can enjoy the places we go for more time than just the duration of our respective contests."

Lauren nodded, "Well, let's not get carried away on my competition schedule just yet. I'm really not sure if I want to do it, Bo. I've been playing since I was a kid and while I miss playing a game here and there, I'm not so sure I'm ready to get caught up in that world – or that schedule – all over again. I think for now, I just want to be there to support you and to work towards new goals."

"Oh yea?" Bo asked, pulling Lauren close and kissing her cheek, "And what goals are those?"

"I'm not sure yet, but the two I have decided on are being a great wife and a great teacher to the future generations of emergency response teams."

"You're not going to practice medicine?" Bo asked, shocked.

Lauren nodded, "I will, of course. But I'd really like to do some research for a while. I haven't published anything in a medical journal for years. Truthfully, I always loved the science behind medicine more than anything."

Bo smiled.

"Too geeky?" Lauren asked.

"Never. You're my perfect little geek." Bo smiled, kissing Lauren's nose, "I just want you to be happy, Lauren. It's why I was ready to move to Colorado. The last time we talked, you sounded miserable. You didn't say it, but I knew you weren't happy."

Lauren laughed, "Charlie told you, didn't she?"

Bo nodded with a smile, "What can I say? The girl is wise beyond her years... and... in her words... her ears were sore from hearing about Bo Dennis twenty-four-seven."

"That little weasel! She was sworn to secrecy!" Lauren replied, acting shocked and appalled.

"Well she can keep a secret about as well as Kenzi."

"Well, Kenzi kept a pretty good secret today. If ever there was one to let out of the bag, that was it."

Bo nodded, "Very true. Of course, we'd be freezing our asses off in Colorado right now instead of being in the mild winter of Hawaii."

Lauren smiled, "There is that to be thankful for, of course."

"So... we're staying in Hawaii?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded.

"Okay then, can I ask... and if you want to wait, I totally understand, but how would you feel about a June wedding?" Bo asked.

"That's just over a month away!"

Bo nodded, "I know, but... do we have to wait?"

Lauren shrugged, "I don't want to wait either, but there is so much to plan... so much we haven't talked about yet. We've never talked about what each of us wants from a wedding."

Smiling, Bo walked across her bedroom to the bookshelf and pulled down a decorative box and scrapbook before carrying it to the bed. Offering Lauren her hand, she pulled her down to sit beside her.

"Do you remember this scrapbook?"

Lauren's eyes went wide with realization, "Oh God. Where did you get this?"

She opened the book and began paging through it, touching cloth, sliding her fingers along the edges of pictures and magazine cut-outs and reading notes she'd written when she was young.

"Your Aunt. She held onto it." Bo replied, pulling the lid off of the box and offering the contents to Lauren, "This is my version of your wedding dream scrapbook. My Mom gave one of these boxes to each of us when we were kids. She said it was important to dream and that when we physically built our dreams, they had a better chance of coming true because it gave us something to hold."

Lauren laughed, "Did you build your first surfboard at three?"

Bo shook her head, "I was actually seven."

Lauren's mouth dropped open, "You actually made a real surfboard at seven years of age?"

"Well, it was more like a hacked up piece of plywood, but I road that sucker for all it was worth. My Dad road it once too... proudest moment of my little life." Bo smiled as Lauren pulled an old condom from the box,

"And uh... this?"

Bo laughed hysterically, "Oh. My. God! That was from the safe sex lecture my parents gave me! I figured it should go in my wedding box since the only time I planned to let a guy use a penis on me was if I wanted to make a baby. I thought they were disgusting."

Lauren laughed, "I still do."

Bo caught a glimpse of the blue and green ribbon in the box, "This is a reminder that my two best friends should be in my wedding."

"A ribbon?"

"Blue for Kenzi's eyes and green for my then-best-friend Gabby. She died in a surfing accident on the junior world tour when we were seventeen."

"I'm so sorry, Bo."

"Yea, it was rough. Her parents moved East after that since her brother was going to Harvard. They needed a change of scenery."

Lauren nodded, before she pulled a picture from the box and held it up, "Beach wedding?"

"Of course. I'm a California girl, right?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled, turning several pages in her scrapbook and turning it to face Bo who looked at the picture her fiancé was pointing to,

"No kidding! Beach wedding?" Bo smiled.

"You forget that I'm a California girl, too." Lauren laughed.

"Anyway, I went through our two books with Kenzi... I went through yours and she went through mine. We pulled out all of the things we both had in common and came up with this list." Bo handed Lauren a rolled up piece of paper with a ribbon holding it together,

"I was thinking we could use all of our joint wedding wishes together and then add in anything else from your book that you'd like."

"But isn't there anything from your box you'd like to add?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled, reaching up to brush her thumb gently over the blonde's lips before gently placing a kiss there,

"Only you, Lauren." Bo smiled.

They sat staring at each other for a long moment before Lauren spoke, "Call the Judge."

"What?"

"I want the Judge to marry us. She's at all of our family events, she's helped you from the start and she means so much to everyone here. Find out when she's available and we can get all of the legal stuff done. Once we've done that, we only need to tell everyone to gather at the beach."

"What?"

"Honestly, Bo..." She closed the book and put the lid on the box, "You may feel differently, but all I need is you and the people of our little community here."

"What about Trick and all of the people at the hospital?"

"We're getting married on a beach, Bo. All of the kids from the school will want to be there. Trick will tell the people I'm closest to at the hospital. Kenzi can call all of the surfing people you would want there. I really don't have anyone other than Tamsin, her parents and my Aunt."

Bo nodded, "Maverick can be the ring bearer..."

"And Emma can be the flower girl, right?"

Bo smiled, "Of course."

Lauren took both of Bo's hands in her own, "Bo, I know the idea has been kicked around here and there, but... well, can we have a serious conversation about adopting them?"

"Do you want to adopt them?"

Lauren nodded, "I do."

Bo smiled, "Me too."

"But they have to come first, Bo. So... well, that's one of the reasons I'm not sure I want to compete again. I really want to be a Mom to them... the Mom they both deserve and if you're going to be competing and bringing home the money to keep Kenbo going, I'll need to be here for them. I just..."

"Lauren, you shouldn't have to give up your dreams for our kids. Maybe I should reconsider coming out of retirement..."

"No, Bo. That's just it... my dream has always been a normal family and with you, Emma and Maverick, I have a chance to have that. My dream is to be a wife and a Mom for right now, Bo. We're not raising kids from babies so there's not a lot of time to be a Mom to them. Before we know it, they'll be off and building families of their own. I want this, Bo. I want you and I want a family with you."

Bo nodded, "And maybe we'll adopt other kids?"

Lauren laughed, "Maybe we will. I would definitely be open to the idea. I've had so much fun with those two little ones and I love watching Maverick get lost in science on the beach. It reminds me of when I was little and I held so much wonder at how there was an entire universe thriving beneath my feet in the sand. I'd forgotten how happy I was as a child until I met him. It's like I have a chance to relive my childhood, only this time, I can give him the happiness I never had."

"I'll call the Judge first thing in the morning and set up a meeting, okay?"

Lauren nodded, "Can we tell Tamsin and Kenzi at breakfast?"

"We certainly can and then we'll go over to tell Maverick and Emma... about the wedding. We'll have to hold off on talking about adoption. I don't want them to be disappointed if we don't get approved for some reason."

"Of course." Lauren replied.

They sat in silence for some time, Lauren staring down at the scrapbook and box while Bo searched the blonde's face for a sign of what was going through her mind. After allowing several more minutes to pass, Bo spoke,

"What is it, sweetie?"

Lauren shrugged, "I just never thought that I would have... this. I can't believe this is all happening." She looked up at Bo, "You were ready to move to Colorado for me. I've just never had anyone willing to do so much for me. Thank you, Bo."

"If it's within my power to do, I will do anything for you, Lauren."

The blonde smiled, "Me too."

"Tired?"

Lauren nodded, "It's been a long day."

"Come on. Let's get some sleep. It's a big day tomorrow." Bo replied, standing and putting the box and scrapbook on the shelf.

She turned to see Lauren slowly removing her top before shaking out her hair. She then slid her jeans off, folding them before placing them on the chair. With her back turned, she removed her bra, then her panties before turning to face Bo,

"I'd like to hold you... to feel your skin. I've missed you, Bo... too much."

Bo's eyes welled with tears. Removing her tank top and shorts, she slipped into bed and held back the covers for her lover. Lauren slid immediately into her embrace, savoring the familiar feel and smell of her partner's body. They held each other for a long while, hands exploring long lengths of flesh while their bodies melded together, unsure of where one stopped and the other started.

"Love me, Bo."

Lifting her lips to meet the brunette, Lauren melted into a long sensual kiss, her lips parting to allow Bo's tongue the access it sought. Her legs parted, giving Bo's hip room to grind into her center while wrapping her legs around Lauren's thigh as the blonde rolled them over.

Pausing, Lauren spoke in a whisper, "I love you, Bo... I will always love you with all of my heart and soul. I'm sorry it took me so long to find myself, but I'm here now and I'm yours... body, mind, heart and soul."

"And I am yours, Lauren... always."

Bo pulled Lauren to her, holding her tightly as they moved together, their rhythm familiar, yet new. The blonde pressed up onto her hands, looking down at Bo. Their eyes connected as their passion grew, their need reaching a great crescendo until they reached their peak together, eyes holding for the long moment of total surrender to each other until they exhaled into a deep kiss parting when an exhausted Lauren fell down onto her lover.

Wrapping her arms around the blonde, Bo kissed her forehead as she settled into her shoulder,

"You know, I really would have moved to Colorado, Lauren. It would have been hard, but my home is wherever you are."

"I know you would have, Bo but I'm glad I could make the move myself. I thought it was a job that I could be happy in, but I learned that only a home can make me happy. You're my home, Bo. Wherever you are, that's where I'll be."

"Goodnight, Lauren." Bo said, kissing the blonde's forehead once more.

"Goodnight, Bo." Lauren replied, kissing the fingertips of the hand she held on Bo's chest, "I love you."

"I love you too."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_


	18. Chapter 18: Upon Calmer Seas

_**A/N:**_ _I know, I know, I know! So very sorry! Real life... ya'll know how it can get! I really thought I would get posts out for at least one of the last three holidays, but it just didn't happen. I love writing, so it's been a bummer having no time to just escape into a fantasy world._

 _To all who have contacted me, I'm sorry if you've been worried. I'm okay, just extremely busy with work and family. I will write another Lost Girl story. I do intend to do a Finding Our Way sequel. It's in the works, but I'm spending a lot of time going back through the original to pull the story line together the right way._

 _So, this is the end of Upon Turbulent Seas! Thanks to all who stuck with this... favorites, reviews and PM's. It is my wish that this story has come to a conclusion that represents strength and hope for families struggling with abuse and violence of any kind. It's a bit of cheese mixed in with a bit of closure – at least that's what I was going for... well, I guess the cheese just sort of happened._

 _Love and cuddles to all of the Faemily!_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Chapter 18: Calming the Seas**_

 _ **Six Months Later...**_

"Again!" Lauren called out to the group hanging on the wall that surrounded the rescue pool, "Jerry, you have got to stabilize the head faster. Remember, teamwork. Gary, hold up that board so Mike can get the collar fastened... seconds count!"

"Yes, Dr. Lewis." The group said with a moan before resetting the drill.

"Dude, get it right this time." An exhausted student told a member of his group.

"Shut it, Mike. Why don't YOU try treading water and holding up a backboard! You two need to work faster!"

"Both of you shut it. The Doc is right. Did you see the dock clock? We're almost a full thirty seconds slower than any other group. If we don't do this, she won't pass us."

"Dude, I can't do this whole course over again. I damn near drowned the first time." Mike said, wiping the water from his face.

"Yea..." The two students looked at the Cole... "Uh... what he said." He wiped his face, "Look, I can't do this again, Cole. We've been out here treading water all day. I'm cramping, tired and freezing my ass off."

Mike nodded, "I think my ass is still there, but my fucking balls have disappeared. Let's get going."

Cole nodded, "Okay then... let's do this right."

Lauren stood, clipboard on her hip, visor tipped down to shade her eyes from the glare on the water and sighed as she watched the last group get into position... again.

"Whater they doin' Mommy?" Emma asked as she sat with her feet dangling in the water, her fishing line dangling as the bobber danced back and forth with the tide.

"I hope they're getting their collective acts together, sweetie." Lauren mumbled, immediately regretting her choice of words.

"Huh?"

Lauren sighed, thanking the heavens the little girl hadn't understood what she'd said. She looked down at her adopted daughter and tweaked her tiny nose, "I think they're having a team talk. What do you think?"

Emma nodded before looking back at the group, "I think that's a good idea. They did weally bad. I was watching the big cwock and the wittle hand was on the six for them and it was onwe on the twelve for Matt's gwoup and they didn't do dat good eider. Dey kinda did bad, huh?"

"I'm afraid so, Em. Maybe they'll get it right this time."

"Thwee stwikes theywa out, wight?"

Lauren nodded with a smile, tugging the little girl's hat down over her eyes, "You do know the rules."

"Wules are important. Wules make it so we don't get hurwt, wight?"

The blonde smiled, "That's right, sweetie."

She looked up to see the group re-enter the water.

"Can I stawt the big cwock?"

Lauren chuckled, "Throw the switch, baby girl!"

The blonde watched as the little girl ran across the dock and reached up to flip the power switch. She leaned around the front of the clock and checked to be sure the large red sweep hand was moving,

"It's going!"

Lauren gave the group a thumb up and started her stopwatch. It took only moments for the doctor to make note that their pace was much quicker than before. She watched as they took smooth even strokes above the water, dragging their equipment along. As they approached the heavy manikin floating face down at the outskirts of the bay, she watched as Cole used a carefully executed roll maneuver to flip their 'victim' onto his back while Mike slid the backboard beneath it.

"I got one! I got one!" Emma yelled.

Lauren looked down for a second, seeing the bend in Emma's rod, "Mav! Come help your sister, please!"

"Comin'!" Maverick replied from the end of the dock as he quickly reeled in his line and ran to his sister's side with the net.

"Good one, Em! We have enough for dinner now!"

Emma looked up at Maverick, straining to see him beneath the long brim of her hat, "But arwent we getting one forwa Mom?"

Maverick sighed, "Maybe if we don't get her one, she'll get home."

"Are you mad at Mom, Mavwick?"

Maverick put the fish onto the stringer and tossed it back into the water before helping Emma up to her feet.

"Yea, a little."

"She can't help, she has ta wok ya know."

"Someone else could do it."

"Mommy says it's important to her and that we..."

"I know, I know... we should support her, but she's been gone for three weeks, Em!"

He clicked shut the tackle box and picked up the rods, "I'm goin' inside. Mommy will help you with the fish. I'm gonna go get cleaned up. Aunt Kenzi and Tamsin will be back soon."

"Mavwick, you shouldn't be mad!" Emma called after her brother.

The voice of her younger daughter calling out to Maverick drew Lauren's attention. She turned to see Maverick stomping off down the dock, talking to himself. Lauren sighed, looking at a frustrated Emma,

"It's okay, little girl. Just let him cool off."

"He is mad at Mom still."

Lauren nodded, "It's okay, sweetie. He's allowed to feel the way he feels. I'll talk to him later."

"I wish Mom would come home and talk to him."

"She'll talk to him on Skype tonight."

"I know." She paused, looking down at her feet, "But it's not the same. I miss herw."

Lauren placed a hand on her daughter's back, pulling her gently to her hip. Emma wrapped her arms around Lauren's long leg as her Mommy spoke softly,

"I know, Em. I miss her too."

Lauren looked up to see that her senior boys had made their way to the beach. She recorded the remainder of her notes as the group waited patiently for her report. Finally she looked up, tipping her hat up just a bit, but keeping her eyes hidden behind her dark aviator sunglasses,

"Gentleman."

"Well, Doc?" Cole asked, anxiously as his partners stood shivering beside him.

Lauren pointed to the dock clock, "Three's a charm, I guess. You shaved thirty-two seconds off of your best time and were technically perfect on each maneuver. Well done, boys. Your final test is tomorrow at two o'clock sharp. Warm up and equipment prep is your responsibility. Make sure you are dressed and ready to go in full gear by your testing time. You'll be using the _Kenbo 2_ for your boat rescue. Make sure she's fully fueled so you don't run out of gas like you did in your last boat drill."

"Yes, Doc." Mike replied, knowing the fuel short was his fault.

Lauren focused in on the fair-haired young man in the group, pulling her shades down her nose so he could see her eyes,

"A stalled boat seventy yards from shore with a victim who is in cardiac arrest isn't exactly our idea of a rescue, right Mike?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded, hanging his head.

"Hey, no hanging your head. Mistakes happen and reminders of those mistakes are given for a reason. I don't bring it up again to make you feel shame. I bring it up because I want you to remember to always keep your rescue boat's tank full. You are never too hungry that you pull into dock and run off the dining hall telling yourself you'll fill the tank later. Why?"

Mike sighed, "Because later I'll want a shower and after that I'll want to relax after a long day and after that I'll want to sleep and I'll tell myself I'll fill it in the morning."

Lauren finished, "And then at 3am, the alarm sounds and you're back on the water with a boat that runs out of fuel before you can get the person you're supposed to save into the ambulance. Short of our own deaths, there is nothing more important than making sure our equipment is prepped after every single emergency. Clear?"

"Clear." The three replied in unison.

"Off you go then. Good luck tomorrow, gentleman."

The boys turned to walk away, but Cole turned back, "Uh... Doctor Lewis?"

"Yes, Cole?"

"Do you know who our instructor will be for the test?"

Lauren shook her head, "I only know they're sending five Coast Guard instructors up from Honolulu, Cole. I only know the Chief and I don't know if he's coming. I know he's been in touch with Bo to help her with the Emergency Center at the Kenbo School at Maverick's in California, but I'm not sure if he's actually here on the island or in the states. I'm sorry I can't tell you more about the instructors, but what I can tell you is that you have a very good chance of getting into the Coast Guard Academy if you perform the way you did in that last drill."

Cole nodded and looked over his shoulder at his friends who were crossing the bridge back to the dorms,

"If we do well as a team, will they take us all?"

Lauren sighed, her shoulders slumping as she placed a hand on the young man's shoulder,

"I know how you feel, Cole but you already know the answer to that question. They're accepting five candidates from Kenbo. There are five teams of three. I think you can do that math."

Cole nodded, "And four of the five teams were faster than us."

"You may be working as teams, but the instructors are looking at each individual. They're looking for the strongest member of each group, Cole."

"I'll feel horrible if I get in and they don't."

Lauren nodded in understanding remembering all of the people in her undergrad labs and classes who never made it to medical school. She went further, thinking of the first time she'd been through high school tryouts, then collegiate tryouts and then Olympic tryouts. There had been so many great players... so many people who would have been great partners for her and yet, in the end, only a handful remained. She thought of all of the women who had played in the Summer Olympics... all except six went home without medals after all of their hard work. She knew that Cole was unaware of her history as an athlete, but she replied regardless,

"I know exactly how you feel."

"I don't think you do. I mean... we've been through the soup together in this program, ya know? We've laughed together, sweat together, swam together, won together, failed together... hell, we've almost died together. There's this bond that I can't explain."

"Come... sit with me." Lauren said, walking to the bench on the dock and pulling Emma onto her lap. The little girl laid her head on Lauren's shoulder watching Cole as he sat down next to them.

Cole looked out across the bay as Lauren sat down beside him. The young man had brought up life and death, which had reminded her of yet another time that many had been left behind while she remained. Taking a deep breath, she began, her eyes focused on the sun's gleam across the water as she spoke,

"I was in the war in Afghanistan a few years back."

"Wow. I had no idea."

Lauren gave a tight smile, rolling her eyes as she spoke, "I guess I sort of go against type... whatever type is for social norms. Anyway, I know the bond you speak of because I had that with the other doctors and nurses there. When you go through things like that together, it does make you closer, but it also makes you stronger and... well, more than that, it makes you want the best for all of the people you grow so close to while you're _in the soup_ , as you said."

"I do want the best for them. That's why I hate it if I got in and they didn't."

"I know that, Cole but do you realize they feel the same way? They'll be happy for you if you get in."

"But what will happen to them?"

"They'll each find another place to continue their education."

"But their Coast Guard dream ends!"

"No, it's delayed, not over."

"But they'll have to wait another year. What do they do until then? They're going to graduate from Kenbo and have nothing and no where to go."

Lauren smiled, "I see. You're afraid that all of this will be for nothing. That they'll just end up on the streets?"

Cole frowned, "It's nothing against you or Bo or Kenzi... you guys have been great to take us in and give us this school. Believe me... every single kid in that building over there knows how lucky we are to have come here instead of being pushed into the system and a group home. But what happens to us now that we're eighteen? I mean, if we don't get into a college, what then?"

"What did your advisor tell you?"

Cole shrugged, "Not much. I mean... I've wanted to be in the Coast Guard since I was two. We never talked about anything else. I don't... I don't have a back up plan."

"I see." Lauren took a breath, torn between continuing the conversation and running across the bridge to find Cole's advisor to throw him against a wall, "Okay, well let's talk about that then. Suppose you don't get in to the Coast Guard this year. What would you want to do?"

"What will the others do if they don't get in?"

"Well, their plans are their own, so I won't name names, but... let's see... I know we have someone who wants to be a Physical Therapist if this doesn't pan out. There's a potential nurse in the group as well. There's a professional surfer..."

Cole chuckled, "Thomas... that's Tom, right?"

Lauren laughed, "Like I said, I won't name names, but..."

She shoulder bumped the young man before she continued, "Look, the bottom line is that everyone has a back up plan..."

"Everyone... except me."

Lauren nodded, "And I can't for the life of me understand why your advisor wouldn't have forced you to create one as well, but..."

"Because I wouldn't let him." Cole interjected.

"What?"

"I refused to discuss it. I didn't got to the graduation planning seminar or the Planning for Your Future conference. I had a goal and failure wasn't an option."

Lauren nodded and looked back out at the water. If she didn't know better, she'd swear that this boy was her long lost brother. He sounded just like her when she was young. Being anything other than a doctor was never an option for her,

"Then Coast Guard it is, Cole. We'll make it happen."

"But what if I don't get in?"

"Then you'll work here until you can apply again next year."

"What?"

"We'll hire you... you've got skills we can use and you can teach the lower school kids."

"Really?"

Lauren nodded, "I have to clear it with Bo and Kenzi, but if they say no, I'll get you a job at the hospital and you can live with the Professor at the campground if you have to."

Cole smiled, "Really?"

"Really. Now... go check in with your boys. Someone has to make sure Mike fuels the boat."

Cole laughed, "Very true."

He stood, "Thanks, Doc. I feel a lot better knowing that everyone will have somewhere to go after tomorrow."

Lauren nodded, "Have a good night, Cole. Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks. See ya, Emma."

"Bye Cole. Good luck tamorwow."

"Thanks, kiddo. Will you be watching?"

"A course, I will!" Emma smiled.

"Good to know. Cheer for me."

"I will." Emma replied.

Cole gave Lauren a nod and headed down the beach towards the bridge. The doctor stood, pulling Emma onto her hip, and headed down the dock.

"Ready for dinner?"

"We didn't catch a fish for Mom. Mavwick said that she's not coming."

"Well Maverick was wrong."

The two looked up to see a smiling Bo standing at the end of the dock,

"Surprise!" She yelled before dropping her backpack on the beach and squatting down in the sand, extending her arms to Emma. The little girl scrambled out of Lauren's arms, running top speed to her Mom, gigging as she ran with her arms open wide.

Bo scooped her up and spun her around before pulling her tightly into a hug. She looked over the little girls' shoulder at her wife who walked slowly towards her, a broad smile stretching across her face,

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I thought you wouldn't be home for another week."

Lauren stepped up and leaned over Emma's shoulder, giving her wife a short, but sweet kiss. She pulled back and laughed, seeing Bo's eyes shut tightly while her tongue ran over her lips,

"I've missed that." Bo said, opening her eyes and smiling at the blonde.

"Well, we've all missed you." Lauren replied, her hand running over Bo's hair.

Emma gripped Bo's cheeks in her hands, pulling her gaze to her own, "Mavwick is weally, weally, weally mad at you, Mom."

"Again?"

Emma nodded, "Yup."

Bo looked up at Lauren who shrugged. The brunette sighed, "Well, I guess we should go face the music, huh?"

Emma scrambled out of Bo's arms and ran towards the dock, "We gotta catch you dinner firwst!"

Lauren turned to follow their littlest child, but Bo gripped her forearm, "I'll go. Why don't you head back and help Maverick."

"Maybe you should go back and see Maverick?" Lauren suggested.

Bo shook her head, "I was hoping you could maybe break the ice for me a bit?"

Lauren gave a tilt of the head and sighed, "Fine. But only one fish."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that when you and Emma fish together, you fish for hours. Catch one fish, Bo... I mean it."

"Have I mentioned you're not fun?"

"Have I mentioned you've been away for three weeks so fun wasn't really an option?"

Bo frowned, "I'm sorry, Lauren. I..."

Lauren placed a finger firmly over her wife's lips, "I know. I'm not mad. I know how busy you've been... I know how important Kenbo is to you... the brand, the reputation... that the other schools get off the ground and run the way you and Kenzi expect but..."

Lauren raked her fingers through her long blonde hair, her eyes closing as she sighed, "Look... this is a conversation for another time, okay? I'm going to go back to get dinner started with Maverick. I'll try to rein in his anger so we can have pleasant family time. You spend some time with Emma. We'll talk tonight."

"Lauren, I really am sorry about being away for so long."

"I know, Bo... I do. But you're going to have to find a way to start to trust that someone else can handle the quality control for your company."

"Who? Who can make sure that the other Kenbo's run the way this one does?"

Lauren allowed her eyes to move from Bo towards the bridge and the living quarters beyond the bay,

"I think I have an idea about that... actually, I think I have Cole to thank for the idea."

She turned back to Bo, "Go. Make sure our little girl doesn't take a header into the water. I'll see you soon."

Bo leaned in and kissed the blonde, "Still love me?"

"I'm afraid that's a terminal condition for me, love." Lauren replied, kissing Bo once more, "But at least I'll die with a smile on my face."

"Ha. Ha." Bo replied, kissing Lauren one last time, "See you soon."

Lauren smiled as her wife walked towards the dock, Emma excitedly holding up a rod for Bo to take. She turned and headed back towards the house... and their angry son.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"I got it! I got it! Mom! Look! Look!"

Bo laughed at the excitement in Emma's voice until she looked up and saw that the bamboo rod she was using was almost bent in half. She dropped her own rod into the rod holder and ran to the little girl, grabbing her just before she was about to be pulled into the water.

"Whoa there!" Bo wrapped one arm around her waist and while the other hand went to the rod, "Do you remember how to give me some slack, sweetie?"

"I press the button?"

"Yup. Press the button so he doesn't snap the rod or the line."

"He's strong, huh?"

"I think he's really big, little girl. Let's see what we've got here."

Bo's eyes went wide when she saw the tail of the fish break the surface, "Go down to the end of the dock and grab the net, baby girl."

Emma did as she was told, running towards the sand and grabbing the net. Coming back down, she tripped over the webbing and fell, but recovered quickly, choosing to drag the net behind her instead.

"Here it is, Mom. Should I get it?" Emma reached over the dock, extending the pole down and almost took a header into the water again. Bo grabbed her by the shorts and planted her on the dock, somehow managing to catch the net just as the youngster released it. She heard the reel of the rod wiz as the fish took the line once again.

"Shit." Bo said, dropping the net on the dock and gripping the rod again. She looked down at the net, catching her first glimpse of the unusual webbing... she didn't recognize it.

"Mom you shouldn't say bad words."

"Sorry, honey." Bo replied, taking a closer look at the rod and line which were also unfamiliar to her.

"Need help?"

Bo looked up at the sound of Maverick's voice, "Oh thank God. Yes, Mav. Your sister caught a big one."

"Do you know how to handle a bamboo rod?" He asked, watching the rod flex under the strain. He ran his fingers over the line, "The rod will hold, but that line is being tested."

"The rod will hold?" Bo asked, "It's just a stick."

"It's bamboo. It's got plenty of flex."

He walked over and took the rod from Bo, their hands touching for a moment. Bo looked down at him, giving him a smile. Maverick gave a weak grin in return, but the brunette was quite aware that his eyes failed to light up as they usually did when they'd seen each other after being separated for a time.

Maverick looked over the dock into the light blue waters,

"He's under the dock, Mom." Maverick said, "Can you grab that towel and get a hold of the line? I'd hate to lose her fish."

"Me too. I didn't have enough hands to handle keeping her from falling into the water and land the fish at the same time." Bo laughed, trying to get a smile out of her son.

"Yea, it's tough to land a fish alone with Emma. I know how it feels."

Bo knew the comment was a subtle hint about her not being around, but she wasn't going to get into a conversation with him in front of Emma. She gripped the line with the towel, relieving some of the pressure from the rod. He took up some of the slack with the reel,

"Now try to pull the line away from the tide pole beneath the dock. If the line hits those barnacles, they'll cut the line."

"Can you see him, Mavwick?" Emma asked, kneeling down on the dock and trying to look into the water.

"Not yet, Emmy. One foot back, remember? I don't want you falling in again, Sis."

"Again?" Bo asked, her head looking back at Maverick, her face showing her apparent shock at the news that Emma had fallen off the dock into the water.

"She fell in twice while you were gone. Once when she wanted to pet a stingray that was swimming beneath the dock and once when she was trying to use my net to get a fish."

"So dock railings it is." Bo commented as she pulled the line free of the dock.

"You said that a month ago." Maverick said, his tone holding more anger than the last time he spoke.

Bo sighed, knowing this was going to be a tough weekend... especially when her adopted son found out she had to leave again on Monday.

"I see it! I see it! Look Mavwick!"

The boy nodded, reeling up the slack in the line before lowering the rod and reeling again until he could see the fish break the surface,

"Wow. That's a huge fish, Em! Good one, little sis!" Maverick said, "Net, Mom."

Bo slid the net under the fish and lifted it from the water, squinting as it flipped back and forth, spraying her with water.

"What kind is it, Mom? Huh?" Emma asked excitedly, "He's weally, weally big, huh?"

Bo stood and reached into the net, "Let's see what we've got here."

She gripped the lower lip of the fish, lifting it from the net before she worked the hook easily from the mouth,

"You got it in just in time, Mav. I think that hook was just about to tear through his lip. We would have lost him if you hadn't come to help. Thanks, buddy."

Maverick wiped his hands on the towel, giving Bo a nod, though his eyes never met hers.

"What is it, Mavwick? I wanna know what it's called." Emma asked excitedly.

"It's called an Uku or a Gray Snapper. They're a little unusual for this area. I think I remember the Professor telling me they were more common off the coast of Maui."

"Maybe he knew Mom was coming home and would need dinner!" Emma suggested.

"I don't think anyone knows when Mom is coming or going."

Maverick tossed the filled the bucket on the dock with water from the ocean and motioned to Bo to put the fish in the bucket. He grabbed his rod and lifted up the bucket with some effort,

"I can take the fish if it's too heavy, Mav." Bo suggested, moving to take the bucket.

"I can handle it, Mom... just like I always do. Come on, Em. Mommy wants you to wash up for dinner."

Maverick looked up at Bo, his eyes holding more pain than anger now.

"Maverick..."

"We have to get ready for dinner. Mommy has everything ready. She sent me down to tell you to give up on getting another fish. Since you had one hooked, I figured we might as well land it. It won't take me that long to clean it and cook it."

"Maverick, I can clean the fish and cook it. You don't have to..."

"I've got it, Mom. Can you clean up the dock, please. Mommy's waiting for us." Maverick lowered his eyes, "She's missed you."

Bo placed a hand on Maverick's shoulder, "Maverick, please?"

"Please what?" Maverick snapped, his jaw set, his teeth gritted.

Bo sighed, "You know I don't want to be away from you. I just..."

"Save it, Mom. We shouldn't keep the Doc waiting."

Bo nodded, "What do you mean Mommy has missed me?"

Maverick turned his back on Bo and spoke softly, "She thinks I don't hear her at night, but she cries sometimes. I know it's because she misses you."

He shook his head, "I'm going in. You should come too."

Bo stood still, watching the young boy follow his sister up the path to the house. She took a deep breath and blew it out before running her fingers through her hair. Turning around, she moved to the faucet at the end of the dock. She hosed off the planks, picked up the remaining fishing gear, pausing to look into the strange wooden tackle box. She picked it up and closed the lid, running her fingers over the intricate carving on the lid.

"What the..."

"He built it. He couldn't wait to show it to you."

Bo looked up at the sound of the Professor's voice coming into the dock in his outrigger canoe with two students.

"Bo!"

"Hey Lucy! Hi Ricky!"

"We paddled for three hours, ate on Little Isle and then paddled back! It was so cool!"

Bo laughed, "I'll bet! Are you guys ready for your solo?"

Lucy nodded, "We passed our first aid test, we passed our roll-over test, we passed our water safety test and our survival test. Now we just have to put it all together!"

The Professor smiled at Bo, "So the answer is yes, they're ready Bo."

"Well, good luck then!" Bo replied to the pair of paddlers as they pulled the canoe up onto the beach.

"Will you be here for our test?" Ricky asked.

"I'll do my best." Bo replied.

Ricky's shoulders slumped and Lucy went to speak, but the Professor shook his head at her and she stopped.

"Come on, Ricky. Let's put this away." She looked up at the Professor, "Thank you for taking us out, Professor."

"Any time, Lucy. You two are ready to go. Sign yourself up on the board for four more trips this week. I want you to go out with Sam and Polly for those trips. They may have some hints for you that I haven't thought of yet."

"Yes, sir." Ricky replied, "See ya when we see ya, Bo."

Bo nodded, her brows knitting together, "I'll see you soon, kids."

Lucy mumbled something she couldn't quite hear, but didn't bother asking her to repeat. She was pretty sure it would be more of what Maverick had dished out. She looked up at the Professor,

"So is there anyone who isn't mad at me?"

The Professor pulled off his hat and wiped his balding head with his towel before covering his head once again. He shook his head,

"The price you pay for growing a business and saving the abandoned, abused and orphaned children of our great nation."

"Yea, well my time away has given me some perspective on that very thing. A great nation wouldn't make it so hard for children to be given a proper home. There has never been more truth to the phrase 'the rich get rich and the poor get poorer' than there is now that I've spent time working with the state governments to open these schools."

"I take it things didn't go so well?"

Bo's eyes dropped to the carving on the lid of the wooden box she still held, "They want a replica of Kenbo, but they don't want to pay for it. Every single inch of this place came from the Dennis sister's personal finances. We didn't use a penny of state funding until the kids were here. There are over 350 million citizens in this great nation of ours. I tried to explain that if they budgeted just five dollars from each of their taxes to the Kenbo initiative, we'd have a school in every state."

"They didn't buy it?"

"They don't understand why we can't set up the schools using the same funding methods we used here."

"They want you to use your own money?"

Bo nodded, "Our name is on the school."

"And if you don't use your money?"

"They want to name them something else."

"So I take it you backed out?"

Bo nodded, "I can't ask Kenzi to go broke opening Kenbo Schools. The business won't make enough profit to fund all of those schools."

"I thought the business was making more than enough to fund the school programs."

Bo nodded again, "Here, yes. But how many surfboards do you think we'll sell in Utah?"

The Professor removed his hat and scratched his head as he smiled and nodded, "I see."

"Anyway, I agreed to fund the Kenbo School in California, but that's it. Kenzi's gonna be pissed."

"Have you considered opening only the one school might be a good thing?"

"I thought you were on board with using this model for the foster system?" Bo asked.

"I was, but I had no idea that you would have such a big roll in that happening."

Bo nodded and laughed, "You're pissed that I've been gone so much too."

"Not pissed, just concerned, kid."

"Concerned?" Bo asked as she cleaned up the rest of the fishing gear on the dock.

"You're missed, Bo. You know it. You feel it. You're going to pay the consequences for your absence."

"So everyone is pissed at me."

"Well, they're not happy. Everyone is trying to understand and be supportive, but in the end, one question remains."

"And that question is..."

"Why can't someone else go and set up these schools? Why is the owner not present? Why is the Headmaster, Head Instructor, Mastercrafter and Lead Engineer for Torrent, Inc. not here?"

Bo nodded, "Starting the other schools is..."

"Don't Bo... we all know starting the other schools is a big job, but California isn't that far away by plane and you do have all of those flights that were supposed to be used to commute back and forth to Colorado. Your wife of six months is left behind while you're still in the honeymoon phase. She gave up Colorado for you, Bo."

"She said that to you?"

"No. You know better than to ask me that, Bo. Lauren is the picture of grace. She is poised and professional every minute of every day. She handles every question regarding your whereabouts by showing her support of what you're doing."

Bo nodded, "Of course she does. I'm sorry." She paused for a moment, "Maverick said that... well..."

"He told you that Lauren cries at night?"

"How did you know?" Bo asked.

"Maverick spends most of his days with me now. He sleeps at home, but comes here for breakfast and lunch. He told Lauren he liked hanging out with other guys, but he told me he hates being around his Mommy when she's sad."

Bo sighed, "Dammit!"

How could she possibly leave on Monday? The inspector was coming to the Cali School to give the okay to begin the next phase of construction. Someone had to be there. She hated to ask Kenzi. She knew her little sister had just gotten back after three weeks at the Olympic Training Center.

Bo bent down and picked up her backpack. She turned to say goodbye to the Professor, but looked down at the box in her hand and instead asked,

"Can you tell me about this box?"

The Professor smiled, "He wanted to know about fishing ancient Hawaiian style, so we went to visit your neighbor who Maverick now calls Papi, by the way."

"Papi, huh?" Bo smiled, "That fits."

"Anyway, Papi took him to a hukilau..."

"A Hawaiian beach party, I've been to a few." Bo explained.

"I doubt you've been to this kind. It's the traditional type. They pull a net filled with fish in from the shallow waters offshore. The nets they use are made of olona fibers... you might have noticed the net he used fishing on the dock?"

"Yea, it was really easy to see the net."

"He dyed it as the ancients did. I don't suppose you happened to notice the hook?"

"Not really. I mean... honestly, it just looked like the line was hung up on a tooth."

The Professor laughed, "That was no tooth. That was either the one made from a conch shell or from whale bone."

"Really?"

"Really. Papi showed him how to make nets, hooks and rods."

Bo smiled, "The bamboo rod."

"They hold up really well. I was shocked at how much flex they can handle."

"Yea, so was I a few minutes ago. Emma caught a Uku... a good fifteen pounds plus fight. Maverick handled it like a pro."

The Professor nodded, "He fishes... a lot. He and Emma are inseparable these days."

Bo nodded, "Did I make a mistake? Adopting them?"

He shook his head, "Your mistake is being away from them, Bo. Do yourself a favor. Go for a surf tonight... I'm guessing it's been a while. Find yourself. Re-prioritize your life. Remember how hard you fought for Lauren. Find your way back to her and your kids, Bo. You're entitled to some happiness, kiddo. Figure out a way to have someone else fight for the foster kids of the world."

"But..."

"No, buts, Bo. Something has to change or you stand to lose the best parts of your life."

She watched as the Professor walked away before her eyes drifted back to the box in her hand. She quietly read the carving on the box lid,

"Kenbo Fishing... Maverick Dennis."

Bo's eyes filled with tears as she stood tracing the block letters, "You did a great job, little boy."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Hand check!" Lauren called to Emma and Maverick as they ran towards the table from the bathroom.

The two kids detoured towards the kitchen and held out their hands for their Mommy to check,

"Flip." Lauren said.

The two flipped their hands over,

"Great job! They look perfect. Have a seat. Big Bob is almost cooked."

Maverick shook his head, "I can't believe you named your fish Big Bob."

"Why not? He's big and he wooked wike a Bob."

"What do I look like?" Maverick asked, pushing in Emma's chair before walking around the table and sitting across from her.

"You wook wike a Mavwick!"

"No, I mean if you didn't know my name was Maverick, what would you think I should be called?"

"Jeffrey."

"Like your Giraffe?"

"Yea."

"You think I have a long neck?"

"I dunno."

Maverick laughed at his little sister. As he went to reply, their attention was pulled to a voice filling the room,

"Ola kiddies! Aunt Kenzi and Aunt Tamsin are crashing this party!" She turned to Lauren, "And don't worry, we brought our own fish. We know Friday is fish fry night." Walking over to the kids, she asked,

"Okay, who caught the biggest one?"

"I DID!" Emma yelled, raising her hand, "Mommy's cooking him right now!"

Kenzi looked at Lauren who smiled back at her. She turned to Emma again, "And what did we name this one?"

"She named him Big Bob." Maverick laughed.

"It's not funny!" Emma argued.

"Okay, okay. I think Big Bob is an honorable name... I mean, if he is big... and... he looks like a Bob. Does he look like a Bob?"

"Course he does!" Emma replied.

"No." Maverick said almost at the same time.

"Well, I believe Emma. She has a better imagination. You're too sciency and factual like your Mommy."

"Well I'd rather be like my Mommy than my Mom." Maverick replied. He looked up at Kenzi and blushed, seeing the look on her face, "Sorry. That just came out. I didn't mean..."

"Yes you did and it's okay." Bo said, entering the house.

All eyes turned and looked at the brunette. She shrugged, "He's upset with me because I haven't been here and when I am here, it's only for a few days before I have to leave again. You're all upset with me and I get it, okay? So I'm either welcome here for dinner or not. Should I stay or go?"

"Of course you should stay, Sweetie." Lauren said, taking the few steps from the stove to where her wife was standing. She kissed her on her cheek, "We're all glad your home."

"Bet it's not for long." Maverick said from across the room.

Kenzi smacked the back of his head, "Hey! Show some respect for the woman who's paying the bills around here. You wouldn't have any of the opportunities you have if it weren't for her keeping things together for the past few years."

Kenzi turned and looked at Lauren, holding up a paper bag, "We did a little shake and bake with our fish. Tamsin should be in any second. She just had to run some paperwork over to the workshop."

"What paperwork?" Bo asked.

"That's a story for tomorrow. No business tonight. Let's have a good old-fashioned Dennis Family dinner. I'm back, you're back... baby's got back."

Lauren took the paper bag and looked inside. She chuckled finding four fish fillets lying in breadcrumbs,

"Did you season these?"

"Of course we did... well, Tamsin did. I caught the fish and cleaned them."

Lauren nodded and moved back to the stove. Removing Big Bob from the pan, she slid him into the oven with the other pieces of fish and prepped the pan for her sister-in-law's fish.

"I'm going to go clean up for dinner." Bo said quietly to her wife before moving back to the bedroom.

Kenzi sat down next to Maverick, "Hey. Let's have a little chat."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Lauren came to the table, placing a spoonful of macaroni and cheese on Emma's plate, then another on Maverick's plate,

"Want any?" She asked Kenzi.

"Nah. I'll wait for T-Bear to get in here."

Lauren nodded and went back to the kitchen while Kenzi turned back to her nephew,

"Fine. You don't want to talk, then listen. That woman in there loves you more than you can possibly imagine. From the first day she met you, she felt connected to you. She would move the entire family to Colorado tomorrow if you told her you wanted snowboarding over surfing. She would move there and fly back and forth to take care of her business because you are her priority. But you and Emma told her you understood why she had to travel. You told her you wanted her to help other kids like you. So... you gotta make up your mind, dude. Help other kids or stay home with you?"

Maverick sighed.

"She should help other kids. We have Mommy herewa and Aunt Tamsin when youwa not herewa." Emma replied.

Maverick looked up at Emma who said,

"Youwa being mean to Mom, Mavwick."

Maverick looked down at his plate and pushed the macaroni around on his plate, "She should help the other kids, but she can't be away so long. Mommy misses her too."

Lauren's head popped up at Maverick's declaration, "Of course I miss her, Mav. We all do, but we all understand why she's doing what she's doing. Once the school is up and running, she'll be home."

"No she won't. She'll always have to go there and check on things. Once the school is open, she'll have to be there sometimes. We'll never be a normal family."

Kenzi laughed, "Oh honey, who in the world wants to be normal. There is no adventure or excitement in being normal."

"Yea? Well at least we'd get to eat dinner together and watch movies and play games and go surfing and have bedtime. And Mommy wouldn't cry at night when she goes to bed."

Kenzi turned to look over her shoulder at Lauren who was looking up at Maverick. The blonde shook her head, grabbing the dish with the fish in it as well as the vegetables. Walking to the table, she laid them at the center before going back to pick up the salad and pitcher of water.

"Hey gang!" Tamsin said, walking into the house.

Everyone looked up at her, silence engulfing the room.

"Uh... hi Aunt Tamsin! Great to see you! Well, it's great to see you too! How've you been? I've been great! How are you guys! Did you catch the fish for dinner tonight? Well yes, as a matter of fact, we did! Do you want to know what kind? Do you want to know what we named the fish? Well yes I do? What did you name the fish?"

"Big Bob!" Emma offered. Everyone turned and smiled at the little girl who was pulling a piece of macaroni from her hair, "Mommy, I got mac and cheese in my hairwa."

Lauren wet a paper towel and walked to the dining room table. She wiped Emma's face and got the cheese out of her hair,

"Everyone sit down. Eat up while it's hot. I'm going to go get Bo."

"Lauren..." Kenzi began, but the blonde shook her head,

"I'm going to get Bo, Kenz. You guys eat. We'll reheat if we have too. I promised the kids ice cream on the porch after dinner and then we're watching _Finding Dory_ if you guys want to stay up with us."

Kenzi looked at Tamsin who nodded, "Sounds great."

"Cool! See Mavwick! It's a Dennis family night!"

Maverick looked at Emma and gave a small smile. Kenzi leaned in and whispered in his ear,

"Give her a chance, Maverick... please? She loves you more than she loves her volcano and you know your Mommy calls that thing her Mistress."

Maverick nodded, "I have all of the print outs for her."

"I'm sure she would love to spend time discussing lava mountain with you. You know it's sort of your thing. The two of you get talking about science and your Mommy has to pull you back to reality."

"We do kind of like talking about her volcano." Maverick admitted with a smile.

"And surfing and making surfboards and building stuff... and I'm sure she'll be impressed with your new fishing gear... all handmade."

"I guess... I mean, she saw it, but I wasn't very nice to her."

Kenzi shook her head, "Fix it, Mav. That woman would walk through fire for you. Hell, she practically did to adopt you. That dorkus at Social Services was going to send you off to Colorado."

Maverick nodded, "I guess you're right."

"You guess I'm right?" Kenzi asked, mocking shock.

"You know she's always right, Mav... we both do... and if she's wrong, we can't admit that either." Tamsin replied, taking her seat next to Kenzi, "Now let's eat. This food looks amazing!"

Kenzi and Tamsin filled the kids' plates before they all joined hands,

Maverick announced, "Emma caught Bob."

Kenzi nodded to Maverick, "Okay then, Emma you should say the thank you."

Emma closed her eyes, "Thank you Bob. You're big enouff to fill all our bellies. Thank you for not breaking Mavwick's Bambi rod."

"Bamboo!" Maverick corrected.

"That's what a said!" Emma replied.

Kenzi interjected, knowing where the conversation was headed, "Amen. Let's eat Bob!"

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Bert, I'm through with this discussion. You're basically asking the Dennis family to use our own money to build the schools like we did here. My family would be broke with no promise of ever recovering the money we'd invested."

Silence filled the room as Lauren stood quietly in the doorway of their bedroom at Kenzi and Tamsin's home near the beach. Bo's little sister had promised that she would always keep her big sister's room as it was so they could crash here anytime they'd had a late night at the school or if the kids needed a babysitter. Bo's rising volume drew her wife's attention,

"Oh really? And can I get that in writing?"

Silence...

"Of course not. Listen, neither you nor any of the other Governors have a plan to provide the same monies that the state of Hawaii is providing for the care and education of our students here, so you cannot say the program could ever be the same. The way I see it, you're actually asking my sister and I to personally foster over a hundred thousand kids."

There was silence as Bo listened to the man's reply. Lauren moved into the room and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the bed, deciding she needed to know what was going on with Kenbo if she was to understand why Bo had been away so much. What she'd heard so far gave her a great deal of insight into the battle her wife was facing.

"No. I told them the deal was off for all of their schools as well. I told them we would do the school at Mavericks in California since it was being built on our parents' property and the state of California had agreed to provide the same funds Hawaii was providing."

Lauren shook her head upon hearing that Bo had backed out of the other deals. Was there more to this than what she was telling the person on the phone? Who was she talking to anyway?

"With all due respect, what they're asking is just too much of one family. If you read my email, then you know the math I presented to them. Just five dollars of every American's tax return would be enough to take care of these kids like we do at Kenbo. Why are the states not trying to get federal dollars? Why wouldn't the federal government be willing to give up five bucks from everyone in the country to finally get these kids into decent, loving facilities? Better yet, why aren't you pushing for that? Hell, half of those federal assholes could pay the combined sum out of their own pockets and not blink an eye!"

Lauren knew whomever Bo was talking to was not going to like that statement, but...

"I'm sorry, sir. I meant no disrespect and I know some of the people I just referred to as assholes are your friends, but seriously, would you put two million dollars of your own money into one Kenbo School?"

She was talking to someone she referred to as sir which Lauren knew meant it was either a governor, social services or HUD. Lauren knew the answer was going to be...

"Of course you don't have two million dollars cash on a federal salary. I didn't mean literally. I'd meant it hypothetically. I just don't understand why Kenzi and Bo Dennis are all of a sudden responsible for paying to build these schools."

She watched Bo nod,

"Yes, I know we are considered champions for the cause and the schools are our model with our brand on them, but we are running them ON BEHALF of the state and federal governments who have asked us to..."

Silence resumed as Lauren pulled out her phone, deciding Bo needed help. She sent a text to the Judge and in minutes, received a return text asking her to call, which she did. Putting Bo's one-sided conversation on speakerphone so the Judge could hear, she moved a bit closer to Bo as the brunette began to speak again...

"Yes, I realize that, but..."

Silence as Bo's frustration grew...

"Look. The bottom line is that Kenzi and I are not going to fund this project..."

Silence.

"Fine! Projects, plural! Look, if you want Kenbo Schools as well as our model and action plan, you're going to need to fund the facilities, staff and budget for educational costs and operating expenses each year. We're paying for our travel and all training materials. We are not being paid for the time we're spending on these projects. We're giving enough! If the state budgets can't find a way then you're going to have to fund them at the federal level! We are paying for everything we can at Kenbo in Hawaii. We have no time for additional jobs for more income and our careers as surfers will be short-lived. The money we make in the next five years is all of the money we will have for a lifetime. We are NOT making a profit off of Kenbo! The only reason the school isn't in the red is because OUR PERSONAL MONEY is keeping it in the black!"

Silence... Lauren was growing more and more concerned. Bo's face was beet red, the veins popping out of her neck. Is this the kind of stress she'd been under all of these months? This was not healthy. Something had to give and Lauren knew she was going to have to put her foot down...

"Are you blackmailing me? Because it sort of sounded like you were saying you would call the Judge and have her recommend the state of Hawaii take away our funding if we don't build the other schools. And I believe you also said you would also call California and recommend the same. What right does the government have to say how private citizens spend our personal monies? Do you even hear yourself?"

Silence...

"You can't do that! You can't shut down our school! These kids would have nowhere to go! You have no jurisdiction in the state of Hawaii!"

Silence...

"I know you exactly who you are and what position you hold, but you will not put these kids back into the system! I will find families here to adopt every single one of these kids before I'll let you do that!"

Silence...

"We are not making profit hand over fist! I showed you our financial statements! We barely break even!"

Silence...

"And would you cut corners on your own personal budget when it comes to your own kids? I am going to allow these kids to live with basic comforts because it's what they deserve."

Silence...

"Don't talk to me about our food budget! These kids fish for their own food at least three times a week! Name one public school where kids do that to save federal dollars! Name one family in America that does that who aren't living off the grid!..."

Silence...

"They are NOT crack babies and losers! What the hell is wrong with you!"

" _Hang up, Bo."_

The brunette looked over her shoulder when she heard the voice across the room. She looked stunned to see Lauren waving her cell phone at her, the incoming voice on speakerphone. Bo looked closely at the screen and saw ' _The Judge'_ before hearing the Judge's voice again,

" _Bo, if that's who I think it is, just hang up. I'll handle this." The Judge urged._

Bo muted her own phone and spoke to the Judge, "But he's threatening to take our funding and move our kids back into the system if I don't agree to use Dennis Family funds to build the other five schools just as I did Kenbo Hawaii!"

" _I heard enough to know what he's trying to do, Bo. He's tried to pull this shit before. Trust me, I'll handle this, Bo. I've already called my friends in the Supreme Court. He's bluffing to get you to crack. He does not have the power to do anything he is threatening to do. Hell, the President himself couldn't do what he's threatening to do, I promise you. For now, you plan on handling the school at Mavericks. I'm pulling the plug on your participation in the other schools. If they want them built, they're going to have to send people here to educate them. Hang up, Bo."_

Bo looked at the home screen of the phone in her hand, then back up at the phone in Lauren's hand,

"Lauren, am I seriously supposed to just hang up on the Assistant to the U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development?"

Lauren shrugged, "You're not a politician, Bo. You do what you want, but my advice is to let the Judge handle this. She is very... political."

Bo looked back at her home screen, hearing her name being called repeatedly by the man in Washington. Heaving a deep sigh, she hit the red button,

"Asshole."

She called out to the Judge, "Now what?"

 _The Judge replied, "Now I call him. That was Bert, wasn't it?"_

"How'd you know?"

" _Henry called me and warned me that he had convinced all of the other Governor's that you were a softie for foster kids because of your background. He didn't want to use Federal funds, but assured them they wouldn't have to use State funds either. Apparently... and this is a direct quote from Henry, so don't shoot the messenger... Bert was sure he could get you to fund them with some of your riches."_

"My riches?" Bo asked.

" _According to Henry, he looked up your tax returns and knew you were loaded. We both know that is not exactly true considering that once you and Kenzi are through with the Olympics, you will have only the income from your fame which will, unfortunately, dwindle as new surfers rise to lead the next generation. You were right when you said the money you make now is all you will have for life including retirement."_

"Should I be going back to work?" Lauren asked as a joke, though her eyes told Bo she was definitely a little bit worried.

"Well, I don't know that I'd call us loaded when Kenzi and I have just put a pretty penny into Kenbo California and it's not even close to being finished. The damn inspectors..."

" _Shit, I heard about that earlier today and life just got ahead of me. I'll take care of the inspectors too, Bo."_

"How did you know?" Bo asked.

" _Bert has the damn inspectors in his back pocket, but the Governor of California and I have been working closely on this project of his. He's been calling me for my ideas on how to set up the funding infrastructure for the school. Once in a while, our conversations get side tracked and he tells me what Bert has been trying to do to help him with funding. Once he knew that Bert was trying to undermine you, he agreed to go with Hawaii's funding model. He likes you Bo and the Governor of California is a good man. Anyway, Bert is probably the reason they're stalling your contracts in the other states. Besides, why didn't you call me and tell me about the problems you were having with these states, Bo?"_

"I had no idea you would know what you know. A head's up would have been nice." Bo replied, sarcastically.

" _Yea, well... sorry about that, but I thought you would have known how high my connections go given the position I turned down with the Supreme Court."_

"I thought that would get you blacklisted." Bo replied.

" _Actually, it gave me more friends. A woman who was respected enough to be nominated turned it down to stay in her State Court."_

"I think it's honorable." Bo replied.

" _And that's why I now have friends in high places. Look, bottom line is that if they want the Kenbo School trademark, they have to build them and they send their people here to be trained. You have a contract with the State of Hawaii and me... and we just demanded you be present to fulfill that contract. If he wants to get into a pissing match with me, so be it. You're mine."_

Lauren spoke up, "Uh... may I interject? First... uh, she's mine."

Both Bo and the Judge let out a chuckle as the brunette moved to Lauren's side and whispered,

"I love it when you get all possessive."

"Shush. You've been away for two long. I'm slightly mad at you."

Bo frowned and pulled back as Lauren continued,

"And second, while I have no brilliant plan for funding, I did have an idea about the governors wanting Bo to be there to coordinate the opening of the schools." Lauren asked hesitantly.

"You had an idea?" Bo asked.

Lauren placed both hands on her hips, "Just because I'm not running the E.R. at the Hospital right now doesn't mean I'm losing my ability to form coherent thoughts, Bo."

The brunette backpedaled, seeing the anger on her wife's face, "I know... I mean... it's not what I meant to... I'm sorry."

"Way to quit while you're behind." The blonde quipped before looking back to the phone to speak to the Judge,

"Anyway, tomorrow we have the Coast Guard exam. Well, one of my students asked what would happen to the kids that didn't make it and, I guess that actually gave me an idea. What if we hired them to run the other schools?"

"Who? The kids?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "Yes and they're not kids anymore, Bo. They're all eighteen and are no longer wards of the State. They are required to leave within six months after they graduate, so their time is almost up. You could start a program here to train them to do what you're doing at the schools now. They'd learn business, marketing, and they wouldn't actually have to teach the foster kids... just handle the day to day paces of the school's business needs such as the ordering of materials, schedules, hiring, intakes, maintenance, etc. They already do all of that here as part of the senior class duties."

 _The Judge eagerly replied, "That's actually a good idea, Bo. You would have your people running your school. We already know that your kids are very protective of their community and the Kenbo name. No one knows what you want and expect of your school, its employees and the community as a whole better than these kids. They're the first generation of graduates and the perfect candidates to run the other schools... with help from qualified teachers, counselors, social workers and other adult support staff. Besides, It would give these kids a great experience, an income and a sense of pride. A year later, they take the Coast Guard exam again... or they continue as employees of Kenbo."_

Bo and Lauren stared at each other for a long moment before Bo finally nodded, "Okay, Judge. Let's do it. Once they graduate, we can do their business training over the summer and then send them to the various schools in September."

Lauren added, "They can each go to their assigned schools and handle the business meetings with Bo there via video chat if they feel they need her or if anyone wants to talk to her."

"I really can be in two places at once." Bo laughed.

"Or more if need be." Lauren added, "You can restructure the entire system so you can have Kenbo meetings with all of our graduates who are the heads of the schools."

Bo smiled, "Headmasters. Let's give them all a title they can be proud of when they take the jobs."

" _You do know what's best for these kids, Bo. You have always been very good at making sure they all have a sense of pride and ownership in their school. I'm sure this project will be no different."_

Bo smiled at Lauren, who grinned in return, as the Judge continued,

" _Okay then. I'm going to make several calls. I'll give you a shout tomorrow once I have everything in place. For now, you'll stay put... I should be able to handle the inspector you're supposed to go meet as well. When were you supposed to meet them?"_

Bo looked at Lauren as she answered, "Monday morning at seven."

Lauren stood, shocked, "You were going to leave again..."

"I was going to tell you, Sweetie. I just didn't have enough time to..."

Lauren shook her head, holding up her hand, "Thank you, Judge. We'll wait to hear from you, okay?"

" _Okay, Lauren. Thank you... and good luck, Bo. Sounds like you're in a heap of hot water, wifey!"_

Bo twisted her mouth at the Judge's words, as her face flushed. She knew that she and Lauren were about to have it out about how long she'd been gone, but she also knew that things would be better now.

"Lauren..."

"No, Bo. This ends now. When we agreed to adopt Em and Mav, I thought we were doing so as a team. I did not expect to be raising them on my own, though God knows I would have done it if I had to, but we got married, Bo."

She held up her finger, pointing to her wedding band before she continued,

"Married!"

"Lauren..."

"No, let me finish! I am NOT that broken woman you found anymore, Bo. Dammit, I am WORTH IT! Don't you DARE think that you can gallivant all over the globe in the name of saving kids with Kenbo School and believe that me and the kids will just be here waiting for whenever you happen to traipse back into our lives for a day or two before leaving again! I'm tired, Bo. I work my ass off all day for Kenbo, make sure our two kids are up and off to school, then get back here so they can go to their surfing, sailing, swimming and water safety classes while I run my advanced coast guard prep class!"

Lauren ran both hands through her hair, sighing heavily.

"Lauren..."

"I'm not finished, Bo. I love you, Poseidon knows I do, but I will not have that love be taken for granted anymore."

Bo hung her head, knowing that Lauren was right. It was all she had thought about on the flight back to Hawaii, but she had no solution for the situation she had been placed in by the office of Housing and Urban Development in addition to Social Services. The Judge had made things so easy for Kenzi to push through all of the paperwork to open Kenbo Hawaii. Bo had a whole new appreciation for Kenzi's side of the business... and for all her younger sister had been forced to handle in her absence...

"Bo? Are you even listening to me?"

Lauren's frustrated voice came through loud and clear, pulling Bo from her thoughts to look up at her wife's teary eyes. She hated seeing Lauren cry,

"Sorry. I was just... well, I was thinking about how focused I've been... not really focused, but... well, how much of a run-around I've gotten from all of the different agencies. My day would start with me going to the construction site of whichever state I was in... hell, half the time I wasn't even sure where I was unless I had an airline stub in my pocket. Anyway, I would talk to the foreman and see what was going to happen for the day, but within an hour or two, some inspector would show up and tell me I had to go to this office or that office and talk to this person or that person..."

Bo shook her head,

"Before I knew it, I'd spent the day traveling from office to office in building to building... all this time, they were intentionally giving me the run around leading up to a daily phone call from Bert about funding."

The pair were silent for a long while before Bo took Lauren's hand, noticing it was stiff, almost as if her wife didn't want her to touch her. Rather than let it go, she held on as she spoke,

"I got sucked into their game, not even realizing that I was doing the one thing I would never want a head of school to do... forget the priorities..."

Lauren blew out a half chuckle as she finished Bo's mantra, "... because the priority is always the kids."

Bo looked out the window towards the beach, "I'm the head of this school and the kids haven't seem me for more than a few hours each month. I became a part of the system I've fought so hard against my entire life."

Lauren only nodded, her fingers relaxing into Bo's grip.

"You knew." Bo made the statement of fact. She wasn't asking. She didn't need to. Her wife was the smartest person she had ever met. Of course she'd known.

Lauren shrugged.

"Why didn't you say anything, Lauren? Why didn't you pull my head out of my ass?"

Lauren chuckled, "Well, it is a mighty fine ass, but... well, to be honest, I tried Bo. After a while, I realized... and Kenzi realized... there was no talking you down. You were on a mission... she'd never seen you so... focused and... neither had I... you were lost to us."

Bo's eyes welled with tears, "I'm sorry I allowed this mess to carry me so far from you and the kids."

Lauren looked into her wife's eyes and smiled, shaking her head as she spoke with a smile and tear-filled eyes, "Then come home, Bo. It's simple, really. Be here... be present with us."

Bo laid her head on Lauren's lap, pulling her legs up onto the bed. She closed her eyes at the feeling of her wife's fingers running through her hair,

"I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm really, really sorry that I got caught up in their game. Please know that here is where I want to be... here is where I'm going to stay. We've been through too much to be together. I'm not going to let this mess us up."

"Bo, I understand your need to help the world of orphaned children... really, I do. I just need you to remember that we have adopted two of those very same children who think they've now got two parents who will remind them of what a real family is again. I want them to have that real family again, Bo. I need to know you're in this. That you're not just saying what you need to say to smooth things over until you have to leave again... say on Monday morning?"

Bo sat up, a bit shocked by Lauren's comment, but shook her head and took her hand. Looking her in the eyes, she spoke with all of the sincerity in her heart, "I don't know how, but I'll figure something out for Monday morning... or maybe the Judge will... but I'm not leaving. The next time I get on a plane it will be for the grand opening of the Mavericks School in California..."

She paused a moment, her eyes looking down at their interlocked fingers before she lifted her eyes to meet her wife's again and asked, "We will all be going to that, right... I mean... as a family? I mean... you don't have to, but... well, it's my parents' dedication ceremony and..."

"Bo, it's okay. I had planned on all of us going for that. Besides, your son wants to surf there."

"Well, I don't know if he's ready for that yet, but..."

"He's ready, Bo. Please don't say no to him on this. Kenzi has been working with him daily... sometimes several times a day. She says he's ready, so he's ready, okay?"

Bo nodded, secretly cursing her sister's big mouth, but the look on her face gave her away,

"Bo, I mean it. Besides, he has his argument all ready because he's convinced that when he asks you to go, you'll say no."

"He is?"

"Yes and he plans to remind you that you were on the front of your Dad's board from birth."

"I was not on his board as an infant!"

"That's not the point and you know it. Besides, he asked Kenzi how old you were when you first rode solo there and she told him you were seven. He's ten, Bo."

"I'd been surfing in those waters since I was three years old with my Dad! I had experience that he doesn't have!"

"You're afraid for him and Kenzi knew you would be, but she told me to remind you of the argument your parents had the day your Dad let you solo."

Bo sighed, "They were in the kitchen and we were eavesdropping outside the door. My Mom was terrified I would get killed. My Dad admitted he was terrified too, but he reminded her that they had both surfed the calmer section where he was taking me when they were my age. She gave in and we went. Needless to say, I'm alive."

Lauren scowled, "Luckily."

Bo looked at her wife, "You okay?"

"Yea, just a little flashback of the day you almost weren't."

"If you're afraid of him surfing there, I'll take the heat, Lauren. He already hates me."

"He doesn't hate you Bo. If he did, he wouldn't be upset about you not being home."

Bo shrugged, "Regardless, if you don't want him to surf, I will tell him no."

"Oddly enough, I'm not going to say no to this, Bo. I know you and Kenzi will keep him safe."

"When did you first surf the big water there?" Lauren asked.

"I was sixteen and the whole crew was there and at the ready in case things went bad. My Dad was convinced I'd be fine, so he was on the beach waiting for me. He was always so sure of my ability."

Lauren looked at Bo. The look on her face was all too familiar. She knew exactly how it felt to miss a parent... especially a Father. She heard laughter in the dining room and turned back to her wife,

"So... should we join our family for dinner?"

Bo nodded as she stood with her wife. Lauren placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before pulling back and giving her a smile.

"That's all I get? A cheek kiss?" Bo asked with a pout.

"Don't get greedy. I kissed you when I was the most mad at you."

"I'm not greedy. I'm needy. There's a difference."

Lauren shrugged, "Baby steps. You've got work to do."

With that, she turned and headed to the dining room with Bo pouting as she followed.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Dinner had been filled with quips and conversation, none of which included Bo unless Emma spoke with her. The brunette knew that her family was upset with her but she had not been expecting the cold shoulder from Kenzi... that was almost too much to bear. She had cleaned up the dishes while the others went outside to catch fireflies. Now she was sitting on the porch about one hundred yards from where the others were running around on the beach. It was a full moon, so Bo could make out a little more than their silhouettes... smiles... occasionally the moonlight would catch the faces of her two small children and she would see smiles.

She couldn't help but smile at the realization that these two adopted kids had truly bonded with Lauren. Bo wasn't surprised. Adopting them had been her idea from the start. At first she had thought the blonde was out of her mind since she had, at the time, been under extreme duress. But now, she realized that her heart had opened to these two in a way that it had never opened to anyone else.

Bo chuckled to herself as she put it all together. Of course Lauren would open up to Emma and Maverick. They would never hurt her, betray her or judge her. They would love her unconditionally. They would never abuse her, use her or leave her – at least not until it was time for them to move on with their own lives, but even then, they would always come home to visit... home to her... the woman who took them in, listened to them, played with them, taught them, encouraged them, held them, was there for them and loved them... just as unconditionally as they loved her.

Bo sighed. All of the time she'd spent away trying to build something for all of the orphaned and abandoned children in her country... she'd forgotten that there was something right here that needed to be built. The question now was how would she ever make it up to them? She'd broken her vow to Lauren and to the kids... the vow she'd made on their wedding day...

 _ **Flashback...**_

" _LoLo!" Tamsin yelled as she wandered into Lauren's bedroom at her hilltop home, but stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the sight of the blonde beauty before her,_

" _Who are you and what did you do with my best friend?"_

 _Lauren laughed, her eyes going to the front of her white dress, "Do I look like a white packing tube?"_

" _A what?" Tamsin asked, twisting her face in confusion._

" _You know, one of those tubes that you mail posters in? I mean, all of the stress lately... I dropped ten pounds and my boobs have all but disappeared. I've never had much in the way of hips and my ass is pretty much..."_

" _Hey... the ass is still fine and you still have enough boob to push up in that strapless dress. You are drop dead gorgeous, Lewis so stop trashing my best friend the bride."_

 _Lauren blushed, "I still can't believe Kenzi bought me this dress."_

" _Lewis, you were going to get married in a white button down and white skinny jeans. I mean, I'm all for casual beach wedding and all, but most people wear something special for a special occasion. I thought you'd at least go for bedazzled white scrubs."_

" _Actually, I was seriously considering white pajama bottoms and a white tank top with rhinestones." Lauren deadpanned._

" _Oh, that would have been precious. Where's Emma?"_

" _She's playing in the sandbox outside."_

" _You and Bo are the only parents in the world that would put a sandbox on the property of a beach house."_

" _Well, this house isn't exactly on a beach and you know how she loves building sandcastles. Besides, they were tracking so much sand into the house coming from the beach, I decided it would be nice to have a designated dumping spot."_

" _Right. Of course it would have something to do with your obsessive cleanliness."_

" _I am not obsessive about being clean."_

" _Lewis, you have an entire wall of cabinets dedicated to soap. I'm truly sorry, old friend but that definitely qualifies as obsessive."_

" _No, it qualifies as me enjoying variety and I like the way it makes the bathroom smell."_

 _Tamsin shrugged, "Okay, I will give you that. Your bathroom smells like spring, summer, winter and fall all at the same time."_

" _Uh... I guess I'll take that as a compliment."_

" _DR. WAUWEN! DR. WAUWEN! WOOK! WOOK WHAT I MADE!"_

 _Both blondes turned to see Emma running towards them covered from head to toe in mud and sand,_

" _Wook, Aunt Tam! I made the mountains meet the sea!"_

 _She pointed at the box she placed carefully on the floor and pointed as she spoke. Lauren and Tamsin looked down, trying to hold back their laughter,_

" _See... this tuppawarwa thing filled with wata is the sea and this sand is the beach and this is dirwt that mountains arewa made of and the wittle pine twee bwanches stuck in therewa are twees! See? Sea to mountain! Like the song we learwend in school! Sea to shining see and purwaple mountains majest-majest something? Why do they say mountains are purwaple? They'rewa made of dirwat!"_

 _Lauren shook her head, wiping a smudge of dirt from her soon-to-be-daughter's face,_

" _Well, first let me just say how amazing it is that you made a diorama, sweetie!"_

" _A what?"_

 _Lauren smiled, "What you made is called a diorama and it's perfect! But if you want to be Emma Dennis at the end of the day, you're going to have to take another bath and get dressed, sweetie!"_

 _Emma's eyes went wide, "Ohmagosh! I ohmost fogot! I'm gettin' marwied, Aunt Tam! And after I'm marwied, I get to call Dr. Wauwen Mommy and Bo I call Mom!"_

 _Tamsin laughed, "I know, kid! What do you say you and me handle your bath so we don't get Dr. Lauren's pretty dress dirty."_

 _Emma looked at Lauren, then gripped the legs of Tamsin's jeans, "She is very pretty, isn't she."_

 _Tamsin smiled, "She is."_

" _Did she tell you we went thwough twenty magazines until I picked out herwa hairwastyle?"_

" _She did and I must say you picked the perfect style, kid. The loose curls draped over one shoulder is..."_

" _...Bo says it's sexy." Emma said, now distracted by a fallen pine tree in her diorama._

 _Lauren and Tamsin's mouths dropped open as the little girl's statement, neither able to form any sort of reply until Emma looked up and with all the innocence of a naïve child asked,_

" _What's sexy?"_

 _Lauren sucked in a breath, her eyes moving to the floor as she began fumbling with her fingers while Tamsin jumped into action,_

" _Oh, my. Look at the time. Come on, kid. Let's hit the bath, then get you into your pretty little dress."_

" _Will I look sexy like Dr. Wauwen? I wanna look sexy too!"_

 _Lauren watched as Tamsin practically dragged Emma towards the bathroom, replying to as she marched,_

" _You'll look... great, Em. You'll look perfect."_

" _Hooray! Ima look sexy on my wedding day!"_

 _Tamsin looked back at Lauren and whispered, "You SO owe me for the conversation I'm about to have for bath time, Lewis!"_

 _Lauren sighed as she watched Tamsin pull the little girl's shirt up and over her head. Was she out of her mind adopting two kids with Bo? They had decided to wait to get married until the day they were to sign the adoption papers, but maybe taking on a marriage and two kids at the same time was too much._

 _She walked into her bedroom and looked down at her phone. Picking it up, she was about to dial Bo when the phone rang in her hand. Smiling at the sight of the name of the incoming caller, she answered,_

" _You aren't getting cold feet, are you?"_

" _My feet are toasty, lover. How are yours?"_

 _Lauren sat down on the bed, thinking about the reservations she had just been processing in her mind._

" _Lauren?" Bo asked from the other end of the line._

" _Sorry. I'm here, sweetie."_

" _Your feet are cold, aren't they?"_

 _Lauren frowned at the disappointment and concern in her fiancé's words, "About us, no. I was just... well, I had a moment with Emma and..."_

" _What happened? Talk to me, Lo."_

 _Lauren gave a gentle laugh, "She asked me what sexy was."_

" _Oh boy." Bo replied._

" _Oh boy yes. I just never thought about how hard some of the things that parents do would be and... well... starting a new marriage with two kids... is this really a good idea, Bo? I mean... what if we screw them up or what if we argue over raising them and it screws us up or... what if we screw them and us up? I mean... this was a bad idea, right? I mean, I've had good ideas, some really, really good ideas, but this was a bad idea... you can tell me... you can say, Lauren, this was a crazy idea and we're going to have to figure out a better way to... oh God, what are we going to..."_

" _Lauren... sweetie, calm down. Take a breath, please?"_

 _Bo listened intently, waiting for her wife-to-be to do as she asked, "Take another one, baby."_

" _We're doing breathing exercises now, Bo? Really?"_

" _Yes. Really. Lauren, you were rambling a million miles a minute about things that you don't have to worry about. Honey, the two beautiful children we're adopting will have a wonderful childhood surrounded by the wonderful support system of the school community where they have thrived. We're simply adding a home where they can truly call themselves brother and sister... and a place where they will have two parents who will give them everything that is within them to give."_

 _There was silence before Lauren quietly asked, "What if it's not enough?"_

 _Bo replied, "That's the beauty of Emma and Maverick. They don't need much and if you've been listening, they've told you... they just need to be loved by a family. It's what they lost and it's what they miss."_

" _Are you sure I won't ruin them?"_

 _Bo laughed, "You? Absolutely not, sweetie. You love those kids more than anything in this world, including me... and I'm okay with that, by the way. It's how it should be. You can love me the most once they're out on their own. For now, we give everything we can to them, take what's left for us and live one day at a time doing the best we can. Okay?"_

" _Okay."_

" _I'm with you, Lauren. We're in this together."_

" _Together." Lauren replied._

 _After a moment of shared silence, Bo asked, "So... we having an adoption wedding or what?"_

" _We are, just as soon as Tamsin is finished stripping three inches of mud and sand off of the daughter-to-be."_

" _Well, the son-to-be just came out of the shower and has been styling his hair for the last fifteen minutes. Kenzi just went into the bathroom to help."_

" _Should we have made him get a haircut?"_

" _Haircuts will from here on out be ground for divorce from both your son and wife."_

" _Bo, there must be haircuts."_

" _Lauren, he is a surfer dude now. Haircuts are against our religion."_

" _Poseidon will not show his wrath if we give him a trim now and then." Lauren argued._

" _Well, good luck with that... I'm not sure it's cool for a snowboarder to have super short hair in his opinion either."_

 _Lauren shook her head even though Bo couldn't see it, "Great. I'm marrying a workaholic and adopting a daughter obsessed with building mud pits and a son obsessed with being a long haired adrenaline junkie."_

" _Well, it works great for all of us." Bo replied._

" _How's that?"_

" _We're marrying a doctor." Bo laughed._

" _Ha. Ha."_

 _After a moment of silence, Bo began, "Are you dressed yet... I mean... wait... of course you're dressed. You've been dressed for at least fifteen minutes, right?"_

" _And you aren't dressed yet, but your hair and make up are done to perfection thanks to your sister who took at least two hours to do them."_

" _You know me so well."_

 _Lauren answered, "A match made in heaven."_

" _Well, we had to go to hell in order to get to heaven." Bo replied._

" _True, but it was worth the trip."_

" _See you in thirty minutes at our spot?" Bo asked._

" _The spot where a bad memory becomes a great memory."_

 _Bo smiled, "A memory to last a lifetime."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **PRESENT DAY...**_

Bo smiled at the memory of the day she and Lauren had married in the very spot where she had drowned. The blonde had been right. Every time Lauren took a run and passed that patch of beach or Bo went surfing and made landfall at that spot on the shore there were nothing but good memories of the day they married.

She heard Emma scream and looked up to find Lauren tickling her while Maverick hung off of her back, trying to pull the tickle monster off of his sister. It warmed her heart to see how happy they were... yet a pang of sadness tugged at her heart, knowing that if she went to them and tried to join in, it would likely stop the laughter. They needed time to forgive her... she only hoped they would, but she knew Maverick was going to be tough. He'd already thrown her broken vow in her face on their last Skype call.

 _ **FLASHBACK... THE VOW...**_

 _Having been officially married by the Judge, the two women shared a soft and sincere kiss before joining hands to share a long look, taking in each other's smile and the glint in each other's eyes. They were pulled from the moment by voice of the official,_

" _And now, Bo and Lauren Dennis will share their vows with their children-to-be."_

 _Bo and Lauren turned towards the two children and took their hands so the four stood in a circle. They knelt down before Emma and Maverick before speaking in unison,_

" _We promise to love, cherish, protect, support, listen and provide for you until you find your own way in this world. Even then, we will still be here for you, continuing to love and support you in any way you need."_

 _Lauren spoke next, "I love you both... so very much. Being one of your Mothers would be the greatest single honor of my life."_

 _Maverick replied, "It would be my honor to be your son. I will do my best to grow up to be a man you can be proud of... a man who is kind, smart, caring and compassionate just like you."_

 _Lauren placed her medical school pin on the lapel of Maverick's coat and kissed his cheek before she turned to Emma who said,_

" _It would be my honor to be your daughter. I will do my best to gwow up to be a woman who you can be pwoud of... a woman who is kind, smarwt, cawing and loving just like you... and it will be nice to have you around when I get a boo-boo."_

 _Everyone laughed at Emma's additional line before Lauren placed a bracelet made of water pearls on her tiny wrist, followed by a kiss on her cheek._

 _Lauren stood and took a small step away as Bo began,_

" _I love you, Mav. We've always had a connection since the first day we met. I guess you could say it was love at first sight, huh? It is my promise... my vow... to be here and present in your life. To listen, love and provide for you until you are able to provide for yourself. I vow to remind you every single day of how proud I am of all that you were, are and have yet to be. It would be an honor to be one of your Mothers."_

 _Maverick repeated what he had said to Lauren before watching as Bo handed him a ring that was too big for his finger,_

" _You may not be able to wear this year, but with the permission of my sister, I give you this ring. It was my Dad's ring. The symbol in gold inlayed in the black onyx stone is his family crest. With this ring, you become a part of the Dennis legacy. The man who will carry on our family's traditions if you so choose."_

 _Bo looked up as a single tear trailed down Maverick's cheek, "Wow. Thanks."_

 _Bo smiled, kissing him on the cheek before turning to Emma,_

" _Emma, you stole my heart the day you set foot on this campus, little girl. I have loved you from your first nightmare... from the first time you fell asleep in my arms. I've loved you more every day since. I love your curious mind, your energy and your daring nature. It is my promise... my vow... to be here and present in your life. To listen, love and provide for you until you are able to provide for yourself. I vow to remind you every single day of how proud I am of all that you were, are and have yet to be. It would be an honor to be one of your Mothers."_

 _Emma repeated what she had said to Lauren, adding, "And you have to vow to teach me to surf like you taught Mavwick."_

 _Bo smiled, "I vow to teach you to surf as I did Mavwick."_

" _Okay. You can be my mom."_

 _Bo laughed with the crowd, "Well, thank you for that, little girl."_

 _She looked to Kenzi who opened a long jewelry box and handed it to Bo who pulled out a necklace that matched Maverick's ring,_

" _My mom never had any jewelry other than her wedding ring, so I thought... as a symbol of the two of you becoming brother and sister... you should have matching Dennis family crests. I had the necklace made to match your brother's ring."_

 _Bo placed the necklace carefully around Emma's neck, making sure to lay the small pendant gently on her chest. It was definitely a bit too long, but Lauren had assured her a growth spurt was near, so it would soon fit her perfectly. They would buy her knew chains as she grew._

" _Thanks, Bo. It's really pretty."_

 _Bo smiled and stood next to Lauren as the Judge stepped in front of them with Kenzi at her side. The younger Dennis sister held out a flat wooden tray that held a legal document. The Judge handed Lauren the pen first..._

" _Can we see? Huh? Can we watch?" Emma asked, tugging at the Judge's robe._

 _The officiant looked down and picked Emma up into her arms, planting her on her hip. Hale hoisted Maverick onto his shoulders so he could watch as well. The group watched as Lauren, then Bo signed the official adoption papers. When they were finished, the Judge took the pen,_

" _By the power vested in me by the state of Hawaii, I now pronounce you the Dennis Family. Congratulations."_

 _Emma fell into Lauren's arms as Maverick crawled down onto Bo who lowered him to the ground and knelt to hug him. He was way too big to hold anymore, but he still wasn't opposed to being hugged by his new Moms._

 _They all turned to face the friends and family who had gathered. As the new family raised their joined hands overhead, the group cheered as Kenzi and Tamsin popped the corks on two bottles of champagne for added affect._

 _ **PRESENT DAY...**_

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Bo was pulled from her memories by the sound of her sister's voice. Turning towards the raven-haired girl, she gave her a weak smile,

"I was just remembering the day of our family wedding."

Kenzi nodded, "It was a good day."

"How did I get so lost, Kenz? How did I lose sight of how important those three perfect human beings are to me?"

Kenzi replied, "When you stopped listening to us."

Bo looked at her sister, opening her mouth to speak, but stopped, pausing for a long moment before replying,

"You're right... and I'm sorry."

"For being your old stubborn self? We all know how you can be, Bo. As long as you come around and remember us, we'll always forgive you, but I think it's important to note that it took you a little too long to remember us this time around."

"Were there other times?"

"Wow. You really have disconnected from reality, haven't you?"

Bo sighed, "I feel like I've actually become a piece of the red tape I've been fighting for the past three months."

They sat together, watching Lauren play with the kids while Tamsin officiated, occasionally pulling a child off if they got too rough with Lauren,

"She's lost more weight, Kenz and Lauren doesn't have much weight to give up."

Kenzi nodded, "She's been stressed, she's missed you and she's been worried... about the kids and about your relationship."

"She didn't say..."

"Bo, you know your wife better than anyone does. Of course she didn't say anything. She's Lauren... she's the very definition of 'suck it up and deal'. You shouldn't expect the truth when you're away. I think... in a way... she sees this as a payback... something she somehow deserves because of what she did to you when she took off to Colorado."

"She said that?"

"Not in so many words, but I think that's how she feels. The shoe is on the other foot and she's getting a taste of exactly what you went through... although she did mention that she doesn't have to worry about you having declared the desire to see other people like you did."

Bo chuckled, "Yea, that was not a good time in our lives."

"In any of our lives." Kenzi added.

They were quiet for a bit longer before the younger sister admitted, "I should have gone."

"Kenzi, we talked about this..."

"No, Bo. I have no kids and Tamsin could have traveled with me when she had time off – which, since she's in charge now, is more than she had before. I'm the one with the business and marketing degrees. It just would have made sense."

"I never would have asked that of you."

"Exactly, but you shouldn't have had to, Bo. You've always taken care of me... always. I'm a full partner in this business. There is no reason I should not have stepped up and contributed."

"You were taking care of things here." Bo argued half-heartedly.

"Yes, I was... including _your_ wife and kids. Look, Bo... let's face it, you can do the job at this Kenbo School better than I can and you definitely handle your family better than me. I belong there and you belong here."

"But Tamsin..."

Kenzi held up a hand and shook her head, "Why should Tamsin have me around all of the time while Lauren and your kids never get to see you. Besides... Tamsin agrees with me. She told me I needed to own my part in this mess. I just..."

Bo looked at her sister, her brows knitting together as she saw the hesitation on her sister's face,

"Kenz? What can't you tell me?"

"Usually? Nothing. This? I feel like an idiot."

"You're not an idiot. A little cray cray at times, yes... but never an idiot."

"Well, that's true. I mean... well, I am super smart." Kenzi quipped.

Bo chuckled and shook her head, "You are, now spill."

Kenzi sighed, "I didn't want to go back to our family home. I just feel..."

Bo nodded, "I know... I felt it too. It took a couple visits until I could walk around the property but... hey, did I tell you I surfed Mavericks?"

"Ohmagosh! You did?"

Bo smiled, "I did. It was so cool."

Kenzi relented, "I need to go back, don't I?"

"I think Hale and Ciara would call it 'closure', right?" Bo suggested.

"But then they'll really be dead, huh?"

Bo smiled, "Yea... it does make our past very real. It felt like losing Dad just happened yesterday. Their bedroom was... well, just like Mom left it."

"They didn't exactly give us time to pack before they were trying to track us down and throw us into the system."

Bo nodded, "And Mom never moved any of Dad's things."

"Yea, she kept that place like a shrine to him. Did you grab our time capsule before they tore down the house and dug up the yard?"

Bo shook her head, "The house is still standing, Kenz. I didn't have the heart to tear it down. That's why it took me so long to get back the week we were supposed to break ground. I met with the architect for the first three days to figure out a way to use the old house as part of the school. So, it's being renovated after the school is completed."

"So you're saying our time capsule is still there?"

"We promised we would dig it up together one day, remember?"

Kenzi nodded, "Are you sure they won't find it and throw it away?"

Bo laughed, "John thought I was nuts when I told him I wanted to put the dedication statue on the side of the house instead of out front."

"You put the statue over our capsule? How will we get it out?"

"Easy there, Sis. I had Jacob, the groundskeeper, put an emergency access panel in the back of the panel. Right now our old lantern is in the hatch."

"Wait... you put a secret compartment over our secret compartment?"

Bo laughed, "Yep. You always did like secret compartments."

Kenzi smiled, looking down at her jeans, "Mom used to sew secret compartments into all of my clothes so that I could stash things away for school."

Bo nodded, "Remember Thumbelina?"

Kenzi laughed, "Ohmagosh! The stuffed animal from the Hans Christian Anderson story! Mom made her out of a glove she put on my thumb!"

"You always had Thumbelina in your secret waistband pocket." Bo smiled as Kenzi leaned over on her shoulder. Bo wrapped an arm around her, waiting until she relaxed against her before she asked,

"Kenz... are we okay?"

Kenzi replied, "We're always okay, Bo. But Lauren told me about the Monday meeting... she's... God, I don't even know what she is. She can't handle this anymore Bo."

"I know, but..."

"Bo, I'm going. End of discussion."

Bo looked up at her family, "I won't argue with you."

"Good."

They remained that way for a long while, watching as Lauren wrapped the kids in towels and sat with them on their favorite boulder by the water.

"She'll sit with them and ask them about their days now. They tell her everything... every little detail... and she listens, Bo. She listens to anything and everything they want to tell her. She's a good Mom."

Bo nodded, "She's a great Mom... and she's a great wife. She has carried the whole load in my absence. She's the strongest woman I know, Kenz."

"But she's not indestructible, Bo."

"I know, that's why I'm not arguing about going back home. I know she's at her breaking point."

"Bo?"

"Yea, Kenz?"

"Did you ever think... I mean... were you ever mad at me for not going?"

"What do you mean?" Bo asked, pulling a strand of hair from the corner of her sister's mouth.

"While you were away... did you ever resent me for not being there so you could be here? Be honest with me, Bo."

Nothing but the sound of the waves on the shore and the distant sound of laughter could be heard for quite some time. Bo wrestled with her truth while Kenzi waited patiently for her answer, but it never came.

Kenzi sighed, "Your silence is enough of an answer. I really wish you would have told me that you needed me to go, Bo."

Bo shrugged, wrapping her arm tighter around her sister, "I guess I'm just..."

Kenzi shook her head, sitting up, "You're used to giving me whatever I want to keep me happy, just like Mom asked. But the truth is, that Mom is dead and gone, Bo. I'm a grown-ass woman who needs to pull my weight in our partnership or that resentment you felt while you were away will grow and become a wedge between us. Hold me accountable, Bo. It's time. I'm not your baby sister anymore. You don't have to make money to pay for my shit, you don't have to wait up until I'm home, you don't have to surf for me, cook for me or clean for me anymore."

The younger Dennis turned to look at her big sister, "You're free, Bo. I'll always be your little sister. I'll always be so incredibly grateful for all you sacrificed so I could have the life I have now, but I won't allow myself to feel the guilt of not taking responsibility for my own shit anymore. I won't watch Lauren's face drop when she here's you say you're not coming home yet. I won't watch the disappointment on my niece and nephew's faces when she tells them you're still in California, Arizona or God knows where else. It's time for you to take care of your family and let me take care of myself."

Bo smiled, brushing a bit of sand off of her sister's cheek, "You'll always be my little sister and I'll always want to take care of you, but I get it, Kenzi... partners it is... but we'll still be sisters before and after hours, right?"

"Are you trying to put me up for adoption?"

Bo laughed, "Never. With my luck, you'd end up a Kenbo School student."

"Har. Har. Har."

"I love you, McKenzie."

"I love you to Ysabeau."

They settled against each other again and looked out towards the ocean for a while before Kenzi said,

"You should probably go down there and try to break some of that ice that's been forming the last few weeks."

Bo shook her head, "I can't, Kenzi. Maverick is so angry with me and... well, look at them. They're all so happy right now. I don't want to ruin that for them."

"You're part of them, Bo."

"Am I, Kenzi? I feel like an outsider. I don't know this ritual of theirs. It started while I was gone."

"You're not an outsider, Bo. You're just... unfamiliar."

"Unfamiliar? Great, Kenzi."

"Okay then. You're right! Lauren is overworked and way underpaid... especially in the sexual favor department..."

"HEY!"

"What? It's true. Maverick is pissed beyond reason, Lauren is stressed... or depressed... she fluctuates... and Emma is just upset about the fact that Maverick is so angry and her new Mommy is sad all of the time."

"All the time?"

Kenzi shrugged, "Maverick told me he hears her cry at night."

Bo nodded as she looked up at the family who had now moved to a blanket on the beach. They were all cuddled up together, talking and laughing. They looked like the perfect little family of three.

"I just don't know where I fit anymore."

Kenzi looked at her sister, then back at her sister-in-law and the kids as she spoke,

"Do you remember when you used to love to play with Dad's old Lincoln Logs? You would build things for hours with those. Then you found his Erector Set in the attic and you told him you wanted to put the wooden pieces with the metal pieces."

Bo smiled, "Dad told me they weren't made to go together... that I would just have to keep them apart."

Kenzi nodded, "And do you remember what you did?"

Bo laughed, "I went into the garage and got his screwdriver, some wood screws and a hacksaw."

Kenzi shook her head, "It was so much more than that, Bo. After you got the tools, you proved Dad wrong and showed him that it was possible to put the two together. You built a house out of metal and wood."

Bo smiled, "Dad thought I was going to be an architect."

"Yea, well your little sister thinks you're good at putting things together that may appear as though they don't fit." Kenzi corrected before nodding towards the family of three on the beach.

Bo nodded and lowered her eyes to her fingers, "I get it."

"Good. Now go get your family back."

Bo sighed before standing. She smoothed her hands down her sides before turning back to Kenzi to speak, but the younger sister shook her head and pointed towards the beach,

"GO!"

Bo turned back around and took a deep breath before taking her first step towards an uncertain evening. Kenzi watched, making sure her sister made it to the group before standing and heading off to find Tamsin.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Bo stood off to the side, leaning against a tree as she listened to the conversation her wife and kids were having. She was nervous and didn't know how to inject herself into the conversation. Her presence had gone unnoticed so far, making her consider turning around and heading back to the safety of her former home several times, but by the third look, she knew she would be staying. Not because she'd gather any of the courage she needed to do so, but because Kenzi and Tamsin were now seated on the front porch, arms folded over their chests with faces determined to stop her should she try to turn back.

She sighed, holding her ground halfway between safety and discomfort. She turned back to the conversation and listened as Emma told Lauren and Maverick the story she'd written in her Reading class this morning. The older two listened intently, their facial expressions changing moment by moment to match Emma's. When she finished, the pair applauded before pulling her into a group hug. Lauren then asked Maverick how his Science test was. Apparently, his grade wasn't as high as he'd hoped, but thought maybe Lauren could go over some of the things he missed some time over the weekend. Lauren was, of course, happy to dive into anything sciencey with her son.

The conversation went on for almost an hour before the kids began to ask Lauren about her day. She told them about the classes she taught in the morning, her visits to the various parts of the community to do her routine checks...

Bo stopped for a moment, her mind racing as she thought to herself,

' _Lauren is doing routine checks of the community? What else was she doing for Kenbo? Did she want to? Did she feel like she had to? Did she regret leaving the hospital to be a stay-at-home Mom?'_

She turned her attention back to the conversation, her breath catching as she heard her name,

"Well, I'm gwad she's home." Emma replied.

"I don't understand how you two can just pretend like she didn't walk out on us. She made a promise... a vow to be here for us and she left."

"Maverick, I know it seems that way, sweetie but she really was working."

"Yea, 'cause other orphans are more important to her than the ones she actually adopted."

"That is not true and totally unfair, Maverick. Look, she just has to get the other schools up and running. Once she does that..."

"... I know, I know... then she'll have time for us. Well, I'm not waiting until I'm like the seniors to have a family. I'd rather go back up for adoption."

Bo snapped at the boys' comment, "Hey! You show some respect for your Mother!"

Maverick pulled away from Lauren and turned to face Bo, getting to his feet. With his arm extended and finger pointing accusingly at the brunette, he spoke

"Respect my Mother? Well, the Mother we're talking about is never around! How can I respect someone who doesn't take care of her own kids!"

"I was talking about your other Mother! Telling the woman who has been here for you in my absence that you would rather go back up for adoption is completely disrespectful! You apologize, young man!"

Maverick stood still, breathing heavy as he glared at Bo as her words mulled around in his mind,

"NOW!"

"Bo..." Lauren began, but Bo wasn't listening,

"No, Lauren." She said, waving her off before turning back to Maverick, "I may not have been around much lately, but regardless of what position you feel I deserve or don't deserve in your life, I am – if nothing less – still your court-assigned guardian. You want to surf? You want an education? You want a bed and a roof over your head? You want to call yourself a big brother and have this girl you call sister in your life? You want Lauren in your life? You WILL apologize young man."

Bo stood still, towering over the younger boy, her jaw set, a single vein popping out of her forehead as her eyes glowered at the offending youngster. In truth, her heart broke with every word she spoke but she knew she was being tested. She had never raised her voice to him before, but she saw no other recourse in this moment. Finally, Maverick broke their deadlock and turned to Lauren,

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I like that you're my Mommy now."

Lauren took his hand, "It's okay, Mav."

"No, it's not okay." Bo countered, earning her a glare from her wife. She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment before looking into the brown eyes she had missed so much, "I'm sorry, Lauren. I know being away has been tough on him, but this pouting, angry, mouthy behavior is not okay."

"Bo..."

Bo gave Lauren a stern look causing her to sigh and release Maverick's hand. The blonde watched as Bo placed a firm hand on the young boys' shoulder and turned him towards her,

"You and me? We're going for a walk. Come on."

Bo led the youngster down the beach, looking over her shoulder at Lauren who was clearly upset with her. She was sorry she didn't play teammate to her wife, but she had been dealing with discipline issues at the school for over a year now and recognized when a child was manipulating a situation. No matter how much it hurt her to do this with a young boy who had already been through so much in his young life, she knew it needed to happen. If she had to be the bad cop to her wife's good cop, then so be it.

As they walked, Bo slowed her frustrated pace so the smaller legs of her son could keep up. They walked for quite a while before she led him over to a sand dune,

"Here. Sit. You and I need to talk."

"I have nothing to say." Maverick replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then you can listen." Bo replied quickly, knowing her adopted son would be resistant to this conversation. His heels were dug in deep, but he had no idea how stubborn Bo Dennis had been all of her life. She had a lot more experience at holding grudges than this little guy.

Still, Bo watched patiently as Maverick finally sat down in a huff, a big pout on his face, his eyes staring out at the sea. Bo laughed internally as she took a seat next to him. His mood reminded her of the many times that she had gone eighteen rounds with Kenzi when she was growing up. They fought about her bedtime, her wake time and her homework time. They fought about Kenzi going to school, cutting school and not dropping out of school. They fought about her grades, her boyfriends and her habit of drinking and stealing.

She looked at the young boy beside her. Growing up was tough. Growing up without your parents was tougher. Thinking that someone finally cares enough to be there for you... and then they're not... well, that must be the proverbial straw. Sensing that Maverick was not going to look at her, she turned her eyes to the ocean and took a deep breath before she spoke,

"I know I've been away a lot since we started opening the other Kenbo Schools..."

"Duh. Ya think?" He replied, slamming the handful of sand in his possession onto the pile that had formed beside him in the short time he'd been seated.

"Do not think I will not have you cleaning boat bottoms if you don't control the snark young man."

Maverick sighed, "Whatever."

"Maverick." Bo replied, her voice filled with caution.

"So you show up and start punishing me right away?"

"I want you to hear me out with an open mind. I think I've done enough for you to deserve that much... and a little respect."

Maverick sighed, "Fine."

Bo shook her head, "Why do you think we're opening the other schools?"

"Money." Maverick replied, flatly.

Bo laughed, "Money? Do you think we make a lot of money from the Kenbo Schools?"

"Well, the state gives you money and Billy Robinson told me that you guys probably pocket half of what they give you. He said it's why they only let seniors take the wave runners out for long rides. You're pocketing the extra gas money."

Bo laughed, immediately deciding she would let Kenzi handle Billy Robinson. Her little sister was much more creative with punishments than she ever was. Frankly, Kenzi was always telling Bo she was too easy on the kids.

"And you believe Billy Robinson?" she asked.

Maverick shrugged.

"Did you tell your Mommy what Billy Robinson said?"

Maverick shook his head in reply.

"Well, if you'd like to see our financial records, I'm sure Kenzi would be happy to show them to you. I'm sure she would also be very upset, however, to hear that you believe that we are all about the money... unless, of course, you think that's just me."

Maverick was silent, so Bo continued,

"Do you remember me talking to you about what my Dad taught me about surfing, Poseidon and what my purpose in life should be?"

"Are you going to let me surf Mavericks in California?" Maverick asked, looking at Bo as if this was going to be some form of leverage for his forgiveness.

"Nice change of subject, but to answer your question, honestly, I don't know. I have to see how you do in the waters closer to the pipeline."

Maverick's eyes went wide, "I can't surf the pipe! I'll get killed!"

Bo laughed, "I thought you were going to listen to me. I said the waters _closer_ to the pipe – not the pipe itself! Mavericks is no easy water, buddy. I'm not putting you out there if you're not ready."

"Kenzi says I'm ready!" He protested.

"And Kenzi is not your legal guardian. Besides, our good Doctor will have the final say on that one."

"That's not fair. You know she'll say no. She'll be afraid I'll get hurt."

"Maybe not, but you definitely aren't going anywhere near Mavericks if you can't stop being a brat."

"I'm not a brat!"

"Well, your behavior would speak to the contrary. Look, Maverick, you're mad at me... I get it. But you're also not getting what you want, so you're acting out. But if you want to take out your anger about me on someone, you direct it at me. You don't take it out on other people. You've been mean to your Mommy, Kenzi and Tamsin. They're big girls, they can take it, but you are being completely unfair to Emma."

"Well, if you would call or Skype more often, I wouldn't have to..."

"No... no conditions. You have a problem with me, you direct it at me because there are absolutely no conditions where it is okay to do otherwise. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Okay. Now I'd also like to remind you that you have Skype on the computers at school and at home. It works both ways. You can also ask Lauren anytime to use her phone so you can call me on Face Time."

"The last two times I did that, you could only talk for a few minutes! I needed help on building my bridge for class!"

"And I called you that night and we built it together. Just because I can't do things in the exact moment that you want to do them, doesn't mean I don't want to, Maverick. Think about it. If I were here, I wouldn't have been able to help you with the bridge in the middle of the day. I would have had classes to teach or faculty meetings just like all of the other staff. Lauren is the one that's home during the day for you most of the time."

"But she's not an engineer!"

"But she is incredibly smart. Don't sell the good Doctor short, Mav. She graduated from Yale University with a double major and the highest GPA in her class in both. Do you have any idea how hard that is to do?"

Maverick shrugged, "I didn't know."

"Well, now you do. Anyone that has the title Doctor before their name is deserving of your respect."

"The Professor said you have a doctor before your name too. Why don't we call you Doctor?"

Bo smiled, "I just... I don't know... I just haven't really found the need to make the change."

"What is the Professor?"

"He's a Doctor, too."

"Then how come we call him Professor?"

"Because a person that has an educational doctorate can be called either. Mommy is a medical doctor, so they're always called Doctors."

"So you're a Professor too?"

Bo shrugged, "If I was teaching, then yes my students would refer to me as Professor or Doctor."

"You are teaching! You're Doctor Dennis!"

Bo laughed, "I think that would get a little confusing now that Lauren is Doctor Dennis too, don't you think?"

"I guess so. I guess you'll just have to be Professor too!"

Bo gave Maverick's hair a ruffle, "What do you say I just stay plain old Bo? Let's let Lauren be the Doctor and the Professor be the Professor. It'll be less confusing."

Maverick considered Bo's point for a moment before he looked at her and asked, "You don't like getting any attention, do you?"

Bo thought for a moment before she looked at the young boy and replied, "I never really thought about it, but I guess you're right. I want you and the other students to have credit for their accomplishments so they feel good about themselves. I don't want credit for creating the Kenbo Schools because it was a team effort... not to mention the fact that they wouldn't be great if we didn't have a great staff, great students and great people donating to and funding the school."

The pair sat silently for a moment, staring out at the sea. Bo chanced a glance at the young boy several minutes later and noticed his lips mouthing a count... one... two... three...

"Whatcha doin'?" She asked.

Maverick kept his gaze on the sea before reluctantly turning to Bo, "Huh?"

"You're counting. Why?"

Maverick looked back out at the ocean, "I didn't even realize I was doing it. I was counting sets."

Bo smiled proudly, "Wow. A true surfer in the family."

"Mom, can I go onto the WSL Junior Tour some day?"

The brunette turned her eyes quickly to the boy, "Do you want to?"

"Hell yea!"

"Language."

"Sorry."

"Do you really want to? I mean... what about snowboarding?"

Maverick nodded, "Can I do both?"

"Well, the seasons do overlap a bit."

"Yea, but I can train in the wave pool in Colorado during my free time when I'm up there snowboarding."

"You start soon."

Maverick nodded, "We'll be apart again."

Bo gave him a sad smile, before pulling him over to her and wrapping him in a warm hug,

"You know, you really have to start to realize that even when we're physically apart, we're always together."

"Huh?"

Bo smiled and pointed to her chest, "You're always in here, Mav. I think of you, Emma and Lauren all the time. I carry you guys with me just like I've always carried Kenzi. You're a part of me. No matter where I am, you're always lingering in the back of my mind. I'm always wondering when I can squeeze in a few minutes to talk to you when you're not in class. Of course, I'm also always looking for a way to catch a flight home even if it's just for a few days."

"Is that what this is?"

Bo shook her head, "Nope. Kenzi is going back on Monday. I'm home for a good long stretch."

"So you'll help me with surfing? I mean to get ready for Mavericks?"

"I'll help you and we'll see about Mavericks."

"Darn."

"Don't rule it out yet, buddy."

"Okay." He replied.

"What do you say we head back for game night?"

"Cool!" Maverick said, jumping up and offering Bo a hand.

Bo took the hand and watched as the boy struggled to pull her to her feet. Just as she was almost off the ground, she gave a tug and pulled him down into the sand beside her. She tickled him while he tried to roll away, laughing and giggling nonstop.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

"Yea, I thought so." Bo stood, wiping the sand from her legs, "Still reigning tickle champion!"

"I'll beat you some day. Count on it!"

Bo smiled, "I am definitely counting on it."

As he stood and wiped himself off, he paused to look up at Bo, "Do you think I could win a WSL championship some day too?"

Bo shrugged, "Is that what you want to do?"

"Well, I'm a Dennis now. Someone has to carry on the family title!"

Bo laughed, "I guess they do, buddy. I guess they do."

"Mom?"

"Yea?"

She wrapped an arm over the young boy's shoulder and led him down the beach.

"Does it bug you that some people still call Mommy Dr. Lewis?"

Bo shrugged, "Nah. I know it takes some getting used to if you're going to change what you've been calling someone their entire life. I don't think your Aunt Tamsin will ever stop calling her Lewis."

"Aunt Tamsin isn't really my Aunt, is she?"

Bo shook her head, "Not yet, but I hope she will be some day."

"She has to marry Kenzi first, right?"

"Yup."

"Do you think they'll get married?"

Bo shrugged, "I really don't know, Mav. I mean, I think they're happy, but relationships are complicated."

"One of my friends at my old school... you know... from when my family was still alive... well, his parents were divorced. He was really sad when it happened, but after a while he got used to it. Will you and Mommy ever get divorced?"

Bo scowled, "I would never want that. Your Mommy and I have been through an awful lot just to be together. I hope that having been through all of that would mean that there is nothing we can't survive. Are you worried about that?"

Maverick looked down at his feet, kicking the sand as he walked, "Well, I guess a little. She's just been so sad. She cries... she misses you a lot... maybe more than me and Emma."

Bo's eyes teared up at combined sound of the quiver in his voice and the reality of his statement,

"Well, it is my intention to change that for all of us, Maverick. It's been horrible being away from you guys... for all of us. I know that I'm the only one that can fix it, so that is what I mean to do."

"That's good." Maverick replied.

"Yea, I think so too." Bo replied with a smile, "I love you, Maverick. Please don't ever doubt that."

"I love you too, Mom."

"Thanks, Mav."

"For what?"

"For listening."

"Thanks for explaining stuff to me."

"You're welcome. Are we good now?"

"We're good." He replied.

As she walked, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had her son back... she had her family back.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

It was late when the Dennis family arrived back home after game night. Kenzi had invited them to spend another night, but she knew that her sister and Tamsin needed some alone time before she'd have to leave for California. She also knew that Lauren missed being in her home. She needed some breathing room away from the school. Granted, it wasn't that far away, but it was far enough to feel like she and her family had a life outside of the school.

Bo had taken on story time, the kids opting to see pictures of the constructions sites for the new school and pictures of the home where Bo had grown up. They asked her questions about her parents, which she answered to the best of her ability. They asked about what it was like to ride the waves at Mavericks and both children agreed they wanted to ride on the front of her board like she and Kenzi had done with her parents.

Lauren had stood in the doorway the entire time, a smile on her face, shoulder against the door frame, just taking in the scene before her. Several times, Bo looked up to catch her eye and exchange a smile. She knew they still had to talk about her choice to handle Maverick tonight, but she hoped that Lauren realized her way had paid off. Still, she openly crossed her wife in front of the kids that she had been caring for in her absence. Lauren had every right to be mad.

Once they had tucked in the kids, they turned on Emma's nightlight and retreated to the hallway outside of the bedroom.

"They're so happy you're home." Lauren said, walking away from the bedroom.

"Lauren, about what happened earlier. I'm sorry if I stepped on your parenting toes..."

"Bo, it's okay. Clearly your way earned the desired result and frankly, I was running out of the energy necessary to deal with our son's moods."

"I'm sorry you've had to deal with..."

"Bo, it's done. Please, just put it to bed?"

Bo nodded, "Speaking of bed... are you planning on putting me in the guest room for the night?"

Lauren looked over her shoulder, confused as she approached the door, "What?"

"Well, we're walking away from our bedroom, so I just assumed..."

Bo stepped into the guest room, her eyes going wide, "Wha..."

"I decided that Maverick needs his own room. Emma is getting quite inquisitive about the fact that his anatomy doesn't match her own, so he's had to take to changing in the bathroom. I want him to be free to... well, be himself."

Bo nodded, "She's going to be upset."

Lauren smiled, "Agreed, but Maverick and I have talked about it. He agreed that he would keep the bed in her room until she decides she wants to kick him out. She usually falls asleep before him, so he came up with the idea to slip out after she falls asleep... occasionally at first, then more regularly if she doesn't protest. We both agreed that she would eventually be okay with him not being there in the morning... and soon after that, at bedtime."

"Sounds like a plan." She replied as she walked around the room, noticing the new paint, "Someone has been very busy."

Lauren smiled, "Actually, this is mostly Tamsin and Maverick with a little Pops thrown in for good measure. They insisted on doing his room... sort of a coming home gift. There's a massive dollhouse on the back porch for Emma."

"They didn't have to spend all of that money..."

Lauren shook her head, "No money spent. They said everything is made from scrap materials from the housing development they're building."

Bo pointed towards the wall art, "Well, that's a Brian Bielmann print. I'd know his photography anywhere. That cost a pretty penny."

Lauren smiled when she looked at the picture of the surfer surrounded by a massive tunnel of blue and white water.

"That was art that was used for staging one of the bedrooms in the sample home."

"They bought a Bielmann to stage a house? I thought you were supposed to use cheap stuff to stage a house."

Lauren shrugged, "Well, they took Maverick over to the sample homes and allowed him to walk through all five models, picking out whatever he wanted."

"Our son walked through million dollar homes to shop for his bedroom." Bo laughed shaking her head.

Lauren could only smile as she watched her wife come to terms with the fact that the contents of their son's bedroom would remain,

"They've still got another coat of paint to put on the bathroom. The bedroom is finished with the exception of the mattress, which comes on Monday. So, he should be able to move in on Tuesday."

"Does Emma know yet?"

"She knows he's going to have a room to change in."

Bo smiled, "And how did that go over?"

"She seemed to accept it, especially since Maverick assured her they would still be sleeping in the same room at bedtime."

Bo nodded, "Have her nightmares taken a break at all?"

Lauren shrugged, "Not much, but Ciara feels like she's making progress getting to the bottom of the cause."

"Good. That's good. It would be nice for her to be free of them."

Lauren nodded in reply and headed for the door, "Are you ready for bed?"

Bo smiled a shy smile before giving a soft nod of the head. Lauren held out her hand for her wife, which Bo took before the pair walked to their bedroom.

"I'm going to hop in the shower since I haven't had a chance to take one yet." Bo said, pulling her robe from one of her remaining unpacked bags.

Lauren nodded, "I'll unpack the rest of your things while you shower."

"Thank you."

The blonde sighed as the bathroom door clicked shut. Looking down at the bags, she began the familiar routine of unpacking her wife's belongings. She opened the first bag and smiled,

"Well, I'll be a petri dish. She finally caught on."

She lifted the piece of paper that read, _'these are all dirty, sweetie'_ , and zipped the bag shut once more before tossing it over near the door to take to the laundry room in the morning. Opening the next bag, she smiled when she found another sign that read, _'I couldn't resist bringing gifts home for my favorite people in the entire word. I love you so much, Lauren. I've missed you terribly.'._

Lauren smiled, lifting a package out of the bag with her name on it, then one for each of the kids, Kenzi, Tamsin, the Judge, Vex, Moms and Pops. There was one package that was unlabeled that she decided she would ask Bo about when she finished her shower.

Opening the last bag, she found all of Bo's remaining toiletries, what she assumed with clean clothes and some large envelopes that likely contained business documents since they were in her carry-on bag. She would never check important papers due to her experience with lost luggage over the years.

She heard the door open and looked up to see her wife exiting the steamy room, her robe wrapped around her with the belt tied loose enough at her waist that Lauren had a grand view of her wife's sexy cleavage. Her vision zoomed in on the small droplets of water that had the good fortune of dripping from the ends of the dark hair across the soft skin at the center of her chest before disappearing beneath the soft white cotton. What Lauren wouldn't give to be a droplet of water right now.

"You okay?" Bo asked, pulling Lauren from her fantasy.

"Uh... yes, of course. I see someone couldn't resist the gift store?"

"More like going into town and shopping like a mad woman." Bo bit her lip, "I missed you guys and... well... I know this may sound strange but... somehow shopping for everyone made me feel... better."

Bo sighed, standing alone in the middle of the room while she fidgeted with the tie of her robe.

"Thank you for separating out your dirty clothes." Lauren smiled, "That's a big help."

Bo nodded, "I really wish you would let me do my own laundry, sweetie. I did do my own wash before we got married."

Lauren replied with a shy smile, "Well, maybe my washing your laundry is a little like your shopping spree."

Bo smiled at how adorable her wife was in the moment that she confessed that handling her wife's clothing made her feel closer to her. The brunette walked to the dresser,

"I guess I'd better get ready for bed."

Lauren stared at the contents of the luggage, shocked by her own decision to leave the unpacked bags until morning. Instead, she stood and moved behind her wife, stilling her hands as she rifled through her drawers for pajamas.

"Uh... would you mind if... well... it's been a long time and... I mean... I missed you so much and... I mean... if you don't mind and... well, if you're in the mood and..."

Bo turned quickly, grabbing the blonde's face with both hands and merging their lips together for a searing kiss which quickly deepened as tongues dueled for dominance. The kiss was over sooner than the brunette would like as her wife pulled back,

"Bed?"

"Definitely." Bo replied with a smile.

The two ripped clothes and robe from their bodies, their rushed movements landing them unceremoniously in the bed as they kicked the covers aside to rid them of anything that would separate their bodies.

Hands roamed, lips slid together, tongues swirled and hips ground together before fingers moved together into awaiting heat. The two thrust in time together, hips moving in unison as eyes remained locked together, saying everything that words could never express. Faces flushed, cores tightened as the urgency of their thrusts grew until they fell over the glorious edge together, falling slowly from their intense climax into a tender calm.

"I love you, Lauren. I'm sorry I allowed time and distance to separate us. I promise I won't ever let it happen again. I should have flown the three of you out to be there with me. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner..."

"Bo, I could have done the same. I was frozen by my sadness and... I'm embarrassed to say I allowed doubt to creep in and..."

The brunette took her wife's face gently in her hands, "Lauren, please remember our vows. I will never break them. I will never stop loving you. I will never stop fighting to be with you. I know it sounds totally sappy, but we have surfed the most turbulent seas anyone could ever imagine, but look at us now... we've found our way through the storm... we've found our way to calmer seas."

Bo felt her wife shiver and maneuvered them beneath the covers, tucking the quilt around her shoulders. She pulled the blonde to her, loving the familiar sensation of her wife settling her head on her chest and into the crook of her neck. They held each other tightly, whispering words of love until sleep claimed them.

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **2020 Summer Olympics...**_

"Ladies and Gentleman, we welcome you to the first ever Summer Olympics Surfing Event! We are so excited to bring you this exhibition competition featuring the worlds top surfers and hope that the 2024 games find our sport joining the lineup of regulation events."

"That's right, John. We are certainly lucky to have the incredible list of surfers raised in various leagues around the world here with us for the next few weeks. The conditions are fantastic today, so we are sure to see some amazing rides from the competitors."

"We've got big names from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Brazil and Spain among others but the crowd gathered near our booth is waiting for the runs of an incredible team of sisters."

"That's right, this crowd is looking forward to the first and possibly only competition we will ever see the Dennis sisters face off."

"Jake, this is something no one thought we would ever see. Two years ago, Bo Dennis, the older sister, slid quietly into retirement after winning a much-deserve WSL Championship. We thought we'd never see the Dennis name atop a winner's podium again."

"That's true, John but along came the younger sister Kenzi Dennis. She literally took the tour by storm, knocking off top competitors who had been expected to place her sister Bo at the top of the list."

"I had the opportunity to see Bo Dennis at a small local tournament down in Hawaii a few weeks ago. She is sporting some amazing new tricks and looks stronger than ever. The question is whether or not little sister is up for the challenge."

"Well, I'm sure she is, John. She is no stranger to big water and she does not know how to shy away from a challenge. The kid has suffered some of the worst wipeouts I've seen, but still keeps getting back up."

"Truly one of the most courageous surfers on the circuit today, Jake and I hear Bo Dennis has two children who have followed in the family footsteps and are making their way up through the junior leagues riding Kenbo Surfboards."

Jake laughed, "Was that a shameless plug for Kenbo, John?"

"What can I say, Jake. Now that I'm an old retired guy, I have no qualms about saying that all of my other boards are in the shed. Kenbo boards are worth the money and definitely worth a day in the water. Just look around and you'll see their logo everywhere."

"I've heard that Bo's workshop is loaded with orders for custom boards. The woman has not just a knack for riding, but for building boards as well."

"It looks like the action is about to get underway. Let's go down to Elise. She's with the competitors in the ready tent. Elise?"

"Yes, John. The atmosphere down here is filled with enthusiasm and excitement. I've never felt such electricity at a surfing event and, as you know, I've been to many. We're about to kick off the action here with the first heat, so let's take it to Maggie down at the judge's table...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Maverick, are you going to the Kenbo tent?" Lauren called to her son who was prepping his Mom's boards while Emma worked on her Aunt Kenzi's.

"Yea, Ma. I have that guy from Australia who wants to order a custom job. I told him I'd meet him there at the horn to start the first heats. Are you on duty the entire day?"

Lauren shook her head, "No. I told them I would do the first two hours in the morning and help with any emergencies they needed me for this week. I'm off all of next week."

"Good. I'm glad you're not going to miss this."

The blonde smiled, "Not for the world."

"I still say that you and Aunt T should have made a comeback." Maverick said coming to stand with his Ma.

"Well, we gave it a shot."

"Yea, it was a bummer that Aunt T tore her rotator cuff."

Lauren shrugged, "We did the right thing, surrendering our number one spot. We knew she might not be ready and we were right. It was the right call."

Maverick nodded, "Still a shame."

Lauren nodded her agreement before turning to the sound of Emma's voice,

"Ma, I'm going to take Kenzi's boards down."

"Okay, sweetie. Make sure you go to the Kenbo tent right after you drop her boards off."

"I will, Ma."

"I'll go with her. I've gotta take Mom's boards down anyway. You know how she gets if she can't check them before she rides."

"When did she get so picky?" Lauren laughed.

Maverick smiled, "The day she met you."

He laughed as his Ma slapped him with a towel, running towards the boards he had to deliver. Lauren smiled as she watched him jog to catch up to his little sister. The two had been inseparable since before they'd been adopted and time had not changed a thing.

Maverick had begun surfing competitively and was doing very well. He would surely be a big name in the WSL some day if he stuck with the sport, but as expected, he was exceling with his snowboarding career as well. Eventually, Lauren and Bo knew that he would have to make a choice. They selfishly hoped it would be surfing, but they had agreed that – no matter what – they would not try to sway him to stay home.

Emma had taken a more casual approach to surfing. She loved anything on the water and had grown to be quite the little competitor thanks to her brothers' continual challenges. The Dennis sisters had a feeling that Emma was going to become the real superstar of the family in the WSL. Time would tell.

Lauren looked down at her phone, smiling when she saw her wife's name, "Well, if it isn't the amazing surfing phenom, Bo Dennis."

' _And if it isn't the equally amazing surgical phenom, Dr. Lauren Dennis.'_

"All ready to go?"

' _Just need one more thing.'_

Lauren smiled, "I love you, I believe in you and I will be cheering for you every second of every wave. May Poseidon grant you the waves of a lifetime and the skill to ride them safely home to me. Have fun, Bo."

Lauren could hear Bo sigh, her voice sounding more relaxed after her words,

' _I love you, Mrs. Dennis. I'll see you soon.'_

"I love you, Mrs. Dennis. I'll be waiting with our family."

' _I love our family.'_

"We have done quite well, huh?"

' _I think we're the luckiest women alive.'_

"I'll agree with that when you bring home your gold medal."

' _Kenzi would be crushed to hear you're cheering for the competition... and remember, luck has nothing to do with me winning a medal.'_

Lauren laughed, "I know, I know. It's all skill."

' _Damn right, baby. Love you, Lo.'_

"Love you, Bo."

Lauren listened for Bo to hang up before tucking her phone away into her pocket.

"Dr. Dennis?"

Lauren sighed, turning her attention back to the worker pointing towards the surfer who had just entered the tent,

"On my way."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Announcers Booth...**_

" _I'll tell you, Jake, the Dennis sisters are back and they are showing everyone out there that they are here to win!"_

" _I agree, John. In a year where Australia has dominated the top ten International surfers with only two places belonging to Japan and Spain, these sisters are making a statement that the Dennis sisters of Team USA are back! Your team has to be worried right now, Grace. What do you think?"_

" _I think that they knew the Dennis sisters were going to be an issue for the past six months. There has been a lot of talk that Kenzi Dennis had taken a page from her older sister Bo's book and her sets today confirmed that, boys."_

" _Still, it hasn't been enough to topple big sister from the top of the leader board."_

" _Well, as you know the format for this event gives little sister a few more chances to shorten her sister's lead, Grace."_

" _It does, John but unless she can suddenly come up with the style points of her big sister, I don't think that's going to happen."_

" _Still, it must be nice for them to know they have a great chance of going one-two in the first Olympics for their sport, Grace."_

" _Definitely, Jake. Just being here is a great day for everyone in the sport whether you're a surfer, a fan of a surfer or someone who just loves surfing. We're making history and for us ladies, getting to be the first ones to compete in the first Olympic competition is an incredible experience."_

 _ **Kenbo Tent...**_

"Mommy? I can't see Mom anymore. Why can't I see Mom anymore?"

Lauren smiled at her daughter as she handed her the binoculars and climbed into her lap on the chair,

"She's in the tent with the other surfers watching for your Aunt Kenzi."

"But Aunt Kenzi isn't out there yet eider."

"Just listen for the announcers. They'll be calling her name any minute."

Maverick came running into the tent, "Ma, did you see her? She was amazing! That last wave... I didn't think she was gonna make it out of that pipe and BAM! There she was! Do you think she'll win the gold?"

Lauren smiled at her son's enthusiasm. In the last year, he and Bo had grown closer than they'd been before their little falling out and Emma was growing up way to fast for all of them. As Lauren had expected, she'd begun surfing lessons with her Aunt Kenzi and was loving every minute of it. Kenzi had told Lauren that her niece reminded her of a teenage Bo. She had style, even at this very young age. It was like she and the ocean were having a conversation and everyone at the wave pool noticed as well.

"I think we'll have to wait and see, Mav. It's still early."

"Yea, I guess with two rounds to go, it's not hers yet. Aunt Kenzi's still in there too. I wish that girl from Australia would fall."

Lauren frowned, "Hey. That's not the surf competition spirit."

Maverick nodded, "I know. I'm sorry."

"We supposed to hope for Mom to do well, not hope for others to fail, right Mommy?"

"That's right, Emma." Lauren smiled, her attention being drawn to the announcer, "That's your Aunt Kenzi, Mav."

"Can I go closer?" Mav asked.

"Yes, but stay where the Professor can see you." Lauren replied.

"I will." Maverick said, running off as he replied. The blonde smiled, watching as her happy little boy ran towards the tent closer to the water. It was there that the Professor had set up the tent for repairs, waxing and anything else he could offer to the surfers during the competition.

Lauren waved as the older gentleman acknowledged that he would watch him. She kept her gaze on the two for a long while as Maverick sat on the picnic table in front of him and stared through the long telephoto lens of his camera. The Professor had taken an interest in photography after sitting in on several classes at the Kenbo School. He had offered his services to Bo and Kenzi – if his work was to their liking – to create memories of each and every student who came and went from their campus.

The doctor smiled at the memory. The excitement that had come from such a simple gesture injected some much-needed energy into the entire campus as everyone wanted to be immortalized on a wall or workshop somewhere at the Kenbo School by the Professor. Bo had actually bought him a cellphone when she saw him stretching his back. Apparently, carrying his photography equipment with him everywhere he went put a strain on the older man's body.

Kenzi had spent weeks helping him to learn how to use the new piece of technology that the man had no interest in using at first. Now, Lauren could only laugh as she watched him scrolling through something. He followed his stocks, the weather, news at M.I.T. and was now teaching an online course.

The Professor was a great influence on Maverick and was always there to spur on his creativity and seemingly unquenchable lust for knowledge. Lauren and the Professor nurtured his mind while Bo handled providing outlets for his never-ending energy. He was a thrill-seeker and a risk-taker, becoming more so each day.

Lauren laughed as she watched the boy jump up and down, arms over head as his small fist pumped at the air. She knew it was in response to Kenzi's latest wave, but the blonde had been so busy watching her son, that she'd forgotten her sister-in-law was competing at this very moment.

She looked down to find Emma asleep on her chest, her thumb stuck tight in her mouth. The dentist had warned them they needed to break that habit soon. It was affecting her teeth and there was concern that it could also impact her permanent teeth. She reached down and gently... slowly... removed the thumb from its place between her lips and pulled her up over her shoulder.

"Ugh. Emma you're getting too heavy for this, sweetie. Let's go see Aunt Kenzi ride, huh?"

She laughed at the quiet mumble she received in reply, but trudged forward through the sand to join her two favorite men. As she walked, she looked up to see the medics rushing towards the beach. Handing Emma off to the Professor, she hustled towards the shallows where a brunette was being pulled from the sled at the back of the wave runner. Her heart stilled with worry about Kenzi, but her feet did not fail in their determined steps to the scene.

The medic at the back of the wave runner dismounted and began his report to Lauren,

"Dr. Lewis, I was able to make out three abrasions on her right shoulder, ribcage and hip. I also suspect a possible cracked rib or two. Is she breathing?"

All eyes remained on Lauren as moved the brunette hair from the face of the surfer, allowing herself only a brief moment to feel relief that it wasn't her sister-in-law. She tapped the woman's shoulders once... twice as she shouted to her while looking at her chest for any signs of breathing. When there was none, she looked up at the medics,

"Beginning CPR, unpack the AED. One and two and three and four and five and..."

Lauren continued chest compressions as the medic opened the device, turning it on, and connecting the electrodes before wiping the surfer's chest dry. Positioning the pads on the skin, he listened for instructions from the machine,

"Analyzing. Stand clear. Everyone stand clear."

Everyone waited as the AED checked for the heart rhythm until finally, the mechanical voice declared,

"No pulse. Stand clear. Push to shock. Stand clear."

The medic watched as Lauren put her hands up, indicating she was clear. With one last look to make sure no one was in contact with the victim, he announced,

"Shocking. Stand Clear."

Hitting the button, the surfer's body seized for a moment before the AED announced that it was analyzing again. Everyone stood silently, watching the doctor and medic awaiting any sound from machine, caregivers or victim. Finally,

"No pulse detected. Continue CPR."

"Shit." Lauren replied, placing her hands back on the surfers chest and continued CPR.

It was only a moment, but she looked up from where her hands lay against the cold skin of the young woman beneath her, but the glance caught the eyes of her wife... wide opened and horrified. Lauren knew exactly where Bo's mind was. This was precisely what she had done to Bo the day they had met. Her wife had never seen this done to anyone before... not that Lauren knew of... and not by the same woman who had saved her.

Lauren quickly moved her eyes back down. She would deal with Bo's breakdown later. Right now, she had a patient to save.

"Stand clear. Analyzing." The machine repeated as the ambulance rolled onto the beach, sirens quieting as it hit the sand. Lauren was shocked to see one of the paramedics who had worked with her for years in Hawaii, exit the ambulance. What was he doing here? Shaking out her thoughts, she returned to the task at hand.

"All I need is the crash kit, Glenn!" Lauren yelled as she recognized one of the paramedics. He gave her a nod and sprinted towards her while Lauren removed the portable AED.

He dropped at her side, "Good to see you, Dr. Lewis."

"I wish it was under better circumstances. What in the world are you doing here? You left the states?"

He nodded, "What can I say? Kiota stole my heart."

"You followed your college girlfriend half way around the world?"

"Well, technically, this isn't around the world... but... yes. We're engaged."

"Congrats. I'm glad I have someone who knows my procedures right now." Lauren smiled, "Let's do this."

Each has been working as they conversed, the paramedic attaching the more powerful AED while Lauren loaded the syringe with epinephrine, felt for the space between the ribs along the breastbone and lowered the needle unceremoniously into the victim's heart. The medic handed the paddles to the doctor, squirting the gel onto the surface of one. Lauren rubbed them together, chancing a glance at Bo before she placed the paddles on the surfer's upper right chest and lower left chest,

"Give me 200 joules, Glenn." Lauren instructed.

"Charging, Dr. Lewis."

The beep sounded, telling Lauren the charge was full, "CLEAR!"

The paramedics raised their hands and Lauren pressed the button, expelling the jolt of electricity into her patient.

"No rhythm." Glenn replied.

"Charge to 300." Lauren insisted.

"Charging."

"Come on, kid. Don't you die on me." Another glance up at Bo. Where were Maverick and Emma? Were they watching this? She couldn't let them see a surfer die. They would never go near the water again. Beeep...

"CLEAR!"

Lauren unloaded another jolt into the woman and looked to Glenn who shook his head.

"400."

"But Dr. Lewis."

"Do it, Glenn or this crowd will watch this young woman die."

"Yes, ma'am."

"CLEAR!"

The silence was deafening as the crowd waited. Lauren looked at Bo who now had tears streaming down her face. She looked to Glenn, relief spreading through her very soul as she watched a smile slowly stretch across his face,

"We've got her, Dr. Lewis! Sinus rhythm!"

The crowd heaved a relieved sigh the other paramedic placed a collar on the surfer before Glenn strapped the oxygen mask to the surfer. Lauren watched as the woman's eyes slowly opened, her hands immediately trying to find a way to the mask, but her movements were slow and spastic, much like Bo's had been after they'd revived her. Lauren pushed back the memories of the past and forced a smile onto her face,

"You gave us quite a scare, but you're back. It's going to take some time, but you're going to be okay. Just relax, breathe and let these gentleman take care of the rest."

They lifted the woman from the sand and began to move forward, but she gripped Lauren's hand suddenly, drawing the doctor's eyes to her own. In that moment, the blonde was attacked by the memory of the terror in Bo's eyes when she had awakened. Looking up to see her wife was now gone, she moved her eyes back to the brunette on the stretcher, returning her tight grip,

"You're a surfer... toughest of the toughest, bravest of the brave. You glide along on turbulent seas and somehow find your way to shore. You'll find your way through this as well. Stay strong. Don't give up."

The woman blinked, a single tear falling from the corner of her eye before she spoke, "I... I don't remember..."

Lauren looked up to see the reason for the shadow cast over the woman's face and found her wife staring down at the surfer,

"It's better that way, Bev. You don't need to remember what happened. You just need to remember that you have a Mom and Dad who are home, probably terrified right now because we're on TV, remember? The Olympics?"

"Oh God."

"Yea. So pull it together and throw a thumb up in the air or something, will ya? You're scaring everyone and knowing your parents, they're already on their way to the airport."

"They can't afford..."

"I know, Bev. So get that thumb up in the air."

The surfer nodded and, with a little help from Bo and Lauren, raised her arm into the air, wiggling her thumb and pinky finger back and forth. The crowd cheered as the young surfer smiled up at her teammate, taking her hand in her own,

"Thanks... Bo."

"You remember my name? That's a big plus, rookie."

"You?"

"Oh, hell. The Doc here can tell ya. I didn't remember a thing for a very long time. Just know that I won't be letting you sit around in a wheelchair, so get it in your head now that you're going to fight your way back no matter what it takes. You have a hell of a career ahead of you and I fully expect to see you win a WSL title very soon."

Bo smiled, knowing that her young protégé was probably not understanding most of what she was saying, but her smile would give her the courage and reassurance she needed to get started on her long journey back to the water.

"We really need to go, Doc."

It was Glenn's voice that pulled the three women from their moment,

"You're right. Bo and I will be by to check on her after the competition ends."

Bo added, "I'm her medical power of attorney. Tell the doctors' I defer all medical questions to Dr. Lewis. She is more qualified. I'll be with her if she's called to advise as needed."

The paramedic nodded, "Good to see you, Dr. Lewis."

"Good to see you too, Glenn. I hope you'll be very happy."

"Thank you." He looked at Bo, "We'll take good care of her. I may be living in a new country, but I'm still a big fan. What do you say you and that other Dennis sister take home the gold and the silver to my home state?"

Bo smiled, "We'll do our best. Thank you for taking care of her."

Glenn nodded as they moved away, leaving Bo and Lauren to watch. When the sirens wailed again and the sound faded into the distance, the brunette still stood watching the spot from where it had departed. She closed her eyes, trying to rid her mind of the memories from many, many years ago, only opening them when she felt a soft hand on her forearm,

"Bo. It wasn't you."

"It felt like it was. She's just a kid, Lauren."

The blonde nodded, "How did you end up her medical power of attorney?"

Bo finally looked up at her wife, "Her Dad is recovering from some form of cancer and his doctors wouldn't allow him to fly yet. They sold their tickets to pay for an extended stay for Bev so she could experience another country... and spend some time with an old friend who is also here running track."

Bo looked back to the parking lot, then to Lauren again, "Anyway, she needed someone and asked me. She said since my wife was a doctor, I must at least have someone I can call to find out what should be done. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I honestly never thought that she would... well... you know."

Lauren nodded, "Well, it's all up to the Dennis sisters now."

Bo sighed, looking out at the water, "Shit. I missed the end of Kenzi's set."

A small voice approached, "It's okay, Mom. I got it all on video with the Professor's telephoto. She scored mega points. You're gonna have to bring you 'A' game, or little sister is taking you down."

Bo laughed at Lauren before turning back to her son and folding her arms across her chest, planting one foot in the sand,

"Is that so?"

Maverick nodded, "And... well... they already called your heat to the tent."

"What? Why didn't you tell me!"

"Hey, what can I say? I'm Switzerland." Maverick smirked.

"I can't believe my own son is siding with his Aunt!"

Bo said, putting her hands on her hips. She knew that she had time to get to the tent. They always ended up sitting there for at least fifteen minutes and she had been paddling off to the side watching Kenzi's sets.

"I'm not taking sides. Switzerland, remember? I'm just holding each of you responsible for your own actions today. I did an equally good job prepping both of your boards, so I have no favorite in this."

"Is that so?" Bo asked, "You don't even feel a slight lean towards your Mom's side?"

Maverick shrugged, "Switzerland."

"Switzerland." Bo sighed, looking at Lauren who held up both hands, "No loyalty. I get no loyalty."

"Are you okay?" Lauren asked.

"Shaken for sure, but yes, I'm okay."

The blonde leaned in and whispered in her ear, "A gold medal will be nothing compared to what I'll be giving you if you stand at the top of the podium today, Mrs. Dennis."

Bo whispered back, "Mmmm... well that sounds like just the motivation I need, Dr. Dennis."

Lauren placed a light kiss on Bo's cheek,

"I love you, Lauren."

"I love you, Bo."

"I have every reason to be nothing but." She smiled, ruffling Maverick's hair, "Anything else you want to say to me?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and laughed, "I love you, I believe in you and I will be cheering for you every second of every wave. May Poseidon grant you the waves of a lifetime and the skill to ride them to safely home to me. Have fun, Bo."

"Do the 360 Mom, okay?" Maverick asked, hopeful.

"If I get the chance, I will do the 360 and be thinking of you when I do it, okay?" Bo asked, taking a knee in front of her son.

"Cool."

"See? You're on my side. I do the coolest tricks!"

Bo kissed him on the cheek, kissed Lauren once more and then headed over to the ready area where her opponent sat waiting.

"Ma? Do you think Mom will do the 360 for real?" Maverick asked.

Lauren looked down, "I'm not sure, sweetie. You know she needs a nice tube for that move."

"Well, Poseidon better give her one." He said, determinedly before marching back towards where the Professor and Emma sat quietly, the young girl fast asleep in his arms.

As Lauren approached, she couldn't help but smile, "Did she sleep through the... uh... incident?"

The Professor smiled, "She did."

"Good. We don't need any more drama than we've already had today."

"Are you off shift yet?"

"As soon as I go back and drop off my kit, yes."

"Okay. We'll be here waiting."

"Thank you, Professor. You take such good care of our children and..."

"Lauren, say no more. Please. Kenbo is my home now and you are just as much a part of that school as Bo, Kenzi or Tamsin. We're family and family takes care of one another."

The blonde smiled, nodding, "I'll just be going then..."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

" _This is it, Jake! It's been an amazing day of upsets with the unexpected comeback of one Bo Dennis."_

" _Yes it has, John. But I don't think anyone who has watched the heats unfold would be surprised that Kenzi Dennis just took out the only person challenging her for a spot in the gold medal heat. So, what do you think of our final, Grace?"_

" _I think the Dennis sisters couldn't be prouder and I don't know anyone who isn't happy for them. They're such great people who do such great things for kids. No one is more deserving."_

" _Not even your own former teammates from down under?"_

" _I won't lie and say I'm happy they aren't in this final, but if someone had to upset my old teammates and take the two of the three medals we were expected to win, I'm happy it's the Dennis sisters."_

" _Yes, I supposed it is somewhat of a consolation to have a bronze medal going home to Australia in the first Olympics for surfing. Now, the only question is, which one of the Dennis sisters will come out on top?"_

" _John, I'll tell you, after that last performance, Kenzi Dennis is on fire. I think she has the momentum going into the gold medal heat. I call gold for the younger sister."_

" _Grace?"_

" _I have to go with Bo. Her experience, her style and her technique just edges out her little sister and... well, come on... did you see her jump her board to the top of the pipe and spin a trademark 360 before slipping down the stream into the curl? That was madness!"_

" _Yea, I've been told that little guy who was jumping up and down screaming when she came out of the water was her son."_

 _Grace smiled, "That's her son, Maverick. I had the chance to work with him at a clinic early this week. He's a huge fan of both his Mom and his Aunt and comes from a USA Snowboarding background. The kids' got heart and guts. He'll be a risk-taker like his mom for sure."_

" _So you're saying the end of the Dennis surfing dynasty is no where in sight?"_

 _Grace shook her head, "Not even close. You'll have two Dennis kids coming up from Bo's side of the family. Her little daughter has Bo's style and poise with Kenzi's energy. I'm sure they'll grow up competing with Kenzi's kids."_

" _Well, it looks like things are great for the future of surfing in the USA. It's nice to know we'll be able to give you Aussies some friendly competition."_

" _Always, John."_

" _Okay then, let's see which one of you is right. It's time to head down to the action where we have Tina Massimer standing by to give the call. Tina?"_

" _Thank you John. As expected the air is filled with excitement down here and the beach is lined with cameras as everyone awaits the showdown between the two sisters now perched atop their surfboards beyond the breakers. The strange thing was that when the horn sounded, the pair continued sitting on their boards, neither making a move. Word has it that Bo Dennis was cramping and her sister wanted to wait so they would have a fair fight to the gold."_

" _That is strange, Tina."_

" _Yes, John, well we couldn't expect anything else from these two, now can we? They have a style and a trick list that is truly unique among the surfers of the world. They were granted a reset, so the horn should be... and there it is! The horn to start has sounded and this should be the point where we see the rival sisters... wait... no... John, it looks like Bo and Kenzi Dennis are... I'm not sure, but it looks like they're playing a game of..."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"What do you say we do this Mom and Dad's way?" Bo asked her sister as they floated with the current up and over each swell.

Kenzi smiled, "It's been years since we've been able to compete against each other."

"And it will be the last, Kenzi. You know that. I can't give up the time to train anymore."

Kenzi nodded, "It's okay, Bo. I'm not going to try to talk you out of it. This is all I asked of you and I meant it. This has been the best year ever. Training with you, battling you... it's been like old times, you know?"

Bo nodded, "I'll miss this... so much, but it's time I stepped aside and focused on what the kids and Lauren need and want. I know she wants to go back to the hospital and work at least part time. My training schedule has gotten in the way of that."

"Has it ever. At least you took Maverick with you to Colorado."

"No one would have been able to handle Mr. Grumpypants again."

"So... well, I thought this might be the best time to tell you."

Bo turned to her sister, "Tell me what?"

"Well, not time, exactly, but best place?"

"Okay. Tell me what, Kenzi?" Bo asked anxiously.

Kenzi clapped her hands together as a brilliant smile stretched across her face, a twinkle in her eye unlike any her sister had ever seen before. She spoke so fast, Bo barely understood the words,

"Tamsin asked me to marry her and I said yes! Weeeeeee!"

"Holy Poseidon! That's great, Kenzi! I mean... are you sure? I mean... of course you're sure. You two are perfect for each other. I mean... I just..."

"I know... am I sure I'll never want to be with a man again? Paleeese. Once you go to the soft side, you never go back."

Bo grinned, "Mmmm... that is the best part about being with a woman, huh?"

"Totes McGotes!"

"Okay, well... congrats, happy for you, can't wait for the wedding... but there's an awful lot of people waiting on the beach for us and the horn to start went off about a minute ago."

"Really? I didn't even hear it!"

"It doesn't matter. We have our own way of competing, right?"

"The only fair way... let's make our parents proud..."

Bo's face grew serious, "Kenzi, you have always made them proud... and me too. I am so damn proud of you... gold or silver... I love you so much."

"All that right back atcha sister. Oh, and will you be my maid of honor?"

"Of course!"

"Good, because Lauren is gonna be Tamsin's."

"She knew?"

"She was sworn to secrecy or my finance was going to set the dock on fire the day the Coast Guard arrived for the senior exam."

Bo grew quiet for a moment, but Kenzi laughed,

"Chill, Bo. I check up on Cole. The Admiral says he's doing great and is even more than they expected for rookie Coast Guard material. Jerry, Gary and Mike may be idiots in Emergency Management, but they can rock the shit out of the Mavericks Kenbo School."

"I guess everyone is exactly where they're meant to be."

"Uh... ladies?"

The sisters looked over at the official who had arrived on a wave runner.

"Do we have a problem?" he asked.

Kenzi placed a hand on Bo's forearm, "I know this is a strange request, but... well, this is an exhibition and we do want to give the crowd what they want. You know, my sister is much older than I am and she had a cramp. I didn't want to be unfair to her... I want to beat her at her best, so we were just waiting for her to work it out."

"I uh... oh... okay then. Is everything okay? Miss Dennis? Are you sure you can go? I mean... if you don't surf..."

"Yea, yea... I forfeit. I know, buddy and the name is MRS. Dennis, not Miss. A reset of the clock would be great if they're willing. If not, they get what they get in the what..." Bo looked at her watch, smiling at the memory of Lauren giving it to her as an Olympic qualifier gift, "... about 10 minutes we have left to surf?"

The man sighed, "Reset it is. We'll sound another horn."

"Thank you... love you... mean it..." Kenzi said, laughing as she gave a dainty wave to the man's back as they pulled away.

Bo turned to Kenzi, "I'm much older and I had a cramp?"

"Well, you are and, well you could... I mean... all that bow-chicka-wow-wow with Lauren last night."

"Like you and Tamsin weren't rocking the bed against the wall too?" Bo countered.

Kenzi blushed, as her sister continued, "You didn't realize your bed was against our wall, did you?"

"I... shit."

"Yea, so no more ripping on my sex life. Yours is apparently just as active."

"God it is and it's great."

"No details needed."

"Of course." Kenzi replied as the horn sounded.

"For Mom and Dad?"

"For Mom and Dad."

The two faced each other and held out their respective closed fists, before declaring in unison,

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

" _John, we're down to the final minutes of this gold medal heat. We've never seen anything like it! The sisters are playing rock, paper, scissors after each set in order to determine who gets the next wave instead of following the usual rules of first come, first serve for each ride."_

" _If I may interject, John..."_

" _Go ahead, Grace."_

" _I've been watching the zoom footage of the game they play before each set. It seems that the loser is forced to take the next wave while the winner gets the choice of either of the next two."_

" _You are absolutely correct, Grace. I actually have it on good authority from Bo Dennis' own son that this is a game their parents had them play when they competed. He didn't expect to see them play it with a gold medal on the line, but he said he wasn't surprised. He said that since this is his Mom's definite last competition, she would want to do something for her parents and so would his Aunt Kenzi."_

" _Awww, that is really, really sweet, Tina. It looks like Bo is up on this one. It isn't a very good wave, which, I suppose is the hazard of losing the game. Let's see what she does with it..."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Maverick sighed, tired of the reporters asking him so many questions about his Mom. How did they find out who he was anyway? It was frustrating explaining things and he knew his Mom and Aunt didn't like talking to much about personal stuff to the press. He hoped they wouldn't be mad about telling that Tina lady about rock, paper, scissors. He kicked some sand and looked up to see three familiar faces walking towards him. His lips curled into a brilliant smile, his eyes shining as he yelled,

"Cody! Corey! Pia! You made it!" Maverick ran towards the group, diving into the middle of the group of friends who surrounded him with one giant hug.

Cody smiled, "Of course we made it! Your Ma texted us that they made the finals just as the shuttle was pulling into the parking lot. We've been up with the Professor checking out the photos of our new snowboards. I heard you had a say in a few adjustment's to Pia's board, eh?"

Maverick blushed, looking up at the girl who everyone knew he had a crush on, "I... uh... well... I hope you don't mind... I just... well..."

Pia smiled, giving Maverick an extra helping of hug, "Your Mom called me from Colorado about a month ago and told me you were out snowboarding with your old coach on one of my boards. She said you kept catching your edge and that you didn't think it was you."

"Well, it could've been. I'm pretty rusty on snow."

"Well, your coach confirmed that your form was as perfect as ever."

Maverick lowered his eyes and blushed again before Pia lifted his chin to meet the young boy's eyes,

"I trust you with my line, little bro. I know that I'm gonna love the board when I ride it."

Maverick smiled, "I hope I get to see you in the Winter Games in two years."

"Yea. That torn ACL was a real bummer, especially since I qualified for the semis. Oh well."

"You'll get back there again. I know it!" Maverick encouraged.

"You're darn right she will. We're already busting her butt to get her ready, Mav. We're heading to Colorado next month. The snow's supposed to come early this year."

Maverick nodded, biting his lip, "Well, my Mom said we'd go anytime I wanted to, so... well, do you think you can talk to her for me? Maybe she'd let me go with you guys?"

Cody rubbed his scruffy chin, "Not sure, little bro, but I'll definitely bring it up when we have a chance to talk. Right now, I think we gotta check out the sisters! Who's gonna pull this out, Mav?"

Maverick shook his head, "Uh-uh. I'm not picking. I'm Switzerland."

The group all laughed as they followed him on the short walk to where Lauren, Tamsin, the Professor and Emma were all waiting.

"Cody! Corey! Pia!" Lauren stood, waiting until they were finished hugging Emma before sharing hugs with each. She waited, turning towards the water once while they greeted Tamsin and the Professor as well.

"They're just floating out there. What are they doing?" Tamsin asked, her frustration showing as she bit her nails.

Corey and Cody laughed while Pia moved to sit on the sand in front of Lauren. The two had become close during the snowboarders' recovery from surgery. The blonde had felt she couldn't perform the surgery because of her relationship with the girl, but she followed her surgery, treatment and physical therapy, seeing it through to its successful conclusion.

"What's the matter, Torrent? Afraid your girlfriend is going to lose?" Corey mocked.

Tamsin held up her left hand, "She's my fiancé and no, I don't care which one wins as long as they both survive to get Kenzi to the altar."

Lauren sighed, "We had... an incident... earlier."

"A girl amost drowneded but my Mommy saved her with the men from the ambalance." Emma said, her tone serious, yet proud of her adopted mother's accomplishment.

The two men's faces went still, "Whoa... wow. We didn't know." Replied Corey.

"Is she okay?" Cody asked Lauren.

"She'll have a long road ahead of her, but she should make a full recovery. I can't speak to the condition of her neck and spine, but she was in full arrest when they pulled her from the water. It took some effort to... well, let's just say that the human brain... as well as the rest of the body, are not meant to be without oxygen for long."

The snowboarders all nodded in understanding as they watched Lauren run her fingers through Emma's soft curls. The young girl climbed onto her Mommy's lap, her eyes searching the horizon for her Mom and Aunt,

"Are they gonna go soon, Mommy?" Emma asked.

"Is that? Are they?" Cody pulled his hat from his head, scratching it, "Why in the world are they..."

"Playing rock, paper, scissors?" Lauren laughed.

"Uh... yea. I thought surfing was first come, first serve to the next wave. I saw that Australia girl get four in a row in Hawaii while everyone else just sat there watching."

"Which Australia girl?" Tamsin asked, sarcastically, "They have 8 of the top 10 world rankings."

"Oh." Cody replied.

"Yea. Oh." Tamsin countered, "The game is from their parents. They throw when the water is calm, then the winner chooses first or second before the swell comes. So far, they've chosen second every time they win."

"What does that mean?"

"it means that the person who loses has to take the next wave no matter how shitty it is."

"Tamsin." Lauren cautioned.

"Oops. Sorry. Don't say shitty, kids."

"Tamsin!"

"Lewis!"

"Fine! Anyway, the winner then gets to look at the second wave. If they don't like it, they can take the third. No matter what, it's all a game of chance rather than choice."

"They're gambling on the gold medal?" Corey asked, "A freaking gold medal?" He eyed Lauren who smiled and mouthed a thank you for not saying the F word.

"They're playing a game that their parents used to play with them when they competed at Mavericks as kids... before they were surfing the big water there." Lauren explained.

Tamsin explained further,

"They decided last night at dinner that if it was close, this is what they would do. Bo knew she had the lead, but she also knew that her parents used this game to keep things even between her and Kenzi. Bo was always the better surfer, so when the score looked like that's the way it was going to happen again, Kenzi asked if she was up for it. Bo didn't hesitate, saying she was going to ask if they were actually floating out there in the final tomorrow. She didn't want to jinx Kenzi and have her end up with bronze."

"Well, I guess I'm not surprised that their parents would play a role in this. I've never met two people who love their parents as much as they do."

Lauren looked at Maverick who frowned. She waved him over to her and gave him a hug from the side,

"You've never really told Cody how you feel about your parents, sweetie. If you did, then maybe he would have said the same about you." Lauren explained, knowing that Maverick loved his parents every bit as much as Bo and Kenzi loved theirs.

"It's not that, Mommy. It's that... well... I feel... guilty." Maverick lowered his head, his chin sagging against his chest.

"Why, buddy?" Lauren asked.

"Because... well... I was thinking that... well, that... me and Emma... we love you and Mom just as much as Aunt Kenzi and Mom loved their parents."

"That's sweet, honey. Why do you feel guilty?"

"Because I'm not saying it about my own parents. I forget them sometimes."

Lauren pulled him into another hug, "Well, sometimes a memory fades because the thing or person that caused the memory isn't with you all the time... you're busy living your life. It's not that you don't love them, sweetie. It's that you're living the life that you have here and they can't be with you. You've learned to love what you have rather than dwell on being angry and hurt with your past. I think your parents would want you to be happy, don't you?"

Maverick nodded, "It's all they ever wanted. It's why we stayed in Colorado so I could compete."

Lauren smiled, "It's okay, sweetie. It's okay to live your life and feel free to love any way you choose."

"Bo's up again." the Professor informed the group.

"Oh. My. God. That wave is HUGE!" Tamsin said, moving to sit at the edge of her seat, "Kenzi is so mad at herself for not taking first right now!"

They all held their breath, watching as Bo entered the massive wall of water, disappearing behind the white-water curl. Only the front edge of her board was visible, but she was quickly gaining speed. Suddenly, she turned up the rounded face of the wave, shooting up high above the wave, gripping the edge of her board and back flipping onto the top of the curl, reversing her direction until the wall of water passed.

The crowd went wild after watching the brunette land perfectly on her board, sinking into the water before laying down and paddling back out as if it was no big deal to do a back flip from the front to the back end of a wave.

On shore, Lauren was watching all of the fans, including her own family and friends cheer and yell. Fists pumped into the air, faces expressed their amazement and voices were raised to chant Bo's name over and over. Who would have thought that the woman she thought would never have a life, let along surf again would one day clinch a first-ever gold medal in Surfing at the Summer Olympics just four years after she had earned her own.

She looked up at the sky and smiled, "Mom and Dad Dennis, I hope you're watching this. Your daughters are making you proud today."

They all watched as Kenzi hopped the next wave, performing cutback after cutback before reversing across the top of the wave to perform her sister's trademark 360 move. The crowd cheered as the younger brunette held her hand up, waving to the crowd before slowly sinking into the water next to her sister.

"I surrender to the daughter of Poseidon."

"No, no! The horn hasn't sounded! Aren't you having fun?"

"Bo, this is the most fun I've had on a surfboard in... hells bells, I don't know how long but Bobolicious, you have beat me fair and square."

"Okay then. How about one last ride down memory lane, doublestack." Bo laughed as Kenzi's eyes went wide.

"Doublestack? Bo, we're in big water here and I'm no fifty pound weakling anymore. How about sister slide?"

"Totally! Come on!"

Kenzi whistled to the wave runner and handed off her board...

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

" _Well, John, it looks like the Dennis sisters are getting even more creative out here. I'm not sure how Kenzi expects to win without a board, but she is paddling out with her sister on the same board. There's still a little over five minutes remaining."_

" _I given up trying to figure these two out, Tina. What do you think, Grace? Jake?"_

" _Maybe another family tradition?"_

 _Grace and John laughed at Jake before the Aussie correspondent added,_

" _Maybe Bo is handing off her board to her little sister? Maybe some symbolic gesture similar to a passing of the torch?"_

" _I'm not sure, gang. Let's go back to Tina for the call. Tina?"_

" _John? Are you seeing this? The Dennis sisters are standing side by side a single surfboard heading into the curl of, thankfully, a wave that is unusually small for these waters. I think we're all holding our breath to see if they come out of that wall of water together..."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"Tamsin, isn't this dangerous? I mean... if they fall, they'll be banging into each other like two articles of clothing in a clothes dryer."

Tamsin and Lauren were gripping each others' hands tightly as they waited for their respective lovers to emerge, hopefully in one piece. When they finally did, they found themselves surrounded by laughter and couldn't help but do the same at the sight before them...

 _ **XXXXXXXXX**_

" _And John, the Dennis sisters are DANCING! They rode through a very tight curl, one that I was not confident they would emerge from and they came out dancing!"_

" _We see, Tina. On our monitors here, it seems that they are doing The Twist?"_

" _No, I think they're going modern now, Tina. Is that Twerking?"_

" _I don't know, Grace. I think on a surf board is would be called swerking?"_

" _Well, no matter what the dance is, ladies, we have ourselves a new Olympic Champion in Bo Dennis! The silver goes to Kenzi Dennis and the bronze to Grace's favorite Aussie, Maeve Murphy..."_

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **TEN YEARS LATER...**_

The air was cool, but warm. The sky was clear, yet dark. The mood inside the tent had been tender and loving one minute, fun and feisty the next. Bo had opened the flap on the top so that they could see the stars and partially unzipped the front flap so that they could see the water through the dark screen. When things got heated after they first arrived, her wife had been hesitant to get naked, concerned that someone might walk by and see them through the front panel. To prove her point, Bo led the blonde from the tent, then went back in and stripped down to prove she couldn't be seen.

When Lauren had come back into the tent to a naked wife, she needed no more convincing. They'd made love several times before Bo had revealed the first course of her well-planned picnic dinner... champagne and strawberries.

"A hotel room on the beach was a great idea for the night, Bo. I had no idea you were so romantic." Lauren chuckled, "I take it Emma wasn't hard to convince?"

"She had no problem postponing our wave pool Friday when she heard that she would be spending the night with Kenzi, Tamsin and little Maggie."

"Of course not." Lauren laughed, holding her glass out so Bo could pour the champagne, "No school tomorrow means that she has no homework and no nine o'clock bedtime."

"She knows that Mommy has very strict bedtime and homework rules and she always respects them without complaint, so I'm glad she has a chance to not feel so constrained on weekends."

"I wish she didn't have to live by such a regimented schedule, Bo. I really do, but..."

"Lauren, I understand and Emma understands. This is the price she has to pay for her dream of making it from the Junior WSL league to the Pro Tour. I did it, Kenzi did it... and much more reluctantly, I must add. She's fine, Lauren. She's a great kid who has big goals and is well aware of the sacrifices she must make to achieve them. I'm just glad that she still gets to sail with the Kenbo Team on weekends."

"And I'm glad that you were able to move their events to afternoon. It's nice that she can sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays or go to bed late on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Or both." Bo smiled, lifting her champagne glass, "Happy Anniversary, sweetie."

Lauren lifted her glass to meet her wife's, clinking their glasses gently together. Instead of taking a sip, Bo smirked, lowering her lips to her wife's naked chest to place a kiss on the soft round mass below her before taking a sip.

"Thank you for all of this, Bo. The tent was a great idea, but the food looks delicious."

Bo laughed, "We've been here for three hours and have only managed to taste the champagne and open the strawberries."

"It still looks like a delicious picnic basket. I can't wait to get to those little things. They look amazing."

Bo slapped Lauren's curious fingers, "You'll ruin your dinner."

Lauren licked her fingertip, getting a small taste of the sugary treat she had barely grazed before being reprimanded by her wife.

"Well, I thought after ten years together, we should do something symbolic." Bo smiled.

"And coming to have a picnic in the place where you once drowned was symbolic?" Lauren laughed, biting into the strawberry Bo slipped into her mouth.

Bo licked her lips, watching her wife's mouth wrap around the sweet, red fruit. Pulling herself with some effort from the sexy smirk on the blonde's face, she shook her head,

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but no sexiness right now. I'm actually really hungry for food right now. You've burned every calorie I had in my body."

Lauren gave a low growl as she slid her hand up Bo's torso until she cupped a heavy breast,

"And sweet Poseidon what an incredible body it is." She leaned down, taking a nipple between her teeth before swiping it with her tongue and releasing it.

"You're gonna be the death of me." Bo said, her head rolling back.

"Well, we can't have that." Lauren smiled, sitting up, "Okay, let's eat."

Bo sat up with her wife, biting into a strawberry before pulling a cheese and cracker tray from the basket.

"Mmm, yummy." Lauren said, removing the lid from the tray, taking a piece of cheese and laying it on a cracker before taking a bite.

"I just want to go on record as saying that you're wrong about this place not being symbolic."

"Well, to me, it's symbolic of your death." Lauren replied with a scowl.

Bo reached over and rubbed at the space between her eyebrows, "No, sweetie. That moment is symbolic of the place where we began... for me... the place where I began... the place where I was reborn. I wouldn't be who I am for you today if it hadn't happened, sweetie."

Lauren looked up to see her wife staring out at the spot on the beach where her worst memory dwelled.

"Lauren, I've brought you here tonight because this is the place where you saved me."

"Bo, I don't want to think about that day..."

"Please, Lauren. You are stuck in the past, thinking of how you saved me physically. Well, I'm here to tell you that this is the place where you, Dr. Lauren Lewis, began to save me from my fears. You saved me from my unwillingness to open my heart and love fully the way I can now love you. You saved me from denying my own dreams just so my sister could have hers. You saved me from dwelling so much on my past and my parents that I had forgotten that I had a present and future to live. You saved me, Lauren. Here, in this place... not so far from where you practiced to earn your dream of an Olympic Gold medal."

Lauren looked out to where the moon had settled on the horizon over the ocean, a clean shimmering line of white seemingly pointing towards the shore,

"I've never thought of it that way." Lauren spoke quietly.

Bo took her hand, "I wanted us to have a good memory of this place... you know... to finally put the past where it belongs."

Lauren smiled, "In the past."

Bo nodded, "I also wanted to have a nice night in a warm climate before we have to drag our teenage daughter onto a flight to see her brother compete in the Olympics."

"She hates the cold." Lauren laughed.

"Not as much as she hates watching her brother get big air off of that half pipe." Bo replied.

Lauren nodded, "True. We just have to remind her to breathe."

This was not Maverick's first Winter Olympics. He had earned a bronze at the last, but Bo and Lauren had missed it because Emma had passed out. She had literally been holding her breath, anxious that her brother would land upside down and break his neck. They were so busy trying to get her conscious that they had missed his final run.

Bo shook her head, "Maverick was torturing her about it before he left."

"Yea, well I'm not surprised. So, what do we think about this girlfriend Macy?"

Bo replied, "She's an awesome snowboarder. She's a nice girl, but I just want to know... who on this earth hates sun and sand? I mean, what's wrong with her?"

Lauren gave her wife a tight smile, nodding, "She's from Colorado and loves snow? I don't know, but it's his life, Bo. It's his heart."

"I'm starting to regret telling him that he could love whomever he chose to love. I should have put conditions on that. I miss him having a crush on Pia."

Lauren laughed, "Me too, but she is twelve years his senior."

"That's not so bad."

"It is when you're twenty, Bo."

"Twenty, thirty, what's the difference?"

"Time will tell, Bo."

"We should have told him that he could love anyone he wanted to, but if he wanted to date them, we have to approve first... oh, and they can't dislike letting you come home to visit, despite the incredibly beautiful climate in our fair state!"

Bo hung her head, before raising a finger to add another condition, "And don't forget the requirement to surf with your dear old Mom."

"You're not old, Bo. Hell, you still win the Hawaiian open every year."

"One year, Lauren. I only surfed in it this past year. I've been happily retired since the Olympic debut. It was fun for a one-time thing. I have no desire to go back to training that hard. I watch Emma and know for sure I don't want to go back to that."

Lauren laughed, "Well, everyone was very surprised to see 'the other' Dennis sister."

"Yea, well Kenzi is the star now. I'm a distant memory."

"Hardly. You have twelve moves named after you, Bo."

"Yea, but does anyone remember Steve Prefontaine is the reason Nike exists? Eventually, the name is just a name."

"It was still fun to see you out there again. And you're not forgotten. You sat and signed autographs for over an hour."

"Well, I only did it because Kenzi asked." Bo said, wanting to change the subject.

"And it's a good thing. They would have been even more shocked to see a pregnant Kenzi on a surf board."

"True, true. I can't wait for that little nugget to be born."

Lauren smiled, "She and Tamsin definitely love motherhood. I'm glad they were each able to have one of the babies."

"Maggie is all Tamsin." Bo laughed.

"That's funny. Torrent says that Maggie is all Emma. She worships the ground our daughter walks on."

"Except when Maverick's around... he's the person she follows everywhere."

"Actually, he usually ends up picking her up and carrying her."

The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment, sipping their champagne and eating strawberries, cheese and crackers before Bo pulled Lauren back onto the blanket.

"Do you remember stargazing with me at Kenbo soon after you came back from Colorado all of those years ago?"

Lauren smiled, "I think I remember every moment we've every had, Bo."

"Me too."

"Why that particular one?" Lauren asked, curious as to why her wife had brought it up.

"Well, when you pointed out the North Star, I wished on it... I wished that you would not go back to Colorado. That you would find everything you needed here... with me."

Bo sat up, rolling onto her side and leaning on her elbow to look at Lauren, "It was selfish of me."

Lauren smiled, her fingers going to her wife's cheek, lovingly tracing the outline of her face before moving her thumb back and forth over her lower lip,

"I think you always felt like you were right for me... that you could bring me... peace?"

Bo nodded, "I guess what I want to know is... did my dream come true? Have you found all that you needed here? Besides your work at the hospital and waterfront, friends, the kids and all of your other successes... am I enough as a wife?"

Lauren smiled, "Bo, you are all I could hope for in a partner. You are beautiful, passionate, caring, kind, ambitious, intelligent, you're a great mother and an incredibly attentive wife..."

"Athletic. You didn't mention athletic."

Lauren laughed, "Yes, you are athletic... you were very athletic last night when we were enjoying each other's... company."

"And was I not athletic for the past three hours?"

"Very athletic." Lauren smirked, trailing kisses down her wife's neck to her chest where she settled her head, her fingers fondling the nipple as her eyes watched it change into a stiff peak.

"Sexy. You didn't mention sexy." Bo added.

Laughing again, the blonde replied, "I think I proved just how sexy I think you are last night, today and even now... I believe I even said as much several times in the past twenty-four hours."

Bo watched as the blonde's hands roamed over her chest, gliding from breast to breast while her eyes followed giving her reassurance about how Lauren saw her body.

"Fun. You didn't say I was fun. Am I not fun?"

Lauren rolled over onto her wife, "You are fun and you are funny. If I have not made you feel as though you are enough for me, I'm truly sorry. You are that and so much more, Bo. I am very much looking forward to the next decade with you."

She leaned down, pressing her lips into Bo's, earning a moan from the brunette who suddenly pulled away from the kiss,

"Only one decade?"

Lauren slapped her wife and kissed her again, this time relaxing her body until it melted into everything that was Bo. The brunette's legs fell open allowing the blonde's thigh to insinuate itself into her heat.

"Two can play that game, Doctor Dennis." Bo smirked as she bent her knee, driving it between Lauren's legs, gripping her firm ass with both hands to pull her against her.

Lips met, smashing together in a passion-filled kiss as the moment quickly grew more needy and heated. Grinding their cores together, they moaned their approval into the other's mouth as slick tongues danced to the sounds of their voices.

Bo slipped a hand between them, inserting one, then two fingers into Lauren. The blonde rode her hand for several thrusts before propping herself up on her arms so she could look into Bo's eyes as she was driven to her climax, head thrown back, mouth open and eyes squeezed shut. Bo could only watch in amazement as her wife... this beautiful woman that had agreed to share her life... fell into bliss leading Bo to follow suit.

Falling onto her wife, Lauren found herself listening to the pounding of her wife's heart. It felt like just yesterday they were in this place... the turbulence of the Banzai Pipeline engulfing her future wife in white foam and depositing her lifeless on the beach. But here and now, she realized her wife was right. This was the place not of her greatest fear come true, but of her greatest success.

"Bo?"

"Mmm... what can I do for you, sweetie?"

"I just... I want you to know that you were right." Lauren said quietly.

Bo laughed, "Of course I was."

Lauren chuckled.

"About what?" Bo asked causing Lauren to laugh harder.

"About this place."

Lauren lifted herself up, pushing the stray hair behind her ear,

"This place... it was here that you saved me. I may have saved you from a turbulent sea, but you saved me from a turbulent life. You rescued me from Nadia, Evony, my need to run, my past, my inability to open up, my denial of my past and my fears. You helped me to find my Aunt and although we only had three more years with her, because of you, I now know that she never deserted me... she never abandoned me. I think it's knowing that I was wanted by someone that I was able to believe I was wanted by you. I think it's what kept me coming back to you."

"I'm glad." Bo replied.

"Me too." Lauren replied.

"I know our lives are hectic with the multiple Kenbo businesses, your work at the hospital and the kids' schedules, but even though it's a little busy, it's nice to know that you are I have calm seas ahead."

Lauren smiled, "We wouldn't be us if we didn't have to weather a storm now and then. I'm just glad you're the one I get to travel through it with."

Bo smiled, "Me too."

The pair broke into fits of laughter when their stomachs growled in unison.

"While I would love nothing more than to gorge myself on your until morning, we do need real food." Bo smiled, opening the basket again as Lauren leaned over and grabbed the sugary treat, "Hey!"

Lauren laughed, biting into the small cake-like dessert, letting out a moan as her eyes closed, "I, Lauren Lewis-Dennis, want a night without rules... "

Bo's eyes went wide,

"I know, it's surprising that I am against rules tonight, but I'm feeling a need to rebel a bit."

"Mmmm... I think I'm going to like rebel Lauren." Bo smirked, kissing her wife's lips before tasting the sugar that transferred there.

Lauren laughed, "It's settled then. Dessert before dinner is okay tonight because tonight, I don't want anything to get in the way of us just being us... together... Bo and Lauren."

"Bo and Lauren it is... forever." Bo replied.

"Forever."

 _ **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for following and sticking with this story. Life is easing up a bit, so I'm hoping to be into another story sometime soon. Until then, best wishes to you all and know that your support means the world to me.**_

 _ **CuddleFae**_


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